Marcella Hazans Lasagna Food

MARCELLA HAZAN'S LASAGNA

Steps:

• Bechamel Sauce: (make just before you need it, not ahead of time) Put milk in a saucepan, turn heat to medium, and bring to the verge of a boil. While heating milk, put butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and turn heat to low. When melted, add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon. Cook, while stirring constantly, for about 2 min. Do not allow flour to color. Remove from heat. Add the hot milk to the flour/butter mixture, no more than 2 Tb. at a time. Stir steadily and thoroughly. Once the first 2 Tb. have been incorporated, repeat this process 2 Tb. at a time until 1/2 c. has been incorporated. Then, you can begin adding milk 1/2 c. at a time until all incorporated. Place the pan over low heat, add salt, and cook, stirring constantly until sauce is like thickened (like the consistency of sour cream). When done, you can keep warm on top of a double boiler and remove film if one forms on top. Lasagna: Preheat oven to 400. Prepare lasagna noodles. Thickly smear the bottom of your lasagna pan with butter and 1 Tb. of bechamel. Line the bottom of pan with one layer of noodles. Combine the bolognese and bechamel sauces and spread a coating on the pasta. Sprinkle some grated Parmesan, then add another layer of noodles. Repeat the procedure of spreading sauce and Parmesan and noodles. Leave enough sauce to spread a thin layer on top at the end. Sprinkle with Parmesan and dot with butter. (This can be made up to 2 days in advance and refrigerated.) Bake on top rack until golden crust forms on top, about 10 or 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to settle for 10 min. before serving.

MARCELLA HAZAN'S BOLOGNESE SAUCE

Steps:

• Put the oil, butter and chopped onion in the pot and turn the heat on to medium. Cook and stir the onion until it has become translucent, then add the chopped celery and carrot. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring vegetables to coat them well.
• Add ground beef, a large pinch of salt and a few grindings of pepper. Crumble the meat with a fork, stir well and cook until the beef has lost its raw, red color.
• Add milk and let it simmer gently, stirring frequently, until it has bubbled away completely. Add a tiny grating -- about 1/8 teaspoon -- of nutmeg, and stir.
• Add the wine, let it simmer until it has evaporated, then add the tomatoes and stir thoroughly to coat all ingredients well. When the tomatoes begin to bubble, turn the heat down so that the sauce cooks at the laziest of simmers, with just an intermittent bubble breaking through to the surface. Cook, uncovered, for 3 hours or more, stirring from time to time. While the sauce is cooking, you are likely to find that it begins to dry out and the fat separates from the meat. To keep it from sticking, add 1/2 cup of water whenever necessary. At the end, however, no water at all must be left and the fat must separate from the sauce. Taste and correct for salt.
• Toss with cooked drained pasta, adding the tablespoon of butter, and serve with freshly grated Parmesan on the side.

BOLOGNESE MEAT SAUCE

Steps:

• Put the oil, butter, and chopped onion in the pot, and turn the heat on to medium. Cook and stir the onion until it has become translucent, then add the chopped celery and carrot. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring the vegetables to coat them well.
• Add the ground beef, a large pinch of salt, and a few grindings of pepper. Crumble the meat with a fork, stir well, and cook until the beef has lost its raw, red color.
• Add the milk and let it simmer gently, stirring frequently, until it has bubbled away completely. Add a tiny grating-about 1 teaspoon-of nutmeg, and stir.
• Add the wine, let it simmer until it has evaporated, then add the tomatoes and stir thoroughly to coat all ingredients well. When the tomatoes begin to bubble, turn the heat down so that the sauce cooks at the laziest of simmers, with just an intermittent bubble breaking through to the surface. Cook, uncovered, for 3 hours or more, stirring from time to time. While the sauce is cooking, you are likely to find that it begins to dry out and the fat separates from the meat. To keep it from sticking, continue the cooking, adding /2 cup of water whenever necessary. At the end, however, no water at all must be left and the fat must separate from the sauce. Taste and correct for salt.
• Toss with cooked drained pasta, adding the tablespoon of butter, and serve with freshly grated Parmesan on the side.
• Ahead-of-time note: If you cannot watch the sauce for a 3- to 4-hour stretch, you can turn off the heat whenever you need to leave, and resume cooking later on, as long as you complete the sauce within the same day. Once done, you can refrigerate the sauce in a tightly sealed container for 3 days, or you can freeze it. Before tossing with pasta, reheat it, letting it simmer for 15 minutes and stirring it once or twice.
• Variation of Ragù with Pork: Pork is an important part of Bologna's culture, its economy, and the cuisine, and many cooks add some pork to make their ragù tastier. Use 1 part ground pork, preferably from the neck or Boston butt, to 2 parts beef, and make the meat sauce exactly as described in the basic recipe above.

LE MARCHE LASAGNA

Steps:

• Place porchini mushrooms in a small bowl with enough warm water to cover; let stand 30 minutes.
• Drain mushrooms, reserving liquid if desired, for a more pronounced mushroom flavor. Strain liquid through a fine mesh sieve and set aside, if using. Chop mushrooms and set aside.
• Using a piece of kitchen twine, tie together bay leaf, rosemary, and thyme; set aside.
• Melt 12 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add prosciutto and saute for 4 minutes, or until golden brown. Add onions, celery, and carrots, reduce heat to medium, and cook until very soft, about 10 minutes, making sure vegetables do not brown. Reduce heat to medium-low, add tomato paste, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes.
• In a large skillet over medium-high heat melt 12 tablespoons butter with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add pork and cook until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Transfer pork to colander and to drain off excess fat. Discard fat in skillet; set skillet aside. Transfer pork to saucepan with skillet; set aside.
• Set skillet over medium heat. Add Marsala and bring to a boil, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula, scraping up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Pour Marsala over pork and vegetables. Place saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce to a simmer and cook until liquid has reduced by one-third. Add mushroom liquid, chicken stock, and cloves; stir to combine. Add herb bundle and push down to submerge in liquid. Partially cover saucepan and continue to let simmer for 2 hours. Remove from heat, season with salt and pepper; set aside to cool. Remove herb bundle.
• Heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add porcini and white mushrooms and cook, stirring, until white mushrooms are soft and slightly golden, about 5 minutes. Fold mushrooms into pork mixture; set aside.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in the center.
• Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Brush a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with melted butter. Top with pasta to cover. Sprinkle a generous 1/3 cup cheese over pasta. Ladle or spoon some of the pork mixture over cheese, spreading evenly with the back of ladle or spoon. Top with 1/2 cup bechamel sauce. Repeat process with remaining pasta, cheese, pork mixture, and bechamel sauce, keeping in mind you may not need to use all the pork mixture, and finishing with pasta. Top final layer of pasta with bechamel sauce and sprinkle with cheese.
• Transfer baking dish to a baking sheet and bake until sauce is bubbly, about 25 minutes. Increase heat to 400 degrees and continue baking until crisp on top, about 5 minutes more. Remove from oven and let stand 20 minutes.
• Cut lasagna into squares and serve immediately.