What's your secret for the perfect lasagna?

Question

I use fresh herbs and spices which makes the flavor really stand out...but I'm always looking for new ideas on improvement. What's your secret?

Answer 1

Lasagna

Ingredients

(8 servings)

2 tb Oil
2 ea Slices chopped bacon
2 ea Cloves crushed garlic
1 ea Chopped onion
1 1/2 lb Lean ground beef
1/2 lb Chopped salami
1/2 ts Sweet basil
1 tb Chopped parsley
2 ea 5 1/2 oz cn tomato paste
2 c Canned tomatoes
1/2 lb Mushrooms
1/2 c Water
2 ts Salt
1/4 ts Pepper
1/2 lb Mozzarella cheese
2 ea Beaten eggs
1/2 c Grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 lb Cooked lasagna noodles
8 oz Cottage cheese


Instructions

Saute bacon, crushed garlic, and onion in hot oil for 5 min. Remove the garlic. Add ground beef, salami, basil, and parsley. Brown well. Add tomato paste, tomatoes, mushrooms, and water. Simmer uncovered for 1 hour or until very thick. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Preheat oven to 375F. Butter a 12x9 inch casserole or lasagna dish. Grate mozzarella. Combine cottage cheese, egg and Parmesan cheese. Pour a layer of tomato sauce in the bottom of dish. Cover with a layer of noodles and a layer of the cheese /egg mixture, sprinkle with mozzarella. Repeat, ending with sauce and a layer of mozzarella. Bake for 30 min. Note: The flavor improves when lasagna is prepared a day in advance and refrigerated until time for baking.


Mexi Corn Lasagna

Ingredients

(6 servings)

1 lb Ground beef
17 oz Can whole kernel corn, drained
15 oz Can tomato sauce
1 c Picante sauce
1 tb Chili powder
1 1/2 ts Ground cumin
16 oz Carton low fat cottage cheese
2 Eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 c Parmesan cheese
1 ts Dried oregano
1/2 ts Garlic salt
12 Corn tortillas, divided
1 c Shredded cheddar cheese (4 oz)


Instructions

Preheat oven to 375F. Brown meat, drain. Add corn, tomato sauce,picante sauce, chili powder, cumin. Simmer, stirring frequently, 5 minutes. Combine cottage cheese, eggs, parmesan cheese, oregano and garlic salt. Mix well. Arrange 6 tortillas on bottom and sides of lightly greased 13x9x2 inch baking dish, overlapping as necessary. Top with 1/2 the meat mixture. Spoon cheese mixture over meat. Arrange remaining 6 tortillas over cheese. Top with remaining meat mixture. Bake in preheated oven about 30 minutes. Remove from oven, top with cheddar cheese. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Answer 2

I can well imagine how upset you were after all that work. However, if I had to guess, I'd say that neither you nor many of the responders here have ever had children. A newborn consumes an incredible amount of the parents' time and energy. If there is already another little one in the family, the demands on the parents are that much greater. Sleep and meals, and even shower-time, are sharply curtailed, if existent. One easily loses track of the days of the week, as it all goes by in a sleep-deprived whirl. This is all the more true if *appropriate* family support is not forthcoming. While it was very nice of you to pull together a dinner party to, at least in part, honor them and their new baby, it would have been even more thoughtful--and appropriate--for you to have *sent* a complete meal over to them. It was unrealistic on your part to expect so much of them right after their having another baby. Far more realistic would have been to keep the dinner a celebration of your *husband's* birthday, and include your brother and sister-in-law on an "only if you feel up to coming" basis. It's unfortunate that, due to your unrealistic expectations, you ended up "ruining" your husband's birthday dinner. It's also unfortunate that it never occurred to you to either *take* a dinner *over* to them, or offer to take their daughter for an afternoon or morning. These are where your efforts would have been more realistically placed, and they would have been greatly appreciated by your brother and sister in law. Yet, until one has a baby, it's hard to see things this way. I was hurt when my sister didn't come to my wedding (1000 miles away) a few weeks after she gave birth. It wasn't until I had my *own*first child that I completely understood! It might take a while for you to cool down and see things from their side. Be patient with you. You went to a whole lot of effort, however misguided, and it was understandably a let-down when they didn't come to the dinner. Hopefully, in time, you will find it in your heart to forgive them for what most likely was sheer exhaustion on their part, rather than any attempt to be rude or inconsiderate. .

Answer 3

The biggest key to my spectacular lasagna is of course my home made sauce, but since you can't have that, I'll share my other secrets. I use lots of different types of cheese. I mix the ricotta with some shredded parmesean or parm/romano mix (the good stuff) then add a layer of mozerella on top of the cheese, then add in either some provalone or swiss for a hint of sweetness in the cheese. When I make a meat lasagna, I use ground beef, ground pork, and bulk italian sausage (sweet and hot) and mix them togeher with a little more of my spectacular sauce, and then you have the best lasagna in the world.

Answer 4

Yeah the fresh herbs is a good one. Also, when you're making the sauce/mince base, use plum tomatoes and let them cook into the mix whole for as long as you can, only mashing them upat the last possible moment. The sweetness just bursts out of them this way!

Make the roux yourself and add a couple of different cheeses into the bad boy!

Coffe granules, grated chocolate, and red wine wine can all be added to give the tomato/mince base extra richness (only a litle though!)

I gotta go;I'm so hungry now!

Answer 5

I marinate the meat in red wine,garlic,olive oil, herbs. I start with a pound of lean ground beef.Simply blend in about 1 cup of wine and 2 tbsp of the olive oil (herbs and garlic to your taste) and let sit in the fridge for about 1 hour. It turns lean ground beef into a something that tastes like sausage.
It's a secret that I am happy to share as it fits in well with any recipe or method that you already use.
spaghetti sauce benefits from this treatment too.

Answer 6

You use fresh herbs and spices? That's odd. I thought that was what they used in KFC chicken. *shrugs*

My secret for the perfect lasagna is safe in my little blonde head. And neither you nor Mrs. Stouffer will ever get it out of me.

Answer 7

Well you might totally not dig this, but I find that it has the perfect amount of moisture if you add "veggie ground" instead of ground beef. It's just a bit drier than ground beef so it soaks up any excess juices so it's moist but not dribbly when you cut it. I also use fresh noodles instead of boiling dry ones.

Answer 8

i want it to remain a secret. just kidding.

mix a little bit of the sauce with baking soda, the herbs naturally will come out more. If the soda is correctly placed (about 2 tablespoons) AFTER cooking, a delicious and well deserved change will take place. Right before you are ready to serve, get the salt ready. sounds crazy, but the salt actually helps remove any excess fat in the filling and it wont taste bland. Right before serving pour two cups of vinegar throughout and make sure that you let it drip out almost completely before serving. Bone appetit.

Answer 9

I always put the noodles in uncooked. They cook while it is baking (you have to bake it for about 30-40 mins). Then I put the last layer of cheese on top and bake it for 10 minutes more. I also like to use a spinach layer. It tastes good and looks pretty. When it is baked like this, it is never soupy and it stands up on the plate like a slice of cake.

Answer 10

The secret is to let it sit in the fridge the first day and then reheat in the oven. For some reason the flavor is better the second day after it sits for awhile.