How to prepare Lasagne

Lasagne are both a form of pasta in sheets and also a dish, sometimes named lasagne al forno (meaning "oven-cooked lasagne") made with alternate layers of pasta, cheese, and often ragù (a meat sauce) or tomato sauce.

It’s not commonly known that lasagne is an ancient dish ,back to Ancient Roman time, called lagana .In Apulia lagana is the word used for the dough prepared with the rolling pin.

Till recently ,it was common to have lasagne as a family Sunday dish. They represented family warmth and family feeling. Grandma started on Saturday preparing the ragù and its perfume slowly invaded the home and then ,on early Sunday morning, she went on preparing the dough and dish .Nowadays preparation is sometimes much faster using already prepared lasagne pasta and sauces. It can be much faster to use ready-prepared lasha sheets, we would not suggest yiu the ready prepared ragù!

Each Regional cooking has diversified and developed its own type of lasagna , with variations in comparison to the original recipe. Some recipes call for more than one cheese, most often ricotta and mozzarella. Mozzarella is made in the south of Italy, so the use of these two cheeses is typical of lasagne made in Naples or further south. Lasagne al Ragù uses only Parmigiano Reggiano, ragù sauce and nutmeg flavoured béchamel sauce (besciamella). In Liguria pesto is typically used , and probably this gave the main idea for the modern creation of vegetarian lasagne.

Lasagne

for Bolognese sauce

200 g lean ground beef

50 g onion50 gr. Celery

3 spoonfuls of tomato

concentrate sauce

15 gr. butter

1 spoonful of oil

salt,pepper

15 gr. dried mushrooms(optional)

white or red wine

For the béchamel

40 g Butter

40 g Flour

1 l. milk

nutmeg

salt and pepper

for pasta

500 gr Fresh or dry lasagne

Parmigiano reggiano

Chop the onion and the celery ,saute with butter and oil. Add the beef, salt and pepper.

Stir often, until cooked. Add the wine and allow to evaporate. Add the tomato sauce (which has been diluted with two glass of hot water and the mushrooms. Cook for one hour on low heat, slowly adding a little water. taste for correct amount of salt and pepper.

Prepare the béchamel: in a pot melt the butter, add the flour and then pour the milk stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Season with salt and a little nutmeg then bring to boil. Let cook for 10 minutes.

Prepere the fresh homemade lasagna .

Grease a baking pan with a little butter and pour on the bottom a first layer of Bolognese sauce and béchamel, after that put a layer of lasagne and then again Bolognese and béchamel.

Continue to alternate layer after layer until the lasagne are finished on top a layer of sauce. Sprinkle with parmigiano cheese and cook in the oven 200 °C for about 20 minutes .Let it rest for another ten minutes before serving.

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Sunday Lunch in Italy

Ribollita _Tuscan Soup

Ribollita means 're-cooked' in Italian. Tuscan peasants prepared a soup with various green vegetables, served with a slice of bread just to give more consistency to the food.Peasants were poor and had not very much to eat .It is still common nowadays to serve soups with a slice of bread in each bowl .

They left the soup with bread on a side ,the day after they served it reheated .That’s what ‘s done nowadays ,not even waiting one day if not possible. The longer it lingers, the better it gets.
There are many different recipes, but most Tuscan recipes call for cavolo nero - black leaf kale - the closest substitute being savoy (green, crinkled, loose-leafed) cabbage - and cannelini - tuscan white beans .

Ribollita Toscana

200 g “cannellini” beans

20 leaves “cavolo nero”

2 swiss chards

200 gr green beans

1 savoy cabbage

4 Potato

Tomato sauce

Pancetta

Onion

Garlic

Parsley

2 stock cubes

Salt

Stale Bread

Oil

In a large casserole or cast iron or cast aluminum pot, with a cover and a thick bottom heat the olive on a bit more than medium heat - you want to sautee the ingredients slowly until the onion is transparent or lightly golden NOT browned - add the chopped onion, carrot, celery, leek, optional garlic stirring often until the onion has turned color (about ten minutes, depending on the heat)

Add a little water and a glass of tomato sauce. When this mixture boils add to it the vegetables (4 potatoes , 1 savoy cabbage , 200g green beans, 2 swiss chards and 20 leaves of black cabbage) which you have previously cut into big pieces.

First add the the harder vegetables and then the softer ones. Add, pureeing half of them, 200g of cannellini beans which you have cooked separately.When the vegetables are half-cooked add two stock cubes and season with salt. Leave to cook for at least one hour.

When all of the vegetables are soft prepare some slices of stale bread in a large bowl. Add olive oil and then cover with a layer of the cooked vegetables. Continue making layers of bread and vegetables. Now you have a “zuppa di pane” (bread soup).

Put some olive oil in a frying pan,add the “zuppa di pane” and cook it until a slight crust forms, if possible. Now you have your ribollita.