Yaras Game Lasagna Lasagne 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.

YARAS GAME LASAGNA / LASAGNE

Steps:

• METHOD Place the meat in a non-metallic bowl with 1 tbsp olive oil, a clove of garlic, the thyme and balsamic vinegar and mix well. Cover and leave in the fridge to marinate overnight.
• Put 4 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan with the onion, carrots, celery, mushrooms (if using), chilli and remaining garlic. Cover and cook over a low heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until all the contents have softened. Once the vegetables start to stick to the bottom of the pan, set aside.
• Remove the garlic and thyme from the marinated meat and discard. In another pan, heat the remaining oil over a high heat, add the meat and cook, covered for 30-60 seconds. At this stage, the game usually releases water - as soon as this happens, drain the water and juices away. This will take the "gamey" edge off a little. You may need to repeat this procedure a few times until the meat is very dry. Season to taste and keep stirring.
• Once the meat starts to stick to the pan, add the cooked vegetables and wine and stir again. Now add the tomatoes and crumble in the stock cubes, lower the heat and stir well until the cubes have dissolved. Cover and leave to simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. At the end of the process, the sauce should be neither too stiff nor too runny. Add water or cook for slightly longer, uncovered, to achieve the right consistency.
• Meanwhile make the pasta. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Make a well in the middle and add the eggs. Slowly mix the eggs into the flour using your fingertips, until all the flour has been incorporated. Add a little water if the mixture is too hard, or a little semolina flour if too soft. On a work surface lightly dusted with semolina flour (if necessary), knead the dough for a few minutes until smooth and elastic. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in cling film and leave it to rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.
• To make the béchamel sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat. Take off the heat and stir in the flour a little at a time until you have a thick paste. Gradually add the milk, stirring to incorporate each addition before adding the next. Add a pinch of salt and the nutmeg, and then place over a medium heat and bring to the boil, stirring constantly. Lower the heat and stir for 5 minutes then set aside to cool, stirring occasionally.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas mark 4.
• Dust a work surface with semolina flour and roll out the pasta dough into a sheet about 1mm thick. Using a pastry cutter or one of your ramekins, stamp out 24 circles of pasta.
• Spoon a layer of the game sauce, about 1cm deep, into each ramekin. Place a disc of pasta over the sauce in each ramekin. Spoon another layer of game sauce on top, then cover with béchamel. Repeat these layers (pasta, meat sauce, béchamel) at least twice more, finishing with plenty of béchamel.
• Sprinkle the pecorino on top of the dishes and place in the oven for 20 minutes, or until the cheese has browned. Leave to rest for a few minutes before serving... Enjoy!

CLASSIC LASAGNA

Steps:

• Make the sauce: Heat oil in a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Add sausage, if using, and cook, stirring occasionally, until it's starting to brown but not yet crisp, about 5 minutes.
• Add onion and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is totally softened and translucent (without letting it brown), 8 to 10 minutes. Add tomato paste and continue to cook, stirring until the tomato paste has turned a deeper brick red color, tinting the oil and onions a fiery orange color, about 2 minutes.
• Using your hands, crush the whole tomatoes into smaller, bite-size pieces and add them and the crushed tomatoes, stirring to scrape up any bits from the bottom of the pot. Fill one of the tomato cans halfway with water and add it to the pot. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomato sauce has thickened and flavors have come together, 20 to 30 minutes.
• Make the lasagna: Heat oven to 375 degrees and set a large pot of salted water to boil.
• Set aside 1 cup mozzarella. In a medium bowl, combine remaining mozzarella, ricotta, 1 cup Parmesan and cream; season with salt and pepper and set aside.
• Cook lasagna noodles in the large pot of salted boiling water until just softened (before they are even aldente), about 4 minutes. Drain and separate any noodles that are trying to stick together, slicking them with a bit of olive oil to prevent them from sticking further.
• Spoon a bit of sauce on the bottom of a 3-quart baking dish and top with a layer of noodles, avoiding any heavy overlap.
• Top with about 1 ¼ cups of sauce, and dollop ¼ of the cheese mixture over. Top with another layer of noodles and repeat three more times, ending with the last of the noodles (depending on size of the noodle/shape of the baking dish, you may have a few extra noodles) and the last of the sauce. Top with reserved 1 cup mozzarella and more Parmesan, if you like.
• Cover loosely with aluminum foil and place baking dish on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet (to prevent any overflow from burning on the bottom of your oven).
• Bake until pasta is completely tender and cooked through and sauce is bubbling up around the edges, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove foil and increase temperature to 450 degrees. Continue to bake until lasagna is golden brown on top with frilly, crispy edges and corners, another 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool slightly before eating.