| CLASSIC pasta | lasagne | |||
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>>where to buy: a select list of web sites where you can find wonderful ingredients
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Creating lasagna can be one of the most free-wheeling and creative activities in Italian cooking. The basics are simple: take ribbons of fresh pasta; put them in a baking dish a layer at a time; and fill between the layers with mixtures of your choice. The fillings can be meat or sausage or tomato, or, very popular, a wide variety of vegetables. In addition, lasagne provides the great opportunity for a host/hostess to enjoy the occasion, rather than being in the kitchen getting pasta ready to serve immediately. Lasagne lends itself to preparation before the event, with only a gentle heating required at the moment of serving. How to make lasagne will provide you with the basic plan. Select your filling or fillings, and go from there. Lasagne should be layers of pasta, with filling between the layers. The number of layers is up to you, but four should be minimum, and a number like six should be a goal. The pasta should be very thin of course. The other basic requirement, other than the fresh pasta, is to use a béchamel sauce in the process. Béchamel sauce, useful in many facets of Italian cooking, is not a sauce of value for itself, like pesto or ragu. Rather, its value comes primarily in keeping the pasta preparation moist. It also assists in the binding.
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start here . . . how to make lasagne
fillings: Swiss chard and eggplant (and tomato sauce) vegetable lasagne |
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