Classic Lasagna with Bechamel

  I made this lasagna last night for my mother-in-law’s Birthday. It’s been a couple of months since I’ve made my Dad’s famous bolognese sauce and it has been on my brain the past couple of weeks. Since it makes so much, we usually eat it a couple of nights in a week and freeze the rest. It is the perfect meal to feed a crowd so I decided to make it for Renee’s birthday dinner. At the last minute, I decided to have some fun and make lasagna with the sauce instead of spaghetti.

   I’m not a huge fan of ricotta cheese in lasagna, so I decided to go the classic route and use a béchamel instead. It is one of the simplest sauces to make and it can be used in a variety of dishes. The only ingredients you need for it are butter, flour, milk and a little nutmeg. Sometimes, it’s even better with a little cheese melted in, but for lasagna, I like to keep in simple. Believe me, there is PLENTY of cheese in this recipe!

  The bolognese gets better the longer it simmers. Mine cooked for about 6 hours before I assembled my lasagna. I only used about half of the sauce and saved the rest for another night. You could seriously feed an army with this sauce. It’s pretty well known around these parts as the best spaghetti sauce you’ll ever eat. So, even if you don’t want to brave the lasagna recipe, do yourself a favor and at least make some spaghetti, k?

   I'm a fan of what some refer to as a 'crunchy lid'. I would be happy to just peel off the entire top layer of the lasagna and have it for my meal. But, I settled for a nice big corner piece so everyone could enjoy the deliciousness that is the 'crunchy lid'.  If you are not interested in a nice brown top, just add some spaghetti sauce to the top layer before adding the cheese and it will be gooier. Gooier? Is that a word?

  Classic Lasagna with Bechamel
 (serves 8-10)

For the Bolognese:
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 large sweet onion, chopped
2-5 cloves garlic, minced ( of course I use all 5)
2 Tbsp olive oil
2Tbsp butter
2 large cans plum tomatoes
1 jar tomato basil sauce
1 small can tomato paste
1 lb ground beef
1lb sweet Italian sausage
dried Italian seasoning
1-2 Tbsp sugar
Fresh basil, chiffonade

For the Bechamel:
1/2 cup (1stick) butter
1/2 cup flour
3 cups milk
Pinch nutmeg
salt to taste

For the Lasagna:
12 lasagna noodles ( boiled 10 minutes, until al dente)
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese

To make the bolognese, brown beef and sausage til cooked through. Add some dried herbs, salt and pepper to taste; drain.
Meanwhile, saute the onion and bell pepper in olive oil and butter until translucent. Add minced garlic and saute another 2-3 minutes.
Combine veggies with meat and add tomatoes, tomato paste, jarred tomato sauce, and sugar. (Break the plum tomatoes up a little bit, depending on how chunky you want your sauce.) Season with more dried herbs, salt, and pepper to taste. Simmer on low for as long as possible. Add fresh basil just before serving.

To make the bechamel, melt butter in a saucepan over med-low heat. Once melted, add flour. Stir constantly until well combined and no lumps remain. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally. Be careful not to burn it!
Slowly add the milk, about a half cup at a time, stirring between each half cup until combined. Sauce should start to thicken up after each addition, but be careful that it doesn't get lumpy. After all milk has been added, add the nutmeg and salt to taste. Continue to cook the bechamel until it reaches a nice thick consistency ( about 5 minutes) stirring occasionally to avoid lumps. It is ready when it will coat the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat.

To assemble the lasagna, coat the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with bechamel. Layer 3 lasagna noodles, overlapping slightly. Cover noodles with a couple of ladles bolognese, more bechamel, and about a cup of mozzarella. Continue with 3 more lasagna noodles, bolognese, bechamel, and another cup mozzarella. Make one more layer of noodles, sauces and cheese. You should have 3 layers in all. Top final layer with 3 remaining lasagna noodles and cover with bechamel. (If you want the top to be gooey, add a little bolognese; if you want crunchy, just use a little bechamel.) Top with remaining cup of mozzarella and the Parmesan cheese.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, bake lasagna for 30 minutes. Raise temperature to 400 and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Keep an eye out to make sure it doesn't burn. You want the cheese to get brown and crispy but not burnt. Remove from oven and let rest for 15-20 minutes before slicing.

Serve with a green salad and garlic bread. Enjoy!

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

         I came across the recipe for Sour Cream Noodle Bake on Pinterest. It originally came from The Pioneer Woman, so you know it's good! She uses cottage cheese in her recipe, but I absolutely HATE cottage cheese so I used cream cheese instead. It turned out wonderfully and I've made it a few times. The recipe calls for 8oz of egg noodles, but I have only been able to find 12oz packages. Don't make the mistake I did and use the whole package anyway. Try to get as close to 8oz as possible because it will not be as yummy and creamy otherwise! This dish is so delicious and easy to throw together on a busy weeknight. I served it with garlic bread.

Sour Cream Noodle Bake
(adapted from The Pioneer Woman )

1 1/4lbs ground beef

1 15oz can tomato sauce

salt &pepper

8 ounces, weight egg noodles

1/2 cup sour cream

1 pkg cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sliced green onions (less to taste)

1 1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Brown ground beef in a large skillet. Drain fat, then add tomato sauce, salt, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Stir, then simmer while you prepare the other ingredients.
Cook egg noodles. Drain and set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine sour cream and cream cheese. Add plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Add to noodles and stir. Add green onions and stir.
To assemble, add half of the noodles to a baking dish. Top with half the meat mixture, then sprinkle on half the grated cheddar. Repeat with noodles, meat, then a final layer of cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until all cheese is melted.


Enjoy!

