Homemade Lasagna

This is going to look like a lot. It's not. Especially if you make sauce and meatballs and freeze them both. It's worth every second of extra time it takes to make it this way.

Lasagna Noodles
1/2 t salt
3 C flour
2 eggs
3 T water
1 t olive oil

You can either make them the traditional way by combining the dry ingredients, making a well, pouring in the wet ingredients and kneading into a ball. OR you can combine everything in your food processor, with the paddle attachment, and voila!

Once the dough is made, cut off pieces and run through your pasta maker. I set it on the highest setting and run it through. Then the lowest setting to get it as thin as it needs to be. Continue until you are finished with the entire ball of dough.

Bring a salted pot of water to boil. Cook the noodles. It takes less than two minutes so watch them carefully. Set aside.

Sugo
I use Big Mama's recipe and freeze it. It's better after it's been frozen and thawed. So take a container out of the freezer and thaw it.

White Sauce
1/4 C butter
1/4 C flour
3 1/2 C milk (do yourself a favor and use whole milk)

Melt butter. Whisk in flour. Whisk in milk. Bring to a boil. Reduce to medium until it thickens.

Cheese Mixture
1 container ricotta cheese
1 C parmesan cheese
1 egg
Salt
Pepper

Combine cheeses and egg together. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Meatballs
I always have meatballs in my freezer so I just cook them and then crumble into the pan. Or you can make fresh and just cook rather than rolling into balls.

2 lbs ground beef
1 lb sausage (spicy, if you like it)
2/3 C breadcrumbs
3 T minced garlic
1/2 finely chopped red onion
1 t dried basil
2 eggs
2 T water
1/4 C gorgonzola

Mix together everything but gorgonzola. Add cheese at the end and give it a quick mix. Either shape into meatballs (and then freeze) and cook or just cook the mixture for the lasagna.


Assembly
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 pan.

Spread some sugo across the bottom of the pan. Layer on noodles. Top with the cheese mixture. Top that with the meat. Then top with the white sauce. Sprinkle on mozzarella cheese. Repeat (it'll take three layers) - sugo, noodles, cheese mixture, meat, white sauce, mozzarella cheese.

Cover with foil and cook for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and cook another 15 minutes.

I leave the meat out for me and the other vegetarians in my life.

And there you have it! Super delicious homemade lasagna that will beat every other kind you try from here on out.

Ricotta Gnocchi and Scallops

I was watching Iron Chef and Cat Cora made ricotta gnocchi with some sweet butternut squash sauce and scallops. Because butternut squash is out of season and Iron Chef doesn't post their recipes, I had to come up with something on my own.

Here it is..richotta gnocchi and scallops with sweet corn, basil, walnuts, and brown butter. Holy cow is it good!

Ingredients
1 pound ricotta cheese, drained
1 egg
1 C shredded parmesan cheese
1/2 t kosher salt
1/4 C flour
1 t nutmeg

1 C sweet corn, cut off the stalks
1 T butter

3 T butter
1/4 C walnuts
15 basil leaves (I tore mine right from the plant in the garden)

2 scallops
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil

Directions
Ricotta Gnocchi
If your ricotta cheese is wet (you can buy it dry at Whole Foods), you'll have to wrap it in cheese cloth and hang it over a bowl to drain overnight.

Once dry, place the ricotta cheese in a bowl. Add the egg, parmesan cheese, salt, flour, and nutmeg. Mix together really well. Using either a pastry bag or a ziploc bag, fill it with the mixture. If using a ziploc, cut off the end so you can squeeze the mixture through.

Coat a cookie sheet with a pile of flour. Squeeze the mixture into one inch logs onto the flour. Coat the logs in flour and roll into balls.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Reduce heat to medium. Drop balls into the water. They rise to the top when they're finished cooking. Remove with a slotted spoon. Place in a warm oven to keep warm.

Spring Corn
Warm up the corn and butter in a small saucepan. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Keep on low until ready to use.

Brown Butter Sauce
Place butter, basil, and walnuts in a pan. Melt the butter and cook until it begins to turn brown.

Scallops
Carefully coat the scallops with salt and pepper. In a heated cast-iron pan coated with olive oil, place the coated side down. While it's cooking, add salt and pepper to the other side. Cook on medium high heat until a nice brown crust is created. Flip over and cook the other side.

Assembly
Place six to eight gnocchi in the bottom of a bowl. Add the corn and sauce. Top with scallops.

I know this looks like a lot of work, but it took less than 30 minutes, from beginning to end. And it's better than anything you can get in a restaurant. YUMMY!

Penne a la Vodka

I love a good tomato cream sauce, but I can't find one I love in the U.S. as much as I loved the sauce at Piazza Nuvona in Rome. We were there two years ago, and I came home dreaming about that sauce. The following recipe is as close as it gets.

Ingredients
1 quart Big Mama's Sugo Sauce
1 C vodka
1/2 C cream
1/2 C Parmesan cheese (I like the kind that comes in little squares vs. the grated kind)

Remove Big Mama's Sugo Sauce from the freezer and either let defrost in the refrigerator overnight or defrost in the microwave. I don't own a microwave so I always just place it in a pot, turn the heat on low, and let it defrost that way.

Over medium heat, let sauce and vodka simmer for about 30 minutes. It will begin to reduce a bit, but you want it to simmer long enough to cook out the alcohol. You will be able to taste whether or not it's all cooked out, but 30 minutes is enough time.

Add cream and Parmesan cheese and let simmer until heated through.

In a large stock pan, fill with water, some olive oil, and a small handful of salt. Bring to boil. Add penne (or rigatoni) and cook until al dente.

Drain pasta, add to a big bowl, and pour vodka sauce on top. Delicioso!

Big Mama's Sugo

When I got married, Kelly said to me, "Can you make my grandmother's pasta sauce?" So I called my mother-in-law and asked for the recipe. She sent me an email and this is what it said: Tomato sauce, water, wine, sugar, garlic.

It took a few years (and some changes of my own) before I perfected it. Now we keep pasta sauce in the freezer, at all times, for any occasion.

3 28-oz cans of tomato sauce
3 28-oz cans of water
1 C red wine (I usually use whatever I have in the house, but Yellow Tail is always dependable)
1 C light brown sugar
1/4 C crushed garlic (I use the garlic that comes in a jar - easier than trying to crush that many cloves)
3 bay leaves

Combine all ingredients in a large stock pot. Over high heat, bring to a boil. Let boil for 1 hour. Reduce heat to medium and let simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. It should reduce by half. Let cool. Remove and discard bay leaves. Divide into freezer-proof containers that are big enough for one meal. Freeze. Remove one at a time, as needed, for spaghetti, lasagna, rigatoni...whatever you want!

It's actually better if you let it freeze before you eat it. This allows the acid in the tomatoes to really combine with the rest of the flavors.

* Cooking note: Because it cooks for so long, the alcohol cooks out of the wine. It's in there for flavor, so it's safe for children and non-drinkers.