Lasagna

Lasagna is one of those dishes that I never get right. It’s always too saucy, or not saucy enough. The noodles are too mushy, or too hard. I have tried many iterations of lasagna over the years to disappointing results. So I kind of just gave up on making it. Baked Ziti? Chicken Parm? Eggplant Rollatini? Give me the other Italian casseroles all day long. But lasagna stymied me.

Until I found this recipe.

Now, my dislike of Giada De Laurentiis is not a secret. First of all, her head is too big for her body. Plus she is always wearing low-cut shirts (Adam calls her “Giada De LaBoobies). I don’t like her personality, but I’ve yet to try a recipe of hers that wasn’t good.

So, I would have been content to let other people make lasagna, but Adam (who’s now my fiancé by the way) really likes it, so I figured I’d give it one last try. I read lasagna recipes until my eyes were blurry. Finally, I found this one.

It was phenomenal.

And I’m not really a lasagna person, but this was so good.

It was also really time-intensive and involved, but if you have a Saturday or Sunday morning with nothing to do, it’s well worth it.

So Giada, I guess you’re not all bad.

Classic Italian Lasagna

Ingredients

For the Bechamel Sauce:

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus 2 tablespoons for the lasagna
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 cups whole milk at room temperature
• pinch freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
• salt and pepper

For the Lasagna:

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 pound ground beef
• salt and pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds ricotta cheese
• 3 large eggs
• 1 pound lasagna sheets, cooked al dente
• 2 packages (10 oz. each) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (*I only used one and thought it was plenty)
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Bechamel Sauce: In a 2-quart pot, melt 5 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. When butter has completely melted, add the flour and whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the milk, whisking constantly to prevent any lumps from forming. Continue to simmer and whisk over medium heat until the sauce is thick, smooth, and creamy, about 10 minutes. The sauce should be thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat and add the nutmeg and tomato sauce. Stir until well combined and check for seasoning. Set aside and allow to cool completely.
3. In a sauté pan, heat the extra-virgin olive oil. Add the ground beef and season with salt and pepper. Brown meat, breaking any large lumps, until it is no longer pink. Remove from heat and drain any excess fat. Set aside and allow to cool completely.
4. In a medium sized bowl, thoroughly mix the ricotta and eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
5. Into the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish, spread 1/3 of the bechamel sauce. Arrange the pasta sheets side by side, covering the bottom of the baking dish. Evenly spread a layer of all the ricotta mixture and then a layer of all the spinach. Arrange another layer of pasta sheets and spread all the ground beef on top. Sprinkle 1/2 the mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. Cut the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter into 1/4-inch cubes and top lasagna.
6. Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place lasagna dish on top, cover, and put on the middle rack of the oven to bake until top is bubbling, about 30 minutes. Remove cover and continue to bake for about 15 minutes.

Green Bean Casserole

You might think I’m a little bizarre, but for me, Thanksgiving is all about the green bean casserole. Sure, turkey’s good too, but green bean casserole is where it’s at. I’m not really sure what it is — I don’t even LOVE green beans all that much. This Thanksgiving I made a trip across several states to visit Adam’s family in Michigan. They don’t generally have green bean casserole at Thanksgiving, but that wasn’t going to fly with me. So, I made it myself (don’t worry, I shared). I decided to stray from the canned cream of mushroom and frozen/canned green bean version. This one was SO MUCH BETTER. I will never open a can of condensed soup again. Make it from scratch, it’s worth it. I’ll probably make it again before Thanksgiving 2011 rolls around.

Fresh Green Bean Casserole

For the Topping:

• 4 slices white bread, each slices torn into quarters
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3 cups canned fried onions (about 6 ounces)

For the Beans and Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 pounds green beans, ends trimmed, and halved
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 pound white button mushrooms, stems removed, wiped clean and broken into ½-inch pieces
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1½ cups chicken broth
• 1½ cups heavy cream

1. For the Topping: Pulse bread, butter, salt and pepper in food processor until mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about ten 1-second pulses. Transfer to a large bowl and toss with onions; set aside.

2. For the Beans and Sauce: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees F. Fill a large bowl with ice water. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add 2 tablespoons salt and beans. Cook beans until bright green and crisp-tender, about 6 minutes. Drain beans in colander and plunge immediately into ice water to stop cooking. Spread beans on paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain.

3. Add butter to now-empty pot and melt over medium-high heat until foaming subsides. Add mushrooms, garlic, ¾ teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper; cook until mushrooms release moisture and liquid evaporates, about 6 minutes. Add flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in broth and bring to simmer, stirring constantly. Add cream, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until sauce is thickened and reduced to 3½ cups, about 12 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Add green beans to sauce and stir until evenly coated. Arrange in an even layer in 3-quart (or 9×13-inch) baking dish. Sprinkle with topping and bake until top is golden brown and sauce is bubbling around edges, about 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

Honey-Soy Salmon

So, my dislike of salmon has been well documented (see here). The thing is, it turns out I like it. A lot. Now, it has to be Wild Salmon, not farm-raised, but other than that, Salmon and I are now peacefully co-existing in my diet.

I think I assumed that since Salmon isn’t a white fish, that it has a strong “fishy” taste. It doesn’t. Or maybe I just had flashbacks to the smell of it when my mom opened a can of it to make salmon salad as a kid.

In any event, I was wrong. Salmon is great, easy, and healthy, as is this recipe. Give it a try.

Honey Soy Salmon

• 1 scallion, minced
• 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
• 1 pound center-cut salmon fillet, skinned and cut into 4 portions

Directions

Whisk scallion, soy sauce, vinegar, honey and ginger in a medium bowl until the honey is dissolved. Place salmon in a sealable plastic bag, add 3 tablespoons of the sauce and refrigerate; let marinate for 15 minutes. Reserve the remaining sauce.

Preheat broiler. Line a small baking pan with foil and coat with cooking spray. Transfer the salmon to the pan, skinned-side down. (Discard the marinade.) Broil the salmon 4 to 6 inches from the heat source until cooked through, 6 to 10 minutes. You could also do this on the grill.