They say lasagna is not just an Italian dish.It is rather a way of life. Probably, there are no people who would not like this casserole. In fact, lasagna is very easy to prepare. This is baked layered dough. Between its layers is the filling and sauce. From above, as a rule, it is covered with cheese crust. Nowadays, lasagna has become an almost international dish that any hostess can concoct at home. You can try it in all countries of the world, including Russia. To do this, do not need to go to a restaurant. Today we will learn how to cook lasagna. Recipes with photos of this pasta product will be presented to your attention later.
We are used to the fact that lasagna isAn integral part of Italian cuisine. But historians say that the progenitor of the dish appeared from the ancient Greeks. They were preparing round thin tortillas of wheat flour called "laganon". And between them put the stuffing. Then in Rome, the word turned into "lasanon". And then they began to call it a dish of special, pasta dough with filling, baked in the oven. The English compete with the Greeks and Italians. They believe they were the first to learn how to make lasagna. They say they served such a dish with a similar name even at the English royal court in the fourteenth century. Nor are Scandinavians lagging behind, claiming that bread cakes with meat sauce and cheese were almost on the table with the Vikings ... But it was the Italian recipe that became classic. With him and his variations, we are here and take a look.
It is believed that almost every inhabitant of thissunny Mediterranean country knows how to cook lasagna. But the first connoisseurs of this dish were residents of the province of Emilia-Romagna. They made him popular not only in his own country, but throughout the world. Lasagna by the rules is prepared from six sheets of dough. Put the stuffing on each layer. Sprinkle with cheese on top and place a few pieces of butter. It is believed that the best chefs for cooking this dish work in small rural taverns. In addition, Italians often like to experiment with the filling, using different varieties of cheese. For example, you can meet not only Parmesan, but also ricotta and mozzarella. And the Italians consider bechamel the best sauce for lasagna.
But we want to learn how to cook homemadelasagna The photo of this dish is so appetizing that you want to try it not only in an Italian restaurant. Of course, the fastest way to do it is from ready-made sheets of dough. Moreover, they can be bought in almost any supermarket. But we will devote a few words to how it should be. Lasagna dough is similar to what is used to make the famous Italian pasta. It should consist only of durum wheat flour. You will also need a quarter cup of cold water, one tablespoon of olive oil. For 400 grams of flour, two eggs are usually taken. Flour is sifted for fluffiness and mixed with salt. Then other products are added. The dough is kneaded into a bowl, covered with a napkin to protect it from drying out, and left for half an hour. And then they roll out very thinly - about 1 millimeter - and cut out rectangles. Lasagna sheets are dried on both sides. They can be frozen and stored or immediately proceed to the preparation of the dish itself.
But since most housewives will stillbuying ready-made sheets of dough, most of this article we will devote to how to make this dish at home in such a way as not to spend too much time. To start pick up all the necessary products. The classic Italian lasagna Bolognese will serve as a model for us. On her example, we will quickly learn the recipe, and then we will tell our acquaintances how to make lasagna with minced meat with ready-made sheets of dough. So, we will need one package of special pasta. You should also take about 800 grams of ground beef, half a kilo of Parmesan cheese, two large juicy tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, vegetable oil (olive oil is best), and spices (salt, pepper, a mixture of Italian or Provencal herbs). These are the basic components from which we will make the filling.
Even with ready-made sheets of dough, you need to know howcook them properly and how to cook lasagna quickly. Put the pot of water on the fire, wait for the boil, add some salt. You can add a spoonful of olive oil there. Then lay the sheets of pasta dough. Cook for 9-11 minutes or as indicated on the package. Then we throw them in a colander, shake and pour with cold water (or wash it in). This is done so that the sheets do not stick together. We set them apart and proceed to the next stage.
Step number 1. Heat the pan, pour a little bit of oil. On it we fry ground beef. We salt, we pepper, we put spices.
Step number 2. We make mashed potatoes from tomatoes and tomato paste - for example, in a food processor.
Step number 3. Grind Parmesan on a coarse grater.
Step 4. Add the tomato mixture to the roasting mincemeat. All this is heated so that the filling began to boil. On a small fire bring it to thicken.
If you are going to descend to visit, we will prepareBolognese type filling. We need three types of minced meat: beef, pork and veal. We will take them in proportion 250/250/150. Also in the filling will go two varieties of ham - bacon and prosciutto - three or four slices. Vegetables will need onions (1 head), 2 carrots, 2 celery stalks, 2 cups of mashed tomatoes and 340 grams of sliced mushrooms. Liquid ingredients will also be needed. One glass of chicken broth and white wine, as well as 150 grams of heavy cream. From greens - a large handful of chopped parsley. Well, the spices - nutmeg, cloves, salt, pepper.
A photo of how to make this dish,beautifully illustrate the ease of the process. But for the festive version, we will complicate it a bit and make a special stuffing “Bolognese”. How to cook lasagna with such a filling?
