Spring Lasagna Food

SPRING VEGETABLE LASAGNA WITH HERBED CREAM

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°; coat a 13 x 9 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
• In a big pot of salted, boiling water, cook the lasagna noodles-10 minutes for dried or 2-3 minutes for fresh.
• Remove from water, rinse under cold water, drain, and set aside on paper towels to dry.
• Vegetable filling: melt 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a big skillet over medium-high heat.
• Saute zucchini, asparagus, fennel, onion, carrot, and garlic until tender and just beginning to color, about 15 minutes.
• Add in mushrooms and radicchio; combine and cook until wilted, about 3 minutes.
• Season with salt and pepper; remove from heat and transfer to a platter.
• In the same skillet, heat the remaining butter and oil; add in the baby spinach, stirring to heat and wilt, about 2 minutes.
• Remove from heat and transfer to platter.
• Risotto: Melt butter and olive oil in a medium skillet over med-high heat.
• Add in the rice, coating it with butter and oil, stirring constantly to lightly brown, about 5 minutes.
• Add in the wine and incorporate; cook until all the wine has evaporated, about 5 minutes.
• Begin adding chicken stock to pan ½ cup at a time; between additions of stock, cook until it has evaporated, stirring periodically to combine.
• The rice will begin to plump up and become tender.
• Continue this process of adding stock and cooking until all the stock has been used up.
• At this time, the risotto should have almost tripled in volume and be very fluffy and tender with a creamy consistency, if not, continue to add water or stock until a creamy consistency is reached.
• Remove from heat and transfer it to a bowl; add in the parsley, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and goat cheese; stir to combine and melt cheeses.
• Add in salt and pepper to taste; set aside to cool.
• Herbed Cream: melt butter in a medium-size saucepan over med-high heat.
• Add in flour; whisk to combine; whisk continuously, cooking flour to a golden brown color.
• Combine the wine and stock together in a bowl; add the liquid slowly to prevent lumps; be careful of the steam that will rise from the pan at the initial addition of the liquid.
• After the addition of the wine/stock mixture, add the basil, tarragon, chives, fennel tops, and orange zest; stir to combine.
• Decrease heat to medium and continue cooking for about 2 minutes.
• Add in the cream and simmer for 5 minutes; season with salt and pepper; remove from the heat.
• Assemble lasagna: begin with about 1 cup of herbed cream on the bottom of the baking dish; top with three sheets of noodles, then layer with half of the spinach, then half of the vegetable mixture.
• Top the vegetables with 1 cup herbed cream, and add one third of the mozzarella cheese; repeat with three more pasta noodles.
• Add all of the risotto mixture in an even layer (if the risotto appears too dry after cooling, add about ¼ cup heavy cream or milk to it to moisten it).
• Top the risotto with another layer of three noodles.
• Layer with all the remaining spinach, remaining vegetable mixture, about 1 cup herbed cream, and one third of fresh mozzarella.
• Top with the last three noodles, then add the remaining herbed cream, finishing with the remaining mozzarella.
• Bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until the top is bubbling and golden brown (you will probably need to pour yourself a drink at this point. to celebrate the conclusion of this labor-intensive dish).
• Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting to serve.

SPRING LASAGNA

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Add 1 tablespoon oil to a pot of salted water and bring to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles according to directions on box, until barely al dente. Drain. Toss with oil to prevent sticking. 2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil with 1 tablespoon butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add onions, leeks and garlic and sauté until soft, 5-6 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. 3. Fill a large bowl with ice water. Cook peas in a pot of boiling salted water until tender, 1 minute. Drain and set aside. Cook asparagus in a pot of boiling salted water until just tender, 2-3 minutes. Drain asparagus, shock in ice water, drain again and toss with peas. 4. Mix ricotta, zest and herbs. Season with salt and pepper. 5. Make béchamel: Combine milk, onions, bay leaves, ½ teaspoon salt and white pepper in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over low-medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture reduces by approximately a quarter, about 10 minutes. Strain milk and set aside. Wipe saucepan and melt 4 tablespoons butter over medium-low heat. Sprinkle in flour and cook, whisking constantly, until roux is bubbling, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low, whisk in reserved milk

SPRING LASAGNA WITH CARROTS, PEAS, AND ASPARAGUS

Steps:

• Position oven rack in center of oven; preheat oven to 350°.
• Make the sauce: heat a large pan over medium heat, add in butter and olive oil; when butter has almost melted, add the onion; cook, stirring often, until translucent, about 3 minutes.
• Add in garlic; cook, stirring constantly, until aromatic, about 15 seconds.
• Pour in the tomatoes and their juice along with the peas and carrots; stir well and bring mixture to a simmer.
• Stir in the thyme, salt, pepper, and nutmeg; simmer just to blend the flavors and boil off a lot of the liquid, about 10 minutes.
• You don't want sauce as thick as ragu-more like a loose tomato sauce but beware of a watery sauce.
• Remove pan from heat and set aside.
• Cheese filling: whisk the ricotta, eggs, and lemon zest in a big bowl; do not beat-the ricotta should not turn watery.
• Prepare asparagus: trim off any beige or woody ends; shave off the outer skin to ensure that the spears will be tender after they are baked.
• If you asparagus is not pencil thin, shave down the spears with a vegetable peeler.
• Assemble the lasagna in a 13 x 9 inch baking pan as follows: 1 cup tomato sauce spread across the bottom of the pan; 3 no-boil noodles; 1 ½ cups tomato sauce; half the cheese filling (use a rubber spatula to spread it evenly); half the asparagus spears (lay them tip to root in alternating directions); 3 more no-boil noodles; 1 ½ cups tomato sauce, the remaining cheese filling, the remaining asparagus spears, the remaining noodles, and finally the remaining tomato sauce.
• Cover pan with a layer of parchment paper, then a layer of foil.
• Bake for 35 minutes, then uncover the pan and continue baking until bubbling and gooey, about 10 minutes.
• Let rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.

BROKEN LASAGNA WITH PARMESAN AND ALL THE PEAS

Steps:

• Break each noodle into 3 or 4 rough squares and add to a large pot of boiling generously salted water. (It's okay if a few smaller pieces break off in the process; add them to the pot too, along with any stray shards at the bottom of the box.) Cook, stirring occasionally and adding snow peas and shelled peas for the final 2 minutes, until al dente, 8-12 minutes. Drain pasta and peas, reserving 2 cups pasta cooking liquid.
• Meanwhile, combine lemon zest and juice, Parmesan, butter, and 1½ tsp. pepper in a large bowl. Add pasta, peas and 1 cup reserved pasta cooking liquid and toss, adding more pasta cooking liquid as needed if mixture looks dry, until Parmesan and butter are melted and noodles are well coated. Add sugar snap peas; toss again just to combine.
• Divide pasta among shallow bowls and top with shaved Parmesan and cracked pepper.