French Toast Lasagna Food

THE BEST LASAGNA

Steps:

• Place the beef in a large bowl and "pull" it apart with two forks as if you were shredding pulled pork, breaking up the clumps and loosening the meat without compacting it.
• Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat has rendered and the meat is golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer the pancetta to a large bowl with a slotted spoon, leaving the fat in the pot.
• Spread the beef in an even layer in the same pot and cook undisturbed until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Toss and continue to cook, breaking up any clumps and scraping up any browned bits from the pot, until the meat is browned and completely cooked, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer the browned meat with a slotted spoon to the bowl with the pancetta, leaving the fat in the pot.
• Reduce the heat to medium. Add the carrots, celery, onions, half the garlic, the bay leaf, oregano, red pepper flakes, nutmeg, 2 teaspoons salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender but not browned, 6 to 8 minutes.
• Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until it's very fragrant and brick red colored, about 2 minutes. Stir in the wine, bring to a boil and reduce until the liquid is very thick and no smell of alcohol remains, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes and the reserved pancetta and beef, bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Add the basil and Parmesan rind and simmer, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated and the sauce resembles sloppy joes, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. There shouldn't be any rapid bubbles while cooking. Instead, the ragu should release occasional small bubbles. If the ragu reduces too quickly, add 1/2 cup of water and continue cooking. Repeat if necessary. The ragu needs the full 2 to 2 1/2 hour cook time to develop the flavors.
• Discard the bay leaf, basil and Parmesan rind. Break up any remaining clumps of meat with the back of a spoon, making an even textured sauce. Season with salt and set aside until ready to assemble.
• Arrange a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Cook the noodles, stirring occasionally and separating them to prevent sticking, until softened and bendable but are still hard and chalky in the center, about 5 minutes. Transfer the noodles to a large bowl of cold water and set aside until ready to assemble.
• Stir together the ricotta, 1 cup of the Parmesan, the remaining grated garlic and 2 teaspoons salt in a medium bowl until thoroughly combined. Set aside until ready to assemble.
• Lightly oil a 13-by-9-inch glass or ceramic baking pan. Spread 1 cup of the ragu evenly in the bottom of the pan. Lay a single layer of noodles over the ragu (if you're using long noodles, you will need to cut some noodles to fill the gaps). Spread 1 1/2 cups of the ragu over the noodles. Dollop 3/4 cup of the ricotta mixture over the ragu and spread lightly with a small offset spatula. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the mozzarella, followed by another layer of noodles. Repeat with the remaining pasta, ragu, ricotta mixture and mozzarella, creating 4 layers of pasta and ending with the remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella. (The lasagna should come just above the top of the pan but it will sink down slightly as it cooks.) Top with the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan.
• Lightly oil a piece of foil and cover the pan. Put the pan on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any drips. Bake the lasagna until bubbling gently around the edges, about 1 hour.
• Remove the lasagna from the oven and increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees F. Remove the foil and then continue to bake the lasagna until the top is browned and crisp around the edges, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Let sit 10 minutes before serving.

FRENCH-STYLE LASAGNA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until tender yet firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Combine ground beef, onion, green bell pepper, and minced garlic in a large skillet over medium heat; cook and stir until beef is no longer pink, 5 to 8 minutes.
• Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in flour; cook for 1 minute. Pour in milk and heavy cream. Cook, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.
• Spread 1/4 of the tomato sauce in the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. Cover with 3 lasagna noodles. Spoon 1/3 of the beef mixture over the noodles. Spread 1/4 of the tomato sauce and 1/3 of the white sauce over the beef mixture. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, herbes de Provence, and garlic powder on top. Cover with 1/3 of the Swiss cheese and mozzarella cheese.
• Repeat layers twice, starting with noodles and ending with cheeses.
• Bake lasagna in the preheated oven until top is deeply browned, 30 to 45 minutes.

FRENCH TOAST BREAKFAST LASAGNA

Steps:

• In small bowl, combine sugar and sour cream; cover and refrigerate.
• Place 6 slices French toast in bottom of greased 9 x 13 pan.
• Layer ham, 2 cups of cheese and remaining 6 slices of French toast in baking pan.
• Spread pie filling over top; sprinkle granola over apples.
• Bake in preheated 350F oven for 25 minutes.
• Top with remaining 1/2 cup cheddar cheese; bake another 5 minutes until cheese is melted and casserole is hot.
• Serve with sour cream mixture.
• (I have also made this with 1 LB sausage instead of the ham. Another time, when I didn't have the frozen french toast slices, I just made french toast myself and froze it the day before).

FRENCH TOAST LASAGNA

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine sour cream and brown sugar; refrigerate until serving. In a greased 13x9-in. baking dish, layer six slices French toast, ham, 1-1/2 cups cheese and remaining French toast. Spread with pie filling and sprinkle with granola. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 25 minutes. Top with remaining cheese. Bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Serve with sour cream mixture.

FRENCH TOAST LASAGNA

Steps:

• First prepare the french toast. Beat the eggs and milk. Dip bread in mixture until saturated and brown both sides in frying pan. Put to one side.
• Peel, core and thinly sliice apples. Put in bowl and sprinkle slices with sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice.
• Slice cream cheese into "pats" in preparation.
• In a greased 9 inch caserole dish, lay one layer french toast. Feel free to tear the pieces to fit. over this, spread a layer of apples and then dot with cream cheese. Another layer of french toast and then you keep layering until you're satisfied or out of ingredients.
• Top with sprinkling of cereal and bake at 325 degrees for 25 mintues. Serve while warm.

TOMATO-FRENCH BREAD LASAGNA

Steps:

• In a skillet, cook beef, onion, celery and garlic over medium heat until beef is no longer pink; drain and set aside. Toast bread; line the bottom of an ungreased 13x9-in. baking dish with 10 slices. Top with half of the meat mixture and half of the tomatoes. , Combine seasonings; sprinkle half over tomatoes. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon oil. Crumble remaining bread over top. Repeat layers of meat, tomatoes, seasonings and oil. , In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter; stir in flour until smooth. Gradually stir in milk; bring to a boil. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in Parmesan. Pour over casserole. Top with mozzarella. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is golden brown.

APPLE BREAKFAST LASAGNA

Steps:

• In small bowl, mix sour cream with brown sugar and chill.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Layer 6 toast slices in greased 13x9 baking pan.
• Cover with ham.
• Sprinkle 1 1/2 cup cheese over ham.
• Layer remaining 6 slices toast over cheese.
• Spread pie filling over toast.
• Sprinkle with granola.
• Bake 25 minutes at 350°F.
• Top with remaining cheese.
• Bake additional 5 minutes until cheese melts.
• To serve cut into squares and top with a dollop of sour cream/brown sugar mixture.
• We also like it with butter and maple syrup and totally omit the sour cream but it is great both ways.