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Recipe Friday: Getting SaucyRecipe Friday: Getting Saucy
Catersource
July 28, 2023
9 Min Read
The best way to join in National Lasagna Day on July 29th is to bake up a pan of the Italian pasta dish!
As one of the oldest kinds of pasta, chefs have developed quite a selection of recipes. From vegan to seafood and dessert, lasagna fills recipe books around the world.
Check out this collection of creative lasagna recipes from Barilla to help you celebrate!
Reuben Lasanga
Recipe courtesy Chef Roy Villacrusis
Ingredients for Sauce
½ cup butter
½ cup flour
3 cups of warm milk
1T garlic powder
1 T onion powder
1 ½ T ground caraway
1 T Worcestershire sauce
½ cup tomato ketchup
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Prepare Bechamel sauce by melting butter in a heavy-bottom, medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add flour, whisking constantly. Cook, whisking occasionally, two to three minutes; do not let roux brown.
Whisking constantly, add about two tablespoons warm milk to saucepan. Pour half of the remaining warm milk into the saucepan in small increments, whisking the mixture constantly, until a smooth paste forms. Whisk remaining milk into pan; add spices and seasoning. Add ketchup. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, making sure to scrape bottom and sides, until sauce is thick and creamy, about 15 minutes; if any lumps form, stir sauce rapidly with a whisk. Season with salt and pepper; remove from heat. Let sauce stand until lukewarm, about 30 minutes, before assembling lasagna.
Ingredients for Lasagna
6 ea. sheets of the Barilla® Lasagne Chef
1 ½ lbs shredded Aussie Select Lamb Pastrami
3 cups drained until dried sauerkraut
1 ½ lb shredded swiss cheese
1 ½ lb shredded mozzarella cheese
½ lb parmesan cheese
3 cups Thousand Island dressing
To Assemble
Mix the shredded pastrami with the Thousand Island dressing, parmesan cheese and set aside.
Ladle some bechamel and Thousand Island mixture on a half hotel pan. Add the pasta sheet. Top with Pastrami mixture, then some of the sauerkraut. Add some of the bechamel sauce and sprinkle some of the mozzarella and Swiss cheese. Add another pasta sheet and repeat the layering four times. Place on top the last pasta sheet with sauces and a little more cheese than the other layers.
Cover with foil and bake on a 350 oven for an hour. Remove the cover, raise the oven temperature to 400 and cook for another 20 minutes. Watch that the top doesn’t get too brown. Remove from the oven and let cool for 30 minutes or longer before refrigerating to cool completely. When ready to serve, remove from hotel pan and slice to desired portions, place on a lined sheet pan and heat up in 400 oven for 10-15 minutes. Transfer to plate carefully. Serve garnished with toasted caraway seed powder and parmesan cheese, and a drizzle of Thousand Island dressing. Use if caraway sprouts are available. You may use Russian dressing instead of Thousand island dressing if preferred. Homemade or store bought are okay.
Short Rib Lasagna with Diaspora Inspired Sauce
Recipe courtesy Chef Veronica Hendrix, Bromont Avenue Foods
Ingredients
4 ea. Barilla Lasagne Chef Sheets
Sweet potato and tomato pasta sauce
Braised short ribs, shredded
1 ea. container ricotta cheese
1 lb shredded Mozzarella cheese
4 oz mustard greens, blanched and chopped
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
1 ea. egg
Fresh chopped basil, for garnish
Tomato confit, optional
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.2. Mix ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, egg, and chopped mustard greens in a large bowl until combined.3. Spray nonstick coating on the bottom of a half sheet hotel plan.4. Ladle and spread a cup of sauce over the bottom of a half sheet hotel pan. Place one Barilla Pasta Sheet over the sauce.5. Ladle and spread about a 1 ¼ cup of sauce over the Barilla Pasta Sheet. Place a 1/3 of the short ribs over the sauce. Sprinkle 1 cup of shredded mozzarella on top of the shredded short ribs. Dollop a third of the ricotta cheese on top of the shredded mozzarella cheese by placing cheese mixture dollops every couple of inches. Sprinkle half the grated parmesan cheese evenly over the top of the ricotta cheese.6. Apply the second Barilla Pasta sheet and repeat the above process two more times.7. Finish with a final Barilla Pasta Sheet. Spread the remaining sauce over the top pasta sheet. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella cheese over the sauce.
