Lasagna, a la Marsha
Over many years as a passionate home cook, I’ve only made lasagna twice. Both times used a rabbit lasagna recipe from Guiliano Bugialli, the trendy Italian food expert in the 1980’s. The first time was when Ed and I attended his cooking school in Florence. After watching Giuliano roll out paper-thin sheets of fresh pasta sheets by hand, we learned how to make a delicately flavored rabbit ragù. Next, he allowed us to carefully assemble the layers of the lasagna. The hardest part was waiting patiently for the dish to cook and cool. There were plenty of Delizioso! compliments emanating from the dining room once the class finally sat down al tavolo.
On our return to New York, Ed and I decided to try our hands at the dish’s rather time-intensive preparation. We ventured over to Arthur Avenue (an Italian neighborhood in the Bronx) to find rabbit and the other ingredients for the lasagna. Back home, Ed made the pasta—his pasta making skills were infinitely better than mine—while I put together the rabbit sauce. Our efforts were rewarded with a decidedly good lasagna but certainly nothing as ethereally divine as what we tasted at Guiliano’s cooking school.
Fast forward forty years later and I was ready to try it again. However instead of rabbit, this time I opted to use my Italian grandmother’s spaghetti meat ragù . Making lasagna requires time. No getting around that. However, there are also interesting shortcuts to consider such as making the ragù in advance and using no boil noodles. (I preferred to use instead a high quality, artisanal lasagna noodle from Italy which certainly saved me time from not having to make fresh pasta at least.) To switch it up a bit, I also added some nutritious spinach to the recipe. Not only did this add color but equally important, it also lightened up the dish’s rich tasting profile.
Here’s my version of an easy-to-make lasagna. Without the rabbit!
Ingredients:
(NB: This recipe calls for three layers, the minimum number to be considered a lasagna.)
9 sheets (8 oz) dried lasagna noodles
4 cups homemade beef ragù
16 oz whole or part-skim ricotta (about 2 cups)
1 cup finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
12 oz fresh mozzarella, shredded (3 cups)
6 oz fresh baby spinach, thoroughly washed, steamed, strained and squeezed dry
Cooking instructions:
Preheat oven to 375° F
To prepare the noodles:
1. Lay out several dish towels on the countertop.
2. Bring about 4 quarts of water to boil in a large pot and add 2 tablespoons salt. Add lasagna noodles, a few at a time, and cook until al dente.
3. Prepare a large bowl of ice water.
4. Scoop out noodles when cooked, then transfer into the water bath. When cool enough to handle, drain in a colander, and finally place on the dish towel to complete the drying process.
5. Continue with the other dried lasagna noodles.
To assemble the dish:
6. In a 9 X 13-dish baking dish, spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom.
7. Start your layering with three pieces of pasta, overlaying the noodles slightly.
8. First spread about 1 cup of the ricotta; then half of the spinach; one cup of the mozzarella; one cup of the sauce, and finally, 1/3 cup of the grated cheese.
9. Repeat the layering. Top with a final layer of pasta, mozzarella, ragù and the grated cheese.
10. If you want to make this in advance, cover tightly with a layer of plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. (The sauce can also be frozen.) Remember to allow the lasagna to come to room temperature before baking.
11. Lightly cover with foil and bake the lasagna for 45 minutes. Remove foil and finish cooking for another 15 minutes so that the top gets nicely browned. Remove the lasagna from the oven, then cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Cut into squares and serve.
Serves: 4-6
Wine recommendations: A Sangiovese from Tuscany such as a Chianti, a Barbera from Piedmont, or an Aglianico from Campania. A Beaujolais from France or a Zinfandel from America also would work well. A full-bodied rosé, such as a rosé of Cabernet Sauvignon, would pair nicely too.