Step # 1. Heat a mixture of olive and butter in a pan.
Step # 2. Fry the finely chopped bacon and prosciutto.
Step # 3. Just a minute later, add chopped vegetables (except tomatoes and mushrooms). They are extinguished on a small fire until they are softened.
Step number 4. Spread stuffing. While they are preparing, pour the broth and wine. All this continue to simmer until thickened.
Step # 5. Add tomatoes, nutmeg and cloves. If necessary, pour hot water. This mixture should simmer for 45 minutes over low heat.
Step number 6. Well, at the end add the rest of the ingredients and - before turning off the heat - cream.
This is a very simple sauce of French origin.But the Italians prefer it to anyone else. If you want to know how to cook lasagna successfully at home, learn how to make it. It is necessary to melt three tablespoons of butter in the pan. When it becomes liquid, add the same amount of flour, stirring all the time so as not to burn. As long as the mass in the pan does not boil and turn brownish, it should be heated. In the meantime, prepare two glasses of warm milk. Begin to add a thin stream of milk to the oil-flour mixture. Continue stirring, otherwise lumps form, and the sauce will not acquire a velvety structure. Do it better with a wooden spoon. When the sauce thickens, the fire can be turned off.
As you can see, cook lasagna at homeconditions are not so difficult. We just have to bake it. To do this, we take the form - the best is a cast-iron square or rectangular baking sheet with high walls. Cooks also recommend ceramic or refractory glass molds. Metal trays must have a non-stick coating. At the bottom of the form pour a little bechamel. This sauce is evenly distributed over the surface. Next we will have boiled sheets of dough for lasagna. Then lay out the stuffing "Bolognese." It is called so, because this filling is similar to the sauce for the eponymous spaghetti dish. Grease bechamel. And on top we sprinkle all with grated parmesan. It can be replaced by other varieties of hard cheese, such as Dutch. We alternate the layers again, and then again, until the products run out. At this time, heat the oven to 190 degrees. Now we send there our form lasagna. And after 40 minutes, you can already pull it out.
Modern Italians are not "orthodox" inareas of how to cook lasagna. Photos of this dish with different fillings adorn the culinary magazines in Rome, Naples and Bologna. Not only ground beef is used in lasagne. Fish and seafood, chicken and ham, zucchini and eggplant, zucchini and eggplant, spinach and mushrooms - everything goes in the business. Interesting combinations of beef, chicken and pineapple. Neapolitans prefer the filling of milled boiled squid, shrimp and mussels. They are stewed with tomato sauce, parsley and nutmeg. And in the coastal cities often used stuffing of fish and eggs with spices and herbs. They love in Italy and minced vegetables and mushrooms. It is believed that mushrooms, eggplants, zucchini, onions and bell peppers are best suited to each other. Roasted vegetables are also stewed with tomatoes and spices. There are even dessert lasagna with sweet fillings - from nuts, poppy, berries and fruit. In a word, you can experiment with any products.
In addition to the classic bechamel sauce, you canpick up other variations of seasonings for lasagne at home. How to make such gravies? You can replace milk in bechamel with cream or rich bazaar sour cream. Sometimes for lasagna make gravy on broths. And it happens that they use tomato sauces with smoked meats. The main thing is that there was a lot of gravy, and she soaked both stuffing and dough layers. Then the lasagna will come out excellent. And sweet, dessert variants of this dish are poured on top with chocolate topping and whipped cream.
This hero of the famous comic series isthe most popular "fan" of the Italian dish from sheets of dough with filling. To understand what the hero likes so much, you need to know how to make pasta made from macaroni and cheese. For this we need half a pack of sheets for this dish. This is about 230-250 grams. Then take the same amount of grated mozzarella cheese and two glasses of ricotta. But that is not all. We also need a third type of cheese - parmesan. We need him half a glass. And now a little salt, pepper and one egg, which we shake with a fork. While the sheets of lasagna are boiled, mix all the products in a bowl. Separately prepare the tomato sauce. We make it from two glasses of tomato puree, 100-150 grams of various finely chopped vegetables (mushrooms with onions or spinach are ideal). We mix these ingredients with oregano and olive oil (both take two tablespoons). Then take the dishes for baking. Lubricate it with oil. We lay on the bottom layer of cooked flat pasta for lasagna. Cover with a piece of minced cheese and grease with sauce. So we repeat until the dough is over - but it is better to stay on six layers. Since there is no meat in this lasagna, it is cooked faster. Therefore, we bake it for 20 minutes in the oven at 190 degrees.
So we learned with you how to cooklasagna Now let's see how to serve it to the table. First of all, the dish should be hot. Therefore, lasagna is served immediately after preparation. Although some advise to keep the dish at room temperature for about ten minutes. They decorate lasagna with green leaves, most often with basil. When serving, it is cut into portions. On the table, lasagna is placed on a large, heated plate or directly in the form in which it is baked.