Baking Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.2. Spray a full 2-inch deep hotel pan and add sauce to cover the bottom.3. Cover with plastic wrap and aluminum foil.4. Bake for 45 minutes, remove the plastic and foil, and return to the oven for 10 minutes to brown.5. Rest for 30 minutes Cover the lasagna pan with aluminum foil, tented slightly so it doesn’t touch the noodles or sauce). Bake at 375°F for 45 minutes. Uncover in the last 10 minutes if you’d like more of a crusty top or edges.
Lasagna Carbonara “Al Dente”
Recipe courtesy Michael Slavi
Ingredients
5 ea. sheets Lasagna Semola
1 tsp butter (for greasing pan)
3 ¾ cups cheese blend (equal parts shredded mozzarella, parmesan, unsmoked provolone, and romano)
1 lb seasoned cooked ground beef, drained
Ingredients for Seasoned Egg Yolk Mixture
2 T grated reggiano parmesan
½ cup egg yolks
¼ tsp medium grind black pepper
1 tsp, plus + 5 T fine herbs (equal parts chopped tarragon, thyme, parsley, chives)
2 T mayonnaise
Ingredients for Lemon Herb Carbonara Blend
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
8 oz raw bacon, rough chopped (5.5 oz cooked)
1 T rendered bacon fat
½ tsp garlic, chopped
7.5 oz white onion, finely chopped
⅛ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
½ tsp medium grind black pepper
1 tsp kosher salt
2 cups heavy cream
¼ cup grated reggiano parmesan
1 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
Method
In a stainless steel mixing bowl, combine 2 T of grated reggiano parmesan, ½ cup of eggyolks, ¼ tsp of medium grind black pepper, 1 tsp of fine herbs, and 2 T of mayonnaise. Mix until all ingredients are evenly incorporated.
In a heavy bottom sauce pan over medium high heat, add 1 tsp of extra virgin olive oil and 8 oz of raw rough chopped bacon. Once bacon is crispy and rendered, strain bacon and reserve for the build, leaving 1 T of fat in the pan.
In the pan with the bacon fat, add ½ tsp of chopped garlic and lightly saute ensuring it doesn’t burn. Add 7.5 oz of finely chopped white onion and saute until translucent. Add ⅛ tsp of crushed red pepper flakes, ½ tsp of medium grind black pepper, and 1 tsp of kosher salt and mix to incorporate. Stir in two cups of heavy cream and lower heat to medium low. Reduce to thicken slightly to a nappe consistency. Add half of the cooked bacon, ¼ cup of grated reggiano parmesan, and 1 tsp of fresh squeezed lemon juice. Cool down to 39 degrees and reserve for build.
Place all five lasagna sheets on a sheet pan and brush one side evenly coast to coast with seasoned egg yolk mixture and bake in a 350 degree oven for approximately two minutes to set. Pull out and let cool to room temperature.
While sheets are baking, lightly butter a half hotel pan three inches up each side and bottom of the pan.
In greased half hotel pan, spreada #16 scoop cup of the lemon herb carbonara blend onto the bottom of the hotel pan. Place a lasagna sheet on top of the cream mixture, seasoned yolk side up.With a #8 scoop, evenly spread lemon herb carbonara blend coast to coast on lasagna sheet.
Sprinkle ¾ cup of four cheese blend across lemon herb carbonara blend. Evenly distribute ½ cup of seasoned ground beef across four cheese blend. Evenly distribute 2 T of rough chopped bacon across ground beef. Sprinkle 1 T of reggiano parmesan and 1 T of fine herbs across bacon.
