The Spiced Life

Musings & Recipes From My Kitchen

  • Home
  • About Me
  • FAQ
  • Dishes By Region
  • Archive and Index
  • Creative Cookie Exchange
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
You are here: Home / beef / Back In The Saddle: Daring Bakers’ Lasagne

Back In The Saddle: Daring Bakers’ Lasagne

March 27, 2009 By Laura 13 Comments

Sharing is caring!

  • Facebook
  • Yummly
  • Twitter
  • Email

And people wonder why I think counter space is a necessity for the Daring Bakers! This is the cooked noodles lying out to dry and waiting to be assembled–while I was still cooking more noodles.

You read that title right–although depending on how well you know me it could either be the Daring Baker part or the lasagne part startling you. I chose this month to re-join because I figured my life should be settling down soon (ha!). Little did I know that the challenge would be one of those ubiquitous dishes I get served in other people’s homes all the time–and that I don’t really love myself.

So I bet if you know me well you never thought I would be making lasagne completely from scratch, long simmering ragu, bechamel, and homemade spinach pasta included.

Suffice to say neither did I.

But I like that I did, because, as with all Daring Baker challenges, the sense of accomplishment at the end was pretty worthwhile.

As to the dish itself? I liked it but wish it had more ragu, which is usually my favorite part of lasagne. I did like that it had so many thin layers of noodles. John, who was the real test (he loves lasagne) loved it. I asked him more or less than others and he said it was so different from his other favorite lasagnes that he refused to say he liked it more but he did like it as much. He declared it was indeed worth MY effort. 😉 I said no thank you to a repeat so you better treasure it now, Mister.

The recipe is looong, so rather than type it all up, you can find it through one of these links to our hosts’ blogs. The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.

It was a 2 day affair. The first day I made the pasta and the ragu. The pasta was a hand-kneaded spinach and egg dough. A common complaint seemed to be that it was dry and mine was no different–and I wondered if I had squeezed my frozen spinach too dry. It was so hard that after adding some extra egg white, I put it in the mixer and kneaded it with the machine, spritzing it with water. When it looked to me like it would go through the roller (yes thank heavens we were allowed to use a roller), I hand kneaded it for a bit to get the feel. I rolled it through to the thinnest setting–in front of light you could see the shadow of my hand through the sheet, but I don’t have a good picture of that. Rather than hang dry it, I dried it on towels, a la my grandma.

For the ragu I only followed the recipe loosely, which was permitted. I used ground pork and beef from my freezer, I upped the onions and replaced the celery with bell pepper and of course added garlic as well. After that I followed the recipe basically, only increasing everything a bit since I had more meat than they called for.

The next day I made the bechamel, to which I added a handful of Asiago cheese, because I don’t really like white sauce. It was just enough to give it a salty tang. I used Asiago all through this recipe instead of Parm because that is what I keep on hand. Astoundingly I was able to make the entire lasagne out of my pantry!

Some people reported trouble getting all of their noodles into the lasagne and not having enough bechamel. I used my super gigantic deep dish casserole pan (thanks Mom in law!) and was able to use all of the lasagne noodles. I used about 2 tablespoons of bechamel every time it was called for, and had perfectly enough for the entire dish, although spreading it was a bit of a pain.

My entire family loved this, so I guess it is a shame I don’t like lasagne much. Actually the real shame is that my family–as in my siblings and parents–could not be here for it because they love traditional Italian food. Sorry guys!

Hey just a friendly reminder to send in your entries for my Grandma’s Recipes event. You have until April 11!

Filed Under: beef, casseroles, Daring Bakers, lasagne, pasta, pork Tagged With: beef, casserole, Italian, lasagna, lasagne, noodles, pasta, pork

« Baking With Kids: Granola
Taste & Create: Bollywood Biryani »

Comments

  1. Jo says

    March 27, 2009 at 9:17 am

    Great job on your challenge and I too like ragu sauce.

    Reply
  2. Lisa Michelle says

    March 27, 2009 at 12:03 pm

    It IS a shame that your parents and siblings couldn’t taste your beautiful lasagne! It looks so rich and mouth watering! I love that you were able to use ALL the pasta from the recipe. I couldn’t because my pan was screaming for mercy..lol I should have used my deep dish like you did!

    Awesome, awesome job, and you’re right, counter space is SO key, and I have yet to get that key LOL

    Reply
  3. hornedfroggy says

    March 27, 2009 at 12:30 pm

    Beautiful pics! Love the dish you used, too! 🙂

    Reply
  4. Elyse says

    March 27, 2009 at 4:30 pm

    Mmm, your lasagna looks totally delicious! Sorry the meal itself wasn’t right up your alley, but it definitely sounds like your family got a huge kick out of it! MMMM, it definitely looks worth all of your hardwork.

    Reply
  5. Natashya says

    March 27, 2009 at 4:32 pm

    It does look delish – even if it isn’t your favourite – congrats for mastering the recipe!

    Reply
  6. noble pig says

    March 27, 2009 at 11:07 pm

    You did good! It’s beautiful. I would have taken your piece since it’s not your fave!

    Reply
  7. Lauren says

    March 28, 2009 at 1:41 pm

    Mmm, your lasagne looks awesome!! Great job on this challenge =D!

    Reply
  8. Grace says

    March 28, 2009 at 2:16 pm

    ya done good, laura! green noodles are so much more appealing to me than pale yellow, and your sauce is outstanding. back with a bang. 🙂

    Reply
  9. Mary says

    March 28, 2009 at 2:26 pm

    Laura, this looks absolutely spectacular. Wonderful photos! Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

    Reply
  10. Zita says

    March 28, 2009 at 6:54 pm

    You sure did pick the right time on rejoining us,,, straight to hard labor 😉 but glad thet it’s worth it.

    Reply
  11. ice tea: sugar high says

    March 29, 2009 at 3:32 am

    Love your lasagna! too bad your rellies can’t taste the beautiful lasagna.

    Reply
  12. Susan/Wild Yeast says

    March 29, 2009 at 8:41 am

    Thanks goodness for counter space, that was what I was thinking too. Beautiful job!

    Reply
  13. Linsey says

    March 30, 2009 at 1:42 pm

    I love how your kitchen looks with all the sheets of pasta! I can relate to the chaos!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Hi! I’m Laura and I am a recovering history major who has re-channeled all of my passion for learning about the history of different countries to learning about their food culture. That doesn’t mean every dish on here is strictly authentic, but it does mean that even my adaptations are not undertaken lightly. My goal is to show you–by doing–that these dishes are possible in your kitchen. Including desserts because I have quite the sweet tooth! Read More…

Twitter Facebook Pinterest Instagram
Enter your email here and never miss a post!

Popular Posts

  • Restaurant Style Beef Vindaloo
  • Taralli Dolci di Pasqua (Southern Italian Easter Cookies): #CreativeCookieExchange
  • Moroccan Inspired Couscous Bowl with Ground Beef, Veggies and Caramelized Onions (redux)
  • Mexican Ramen Bowl
  • Grandma’s Beef and Noodles
  • North Indian Baked Eggs: Review of Seven Spoons
  • Bengali Mahi Mahi with Mustard Seeds
  • Saag Gosht (Beef in Fragrant Spinach Sauce)
  • Ash-e Anar (Persian Pomegranate Soup with Meatballs)
  • Middle Eastern Scrambled Eggs with Meat and Onion: Review of An Edible Mosaic

Copyright © 2008–2023 The Spiced Life