True Italian Lasagna

Lasagna in Italy, not the cheesy, saucy stuff we make here in the US, is a very involved process.  It all starts with a soffritto, followed by a meat ragu and if you REALLY like the people you are cooking for, you make the pasta.  It is the only way to achieve the thin, thin layers that melt in your mouth and help give the lasagna its light texture.  But it is a labor of love that takes patience and proper timing.

The first time I had this amazing dish was in Tuscany last year on our wine and food tour.  Antonio's sister knows an Italian nonna who is in her 80's and makes the best lasagna you've ever eaten.  She made us two big pans that arrived at our villa still warm from the oven, and we served outside in the garden with some delicious Cortona red wines.  It takes her 2 days to make it, and now having done it myself, I know why.

I've been doing a series of posts on the recipes for the soffritto, the ragu, the pasta and the besciamella; now it's time to put it all together!  It's best to make this over a two day period....the links to the recipes are highlighted in orange below.

First Day
Step One:  Make the Soffritto
Like the Holy Trinity of New Orleans cuisine, a "soffritto" is the starting point for many Italian soups, sauces and stews. While locally we use equal parts onion, celery and green peppers, in Italy the base is usually a combination of carrots, onion and celery with the proportions of each depending on what you are cooking.

To begin to make the meat ragu, I first need the soffritto.  Using the recipe in Frances Mayes new Tuscan Sun cookbook, I began the long journey to tomorrow's lasagna!

First Day

Step Two:  Make the Ragu
Every cook in Italy has their own ragu recipe, variations on a theme of ground mixed meats, tomatoes, soffritto, herbs and spices.  But one thing that remains constant is the love and care that goes in to making the perfect ragu.  I don't claim to have achieved it yet, but I've learned a few tricks along the way that have helped me get a wonderfully flavorful sauce that can be used in many dishes.  I like to make a big pot, use some and freeze the rest for a quick tagliatelle on a busy day.

Second Day
Step Three:  Make the Dough
I have two pasta dough recipes that I use on a regular basis, one is from Lidia Bastianich, the other is from Francis Mayes.  I like them both equally as much, but when I made the lasagna I used Frances Mayes and I thought the texture and pliability of this dough was ideal for achieving the thin sheets needed for this dish.  The ingredients vary ever so slightly and the process is the same.  I use a kitchen aid mixer for the initial blending, kneed the dough by hand and after it has rested I use the pasta attachment for my mixer to roll the sheets. In this post I'll take you to the point where the dough is resting, before you roll it.

Second Day
Step Four:  Make the Besciamella
So your dough is currently resting and you have time to make your besciamella before we start assembling the dish.  Either of these recipes will give you the desired affect of adding a wonderful creaminess to your layers of lasagna, read through them both and decide what you have the energy for!

Step Five:  Assembling the Lasagana


Remaining Ingredients
-1 lb fresh egg pasta dough resting
-5 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated
-2-5 oz. balls of mozzarella
-a handful of fresh sage leaves
-olive oil


-Preheat you oven to 350 degrees F and butter a large baking dish. Put a big pot of salted water with a good glug of oil on the stove for the pasta.

-Reheat your  ragu and put keep your white sauce on the stove at a very low heat,  to keep it warm and make it easier to work with.

-Roll out your pasta dough
Rolling the dough with a pasta machine (I used the Kitchen Aid attachments). Cut the ball of dough into 6 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a rectangle about 5x3 inches. Lightly flour the pasta rectangles and cover them with a kitchen towel. Set the rollers of the pasta machine to the widest setting. Pass one of the pasta rectangles through the rollers long side first, then pass it though the rollers a second time. Keep the dough lightly floured-just enough to prevent if from sticking to the rollers. Reduce the width by one setting and pass the piece of dough through the rollers again. Support the dough with your hand as it comes through the rollers-don't pull it though, or the dough will shrink so it is narrower than the width of the rollers.


Continue working with the piece of dough and reducing the width one setting each time until the dough has been passed through to the proper setting. (Each pasta machine is different. I finish with the next to the thinnest one);You want to roll out strips of pasta that are about 3 x 10 inches depending on the size of your pan. I made mine a little longer and wider to accommodate the round shape of my pan.  Always keep the pieces of dough that aren't being rolled covered with a towel. If you find the dough is very elastic, let all pieces rest for 5 to 10 minutes before continuing.

When you have rolled one of your pieces of dough into the correct size, blanch 2 strips at a time in the boiling water and cover the bottom of the baking dish with pasta strips, letting them hang over the edges.  Put down a layer of meat sauce, then some white sauce and a sprinkling of fresh Parmesan.  Roll and blanch another piece of dough and continue to repeat the process until you run out of ragu. But keep back enough white sauce for a final layer on top.