Posted by Ree on March 16 2011

 

Italian Meatloaf with Balsamic Glaze

     There are very few dishes I make time and time again.  I usually change recipes each time I make them. Sometimes, I only make small changes, and sometimes I change it up completely. But, I only make one kind of meatloaf. It's just that good. I probably like this meatloaf so much because of the Italian flavors, but it is also moist and delicious. Nothing is worse than dry, hard, bland meatloaf. Gross! This is none of those things. It's so flavorful and it literally falls apart on your plate. It was hard to get an actual 'slice' of meatloaf for the pictures. MMMmmm!
     I got this recipe out of my favorite cookbook, The Best of Cooking Light. Surprisingly, I follow the recipe almost exactly. The only thing I change is the topping. They use plain ketchup and ,of course, that just doesn't work for me. So, I decided to add a balsamic glaze and some cayenne pepper to the ketchup. Perfect! I served this with mashed potatoes and roasted carrots.

Italian Meatloaf with Balsamic Glaze
 Adapted from Cooking Light

1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes
1/2 cup ketchup
1 cup breadcrumbs (of course I use panko)
3/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped basil
1/2 cup shredded provolone
2 large egg whites
2 cloves garlic, minced (I use more :)
1lb ground beef
cooking spray
1/3 cup ketchup
3 Tbsp balsamic glaze
pinch cayenne pepper

Combine boiling water and tomatoes in a bowl, let stand about 30 minutes until soft. Drain and chop.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine tomatoes, 1/2 cup ketchup and next 7 ingredients. Shape into a loaf and place on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.
Stir together 1/3 cup ketchup, balsamic glaze, and cayenne pepper. Spread over top of meatloaf.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until temperature reaches 160 degrees. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.


Enjoy!!

Ranch Pot Roast

           Pot roast makes me think of my grandma. We used to have a family lunch every Sunday at her house. The whole family would come and we would have, what my cousin refers to as, 'The Feast'. It consisted of roast, creamed potatoes with gravy and a whole smorgasbord of different side dishes. Creamed corn, fried okra, green beans, sweet peas, cornbread, candied yams, and potato salad all made appearances at one time or another. We still have family get togethers on holidays and special occasions, but I will never forget all of those wonderful Sunday dinners growing up in my family.
     This pot roast isn't the feast my grandma would serve, but it is delicious and a lot more reasonable for a weeknight or lazy weekend meal. You can serve this over mashed potatoes, or throw a few quartered red potatoes right in the pot.

Ranch Pot Roast

4-5lb chuck roast
olive oil
4-5 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
2 onions, halved
16oz bag baby carrots
button mushrooms
rosemary
thyme
1 packet ranch seasoning
2-3 cups beef stock
salt&pepper


Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

  Heat a couple of tablespoons olive oil in a dutch oven over medium high heat. Add onion halves and brown on all sides, remove from pan and set aside. Repeat with carrots.
  Season roast with salt&pepper. If needed, add a little more oil to pan and brown roast on all sides. Add in garlic and cook another minute. Remove roast from pan and deglaze with one cup beef stock, scraping all the little bits of flavor from the bottom of the pan.
   Put roast, onions, carrots, and mushrooms back in the pan, along with a few sprigs of fresh rosemary and thyme.
   Mix ranch seasoning with remaining stock and add to pan, using enough to cover roast half way.
Put lid on and place in 275 degree oven. Leave it for 4-5 hours until roast is cooked through and tender.
   Remove roast from pan and shred using 2 forks. Serve, with vegetables, over mashed potatoes.

Yumm!
 

Tacos with Chipotle Ranch and Corn Salsa

       
       These are not your average tacos. They are clean, fresh, and so very simple. I can't wait to make them in the summer when all of the vegetables are even tastier. They start with the typical seasoned ground beef (chicken would be delicious too) and shredded cheese, but they are topped with creamy avacado, fresh corn salsa and a smoky chipotle ranch dressing. I used Boston lettuce leaves to save some extra calories, but I'm sure it would be delicous wrapped in a warm flour tortilla. The homeade Chipotle Ranch starts out with a recipe I've been using lately from Jason and Shawnda but I added canned chipotle peppers to give it a nice smoky flavor. I made the ranch and the corn salsa during Ethan's nap so it would have a couple of hours for the flavors to meld. You don't have to make it ahead, but it's way tastier if you do :)


Tacos with Chipotle Ranch and Corn Salsa


For the Ranch:
3/4 cup mayonnaise

3/4 cup sour cream

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1/4 to 1/2 cup buttermilk

1 small bunch of chives

Small handful of parsley

1 clove garlic

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp white pepper

2-3 chipotle peppers

Place all ingredients in a blender, using less buttermilk for dip and more for dressing. (I used about 1/3 cup) Blend until smooth.

Store in air-tight jar for a week or more in the fridge.

For the salsa:

2 ears yellow corn

2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped

1/2 large bell pepper, chopped

1 small tomato, seeded and chopped

3 green onions, whites and greens chopped

juice of one lime

salt to taste

Wrap corn in paper towels and microwave about 7 minutes; let cool. Scrape kernals into a bowl and add remaining ingredients; stir to combine.

Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

For the tacos:

1lb ground beef

3/4 cup water

taco seasoning

    1  tsp chili powder

    1  tsp onion powder

    1/2  tsp cumin

    1/2  tsp paprika

    1/4 tsp garlic powder

    1/4 tsp seasoning salt

    1/8 tsp cayenne

    1/8 tsp white pepper

Combine spices in a small bowl. Brown beef in skillet until cooked through. Drain if nessecsary. Return to pan with seasonings and water. Cook until most of the water has evaporated.

 Layer lettuce leaves or tortillas with ground beef, shredded cheese, corn salsa, chipotle ranch, and avacado. Enjoy!