Place another lasagna sheet on top of first layer and repeat step seven, creating four total layers.
Top layers with the fifth sheet of lasagna. Repeat step seven with NO lemon herb carbonara or seasoned ground beef.
Lightly tap pan on hard surface to ensure layers are settled into one another. Cover with two layers of plastic wrap and one layer of aluminum foil.
Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30-35 minutes covered on low fan and approximately five minutes uncovered on high fan until top layer has brown bubbly cheese.
Cool at room temperature for 15 minutes. Introduce into cooler uncovered for two hours. Cover and continue to cool overnight so it can set properly. Score and portion next day for service.
A simple pomodoro sauce, extra virgin olive oil, grated reggiano parmesan, and chopped flat Italian parsley is used for garnish.
Asian Pork Dumpling Lasagna
Recipe courtesy James Musser
Ingredients for Chili Pork Bolognese
½ cup canola oil
¼ cup toasted sesame oil
10 lbs ground pork
4 ea. jumbo onions. minced
2 bunches green onions, sliced thin and whites separated
½ cup minced garlic
½ cup minced ginger
8-inch piece lemongrass, smashed and minced
4 8-oz cans waterchestnuts, drained and minced
1 cup mirin
½ cup gochujang
4 cans whole peeled tomatoes
1 cup low sodium soy sauce
Ingredietns for Coconut Bechamel
4 cups unsweetened coconut milk
3 lbs silken tofu
1 lb grated parmesan
4 ea. egg yolks
4 tsp ground white pepper
¼ cup light soy sauce
4 tsp kosher salt
½ cup basil sliced thin
Ingredients for Assembly
3 lbs Barilla Lasagna Chef Sheets
2 lbs shredded mozzarella
Method
Heat the canola and sesame in a large rondo pot over medium heat.
Add the ground pork, cook until all of the pork is white and cooked through. Smash the pork while it is cooking to prevent large lumps.
Add the onions, green onion whites, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, and waterchestnuts.
Cook over low heat until the onions are translucent and fragrant.
Add the mirin and cook until almost dry.
Add the gochujang paste and cook until almost dry.
Hand crush the tomatoes and add to the pot. Cook until the water level is just beneath the surface of the meat.
While the meat is cooking, combine all of the ingredients for the coconut bechamel except the basil in a large container.
Purée with an immersion blender until smooth, then fold in the basil ribbons.
Spray a full sized hotel pan with cooking spray.
Ladle a thin layer of bolognese on the bottom.
Place two Barilla Lasagna Pasta sheets side by side in the pan to cover the bottom.
Ladle approximately two cups of bolognese over the pasta.
Cover with a light coating of mozzarella.
Place two sheets of pasta on top and spread two cups of the coconut cream on top.
Repeat steps 12-15 until all of the pasta and sauces are used.
Wrap the pan tightly with plastic wrap and foil.
Bake at 350 for 35 minutes, then uncover and bake 10-15 minutes until lightly browned.
Remove and allow to rest for 10 minutes before cutting into 24 portions.
Garnish with thinly sliced green onions.
Sesame Miso Wafu Lasagne
Recipe courtesy Adrian Cruz
Ingredients
5 lbs ground pork
1 cup tomato paste
3 T soy sauce
2 T unagi sauce
3 T seasame oil
6 T garlic
1 tsp chilli peppers
½ cup basil, fresh
3 cups mozzarella
2 cups parmesan
4 T miso
4 cups ricotta cheese
1 T MSG
2 T oregano, fresh
Method
Sautée garlic and herbs before adding ground pork. Cook till well done.
Add tomato paste, soy sauce, unagi, red wine vinegar, and sugar.
Mix ricotta, miso, and sesame oil with grated parmesan. Add salt and pepper for taste.
Layer the lasagna with the following: tomato sauce, lasagna pasta, mozzarella, and finally a few spoons of miso ricotta. Continue until all six layers are finished. Bake in a oven.
After it’s cooked, let it rest. Cut into your portions and serve.