Fold the over the pasta ends from the edges and top with the white remaining sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan, tear the mozzarella over the top, scatter your sage leaves and drizzle with olive oil. Bake in the preheated over for 45 minutes or so until golden.


Prepare to "wow" your friends and family...

All of this effort deserved a fine wine so we opened a gorgeous 2001 Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino signed by the Marchesi di Frescobaldi himself when he was in the shop one day way back when...

Savory Pumpkin Ravioli in Sage and Butter

I managed to get out of town for a few days this weekend and took a quick trip to visit my family in Pennsylvania.  The cool fall weather and changing leaves have been a refreshing change from the still way to hot temperatures in New Orleans!  I always like to cook something special when I'm here and the abundance of autumn veggies and gourds inspired me to make homemade Pumpkin Ravioli.  My sous chef Rika and I spent the afternoon on Sunday making fresh pasta and while they weren't too sure about pumpkin and sage together, the meal was a hit even with the most picky eaters.

My standard fresh pasta recipe is Lidia Bastianich's from her book Lidia's Italian Table. It is simple, delicate and comes out perfect every time I've made it. I use my Kitchen Aid Mixer or the initial blending and then add the pasta roller attachments  when it is time to roll it out. When possible, I like to use farm fresh eggs (the fresher the better) that we buy at the Crescent City Farmer's Market. Click here for my step by step instructions for making fresh pasta, Pasta all'Uovo, Basic Egg Pasta.

Once you have gotten to the point in the dough recipe where you "Roll the dough into a smooth ball. Place the dough in a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest for at least 1 hour at room temperature, or up to 1 day in the refrigerator, before rolling and shaping the pasta. If the dough has been refrigerated, let it stand at room temperature for at least 1 hour before rolling and shaping.", you can now make the filling while the dough is resting.

Makes 6 generous servings

For the filling:
    16 oz. ricotta cheese (about 2 cups)
    16 oz. pumpkin puree
    1 egg
    1 teaspoon Kosher salt
    Freshly grated nutmeg

For the sauce (to dress about 1/3 of the ravioli):
    1 stick unsalted butter
    20 sage leaves (plus additional for garnish, if desired)
    Handful Almond Slivers
   1/4 cup pine nuts
    Kosher salt
    Parmesan shavings

 While the pasta dough rests, combine the ricotta, pumpkin, egg, Kosher salt, and some freshly ground nutmeg in a mixing bowl. Set aside. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicon mat and lightly flour.

 Once the dough has rested, use a pasta machine to roll the pasta out into thin, wide sheets. I did not have my ravioli mold with me, so we used a juice glass for round ravioli.  I like to lightly mark the pasta sheets with the glass before I spoon on the filling.  Place spoons of the filling in the circles on the dough, and using a small brush, lightly dampen the edges with water to help seal.  Top with another sheet of pasta dough.  Using the glass, press down through both sheets to cut, pinch the edges with your fingers, dust with flour and place on the baking sheet.  At this point you can cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to a day before you do the final steps.

The pine nuts and almonds are a garnish and need to be roasted/toasted until they darken slightly, be careful not to burn them.  Once you've done this, grind about 2/3 of the mixture, leaving the other third whole, combine the two and set aside until you're ready to garnish.

To prepare the ravioli, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil for about 5 minutes, in batches, pushing the ravioli back down into the boiling water with a wooden spoon as it floats to the top.  Drain the ravioli and set aside.

Meanwhile, brown the butter in a large skillet.  Add the sage and cook for a few extra minutes. Transfer the ravioli to the pan and toss gently in the sauce.  Serve immediately topped with the nut mixture and some shaved Parmesan cheese.

Savory Bites

...offering tidbits of information on interesting discoveries in the food and wine scene of New Orleans.


Remember This Label - How could you not? Exciting, tiny production, Napa Valley wine with attitude; vending machine wines, coming soon to a wine shop near you...be ready.


Chef Dan's Delectable Dough - Besides trying Chef Daniel Esses' infamous pastas dishes every Friday night at Swirl, you can purchase his freshly made fettuccine, ravioli, gnocchi and tagliatelle as well as his homemade sauces at the Tuesday and Thursday Crescent City Farmers Market. Want to learn how to make it yourself? Join Dan on Tuesday, March 23 for his pasta demonstration class at Swirl where he gives you hands on lessons making 3 different pastas and sauces while we pair them with our favorite wines. Call us.

Lasagne alla Cacciatora

I've been eyeing this recipe from Jamie's Italy for quite sometime, but wasn't sure when I would have the time or the occasion to attempt in. A dinner this weekend at our friend Rachel's house with a group of friends gave me the opportunity to give it a shot and the result was pretty darn fabulous!

