A COMPLETE MEAL IN ITSELF A pan of lasagna will please everyone at your dinner table
Lasagna is one of those dishes best eaten a day or more after it is made, so the flavors have a chance to marry and the components can bond more firmly. That can be quite helpful at this time of year, when we are perhaps a bit burned out from all of that holiday cooking.
A complete meal in itself, no sides are necessary with lasagna, though a green salad can add a welcome crunch factor. Lasagna is easily adaptable for vegetarians and can be made with glutenfree lasagna noodles for those who do not eat wheat. Want to cut down on dishes, too? No-boil lasagna noodles reduce preparation time and pot washing.
Classic lasagna Bolognese uses a ragu — slow-cooked meat sauce — rather than ground beef simmered in marinara, and a bechamel in place of the layers of ricotta and mozzarella that we are accustomed to here in America. Although you can’t taste it, Anthony Bourdain’s ragu includes chicken liver for even more richness and depth of flavor. His lasagna Bolognese also uses no-boil lasagna noodles for easier assembly.
Lorenza Munoz makes a vegetarian Mexican lasagna using popular Mexican ingredients such as rajas — strips of poblano chile sauteed with onions — in place of the meat and her own blend of sour cream and cotija cheese to make “Mexican ricotta.”
Packed with fresh spinach, portobello mushrooms, artichokes and gooey mozzarella, Cafe Roka’s artichoke and portobello mushroom lasagna is all about a hearty texture.
Most people wouldn’t guess it is vegetarian.
Spend a few hours making it — or any of these delicious lasagna recipes — and you’ll have many meals’ worth of heat-and-eat dinners on hand.
Time: 2 hours
Makes: 10 to 12 servings 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, medium dice
1 pound portobello mushrooms, medium dice
1 pound coarsely chopped spinach
cup dry white wine
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (14-ounce) can artichokes (packed in water), drained and coarsely chopped
Salt and pepper cup (½ stick) butter cup flour
4 cups milk
1 cups grated Parmesan cheese 1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
Ground nutmeg
1 (9-ounce) box oven-ready lasagna sheets (no-boil style)
1 pound grated whole milk mozzarella
1. Bring a large pot of water to boil to blanch the spinach.
2. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat until hot, then add the olive oil and the onion. Cook the onion, stirring frequently, until the onion starts to soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Increase the heat to high, stir in the mushrooms and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until any of the liquid released from the mushrooms has
Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Makes: 8 to 12 servings
8 poblano chiles
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
onion, cut into rounds
1 cup corn kernels
1 chopped garlic clove
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup vegetable broth
1 (8-ounce) container sour cream
15 ounces (1 10-ounce packages) cotija cheese, divided
9 pieces oven-ready lasagna
6 ounces quesadilla cheese (½ of a 12-ounce package), shredded
1. Prepare the chiles: Roast the chiles under the broiler or over a stove-top burner until the skin is charred on all sides. Peel the skin and seed the chiles, then cut lengthwise into long strips.
2. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
3. In a large saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the corn and chile strips, reduce the heat to low and continue to cook until the corn and chiles are warmed through. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. In a medium saucepan, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until aromatic, about 1
combine the sour cream with of the cotija cheese and blend until creamy but lumpy. (This can also be done by hand in a large bowl using the back of a spoon.) 6. Line base of 13-by-9-inch baking or casserole dish with 3 lasagna noodles. Add of corn-chile mixture, distributing evenly over the noodles. Dollop of the sour cream-cotija mixture over the corn and chiles. Place 3 more noodles in the pepper, along with a pinch of nutmeg, or season as desired.
the oven to 350 degrees and assemble the lasagna: On the bottom of a 13-by 9-inch baking dish, ladle about 1 cup of the tomato-bechamel sauce. Cover the sauce with a single layer of lasagna noodles. Sprinkle of the vegetable mixture over the noodles, then ladle over another cup of the sauce. Top the sauce with of the grated mozzarella. Repeat with the noodles, vegetables, sauce and mozzarella until you have 4 layers.
(If you have more than one cup of sauce left when assembling the fourth layer, go ahead and pour all the remaining sauce with that layer before sprinkling over the last of the mozzarella cheese.) The dish can be assembled up to this point, covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated up to a day before baking; remove the plastic wrap and leave the lasagna out at room temperature while heating the oven before continuing with the next step.
7. Cover baking dish with foil and place dish on rimmed baking sheet to catch any drippings. Bake the lasagna for 45 minutes. Increase the temperature to 450 degrees, remove the foil from the lasagna and continue baking until the top is lightly browned, 8 to 12 minutes. Remove and cool slightly on a rack for 20 minutes before serving.
Time: Makes:
Bechamel sauce
Mexican lasagna
Cafe Roka’s artichoke and portobello mushroom lasagna
Anthony Bourdain’s lasagna Bolognese
stir in the tomato paste over medium heat. Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring regularly, to marry the flavors. Add the wine, bring to a boil and cook until the wine is reduced by half, then add the milk and bay leaves and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 1 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally. You may need to add a bit of water (or chicken or veal stock, if you have it) to thin the sauce if it thickens too much.
3. Taste the sauce and season with 1 teaspoon salt and several grinds of pepper, or as needed. Remove from heat and stir to release the steam and allow it to cool slightly. Skim the fat off the top with a ladle and discard.
4. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
5. Coat the inside of a 13-inch by 9-inch (or similar size) baking dish with the remaining tablespoon oil. Cover the bottom of the dish with a layer of bechamel. Sprinkle over some grated cheese, then top with a layer of noodles. Top the noodles with a layer of Bolognese sauce, and repeat with the bechamel, grated cheese, noodles and Bolognese until the pan is filled to the top.
The top layer should be Bolognese, dotted with bechamel, with thin slices of mozzarella laid across the top.
the baking dish on a foil-lined sheet pan and bake in the oven until the lasagna is browned on top and beginning to bubble, about 50 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool. If you must serve it the day you’ve made it, set it aside to rest for 15 minutes before slicing. For best results, allow the lasagna to cool completely and refrigerate overnight. The next day, reheat at 350 degrees, covered loosely with foil, until bubbling. Remove from heat and rest 20 minutes before serving.