Thursday, April 23: Lasagna!
Made Julia Turshen’s perfect and simple recipe (titled, appropriately, “A Nice Lasagna” in her Small Victories cookbook) for dinner tonight! It’s not only gorgeous (I mean, just look at it!) but it is delicious — definitely one of our favorite lasagna recipes ever. It’s SO simple (the layers are no-boil noodles, a minimal tomato sauce mixed with creamy creme fraiche, and mozz/parm cheeses — no bechamel, no ricotta mixture, no meat), and tastes INCREDIBLE. Matt calls it “pizza lasagna” because it does have a pizza-like quality to it. The tomato-creme fraiche sauce is so delicious, I need to make it again soon even if just to mix with pasta… or top a pizza with!
See original recipe in her cookbook Small Victories, or a simplified version here. My slightly adapted version is below.
Heat a few TB olive oil in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium-low heat. Add 4 thinly sliced garlic cloves and a pinch of red pepper flakes, and saute for a few minutes, until garlic is starting to sizzle. Add in two 28 oz cans of whole peeled tomatoes (San Marzano, if you have them), crushed into bite-size pieces with your hands, plus the juice or puree from each can, and a few big pinches of salt. Increase heat to medium-high, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for about half an hour, stirring occasionally. Stir in 1 cup of creme fraiche, then taste and adjust for salt.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Get your cheeses ready! You’ll need about a cup of grated parm (I used the kind freshly grated by the grocery store, sold in clear plastic tubs) and 2-3 cups of grated mozz (I preferred the lasagna when I used a bag of pre-shredded low-moisture mozz, but you can grate your own! — the original recipe only calls for one measely cup but I used much more, enough to liberally cover each layer of the lasagna). For the noodles, the original recipe includes instructions on making your own noodles, but I used no-boil noodles as recommended as an alternative, and it turned out great! Plus, it makes this simple recipe even simpler.
Ladle a thin layer of sauce onto the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish, then spread with a spoon to cover the surface of the dish. Add a layer of pasta (again, I used no-boil). Next, spoon over a layer of sauce (enough to cover the noodles completely, but not swimming in sauce), then sprinkle over a layer of mozz and a nice dusting of parm. Repeat the layering process until you’ve used up all your components, ending with a final layer of noodle - sauce - cheese. I like to save extra cheese for this final layer, since it’s going to get golden and bubbly and gorgeous as it bakes, and it will make for a lovely presentation. (The number of layers will depend on how much sauce/cheese you’re using. Keep an eye on your ingredients as you’re making it, ensuring that you’re saving enough of each — sauce, noodles, cheese — for your final layer.)
Bake the lasagna (uncovered) for about 35-40 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbling. (No-boil noodles need this much time to fully cook, so if it’s getting too brown too quickly, cover with foil — but I have not had that problem.) An important step with lasagna: let it rest!! It’s torture, but let it sit for a good 15 minutes before slicing into it — this lets the pasta fully absorb the sauce so you get study slices rather than soupy, falling-apart pieces.