While traveling through Italy doing research for his book, Jamie stayed on the Petrolo estate in Tuscany during harvest and cooked lunch for the grape pickers. His Lasagne alla Cacciatora is not a complicated recipe, but as I talked about in my post on Italian cooking and this book, one with many steps that allows you to achieve something really special in a simple dish like lasagna.

This is not something quick that you could throw together with short notice. It takes time and planning and by making it this weekend, I learned a few tips I can share with you that Jamie did not talk about. I've also adapted quite a few things so the recipe is not word for word like his. One thing that is great about it is that it is really three recipes in one, roasted pork, ragu and a white sauce could all be prepared on their own or combined as they are in the complete recipe.

Called Hunter's Stew because it contains a lot of wild game, I chose to use roasted pork instead for the meat. The first recipe is for the pork which can stand alone as a great recipe as well. Roast your pork the day before you are going to make the lasagna.

1. Step One - Day before, roast the pork. Click here to go to the Porchetta Recipe. Once the pork has cooled it needs to be shredded and kept refrigerated until you need it the next day.


2. Step Two - The morning of, make your pasta dough and let rest until you need it later in the afternoon. I used fresh pasta for this as Jamie did in his recipe, but you could use dried noodles as well. Click here to go to the Fresh Pasta recipe.


3. Step Three - While pasta is resting, make the tomato sauce. This can be started anytime during the day. If you are going to wait do it all together you will probably need a good 3 hours in the kitchen before you serve the lasagna. If you make the sauce ahead of time, it will help you with timing later when you are trying to put everything together.

Tomato Sauce Ingredients
-olive oil
-3 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
-a sprig of fresh rosemary
-3 bay leaves
-3 14-oz. cans of San Marzano tomatoes
-1lb. 6 oz. roasted shredded Porchetta

Directions
Heat a pan with a splash of oil. Slowly fry the garlic until lightly colored, then add the rosemary, bay leaves and tomatoes. Cook gently for 45 minutes with a lid on. Add your shredded meat to the tomato sauce with a little hot water if it is too dry, and season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 20 more minutes, stirring every now and then. Remove the rosemary and bay leaves. Turn off heat and cover until you are read to start preparing the lasagna.



4. Step 4 - Two hours before dinner, make the white sauce. Again this is a beautiful Bechamel style sauce that can be used for other dishes as well, including serving it over pasta.

White Sauce Ingredients
-1-3/4 pints of milk
-a sprig of fresh parsley
-a pinch of nutmeg
-1/2 onion, peeled and sliced
-6 black peppercorns
-6 tablespoons of butter, plus extra for greasing
-1/2 cup all purpose flour
-5-1/2 oz. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
-sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions
Put the milk, parsley, nutmeg, onion and peppercorns into a pot. Heat to just below the boiling point.

While milk is heating take a deep pan and melt the butter. Begin to slowly add in the flour and stir until it is totally mixed in. By this time your milk should be ready. Take it off of the stove and strain out herbs and onions. Begin adding the strained milk to the butter and flour a ladle full at a time mixing it in completely before you add another. You should have a very smooth white sauce. Bring to a low boil, simmer a few minutes and then take off the heat. Mix in the Parmesan and season.


5. Step 5 - Preheat you oven to 350 degrees F and butter a large baking dish. Put a big pot of salted water with a good glug of oil on the stove for the pasta.

6. Step 6 - Reheat your pork ragu and put your white sauce back on the stove at a very low heat, just to warm it and make it easier to work with.

7. Step 7 - Roll out your pasta dough and prepare lasagna.

Remaining Ingredients
-1 lb fresh egg pasta dough
-Parmesan cheese for grating
-2-5 oz. balls of mozzarella
-a handful of fresh sage leaves
-olive oil

Pasta Directions
My recipe makes 2 lbs of dough so you can either cut the ingredients in half or use the rest for some fettuccine or other type of pasta. You want to roll out strips of pasta that are about 3 x 10 inches. Blanch 2 or 3 strips at a time in the boiling water and cover the bottom of the baking dish with pasta strips, letting them hang over the edges. Put down a layer of meat sauce, then some white sauce and a sprinkling of fresh Parmesan and repeat the layers until you run out of meat. But keep back enough white sauce for a final layer on top.


Fold the over the pasta ends from the edges and top with the white remaining sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan, tear the mozzarella over the top, scatter your sage leaves and drizzle with olive oil. Bake in the preheated over for 45 minutes or so until golden.


Prepare to "wow" your friends and family...

We served this with our last bottle of the 2001 Poliziano Asinone Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. A fabulous pairing, we're sad to see it go, but have many fond memories of it over the past few years.