top of page

Lasagna



This is not a one person meal, but worth making and freezing in one person portions once you have eaten your full which -- in my case meant two dinners and a lunch. This made nine healthy appetite oriented squares of lasagna.



4 cups Sunday sauce or your favorite tomato sauce

3/4 package lasagna noodles (save the remainder to make the lasagna soup that I have been thinking about and will attempt next week)

2 cups Parmesan Béchamel sauce * (ingredients and recipe below)

1 log unsalted mozzarella, diced

1 cup + 1/4 cup grated Parmesan

1 cup chopped basil leaves

Salt


Put the lasagna noodles in a large bowl or flat dish long enough to contain them. Cover with boiling water and set aside.


* Make your Parmesan Béchamel by melting 4 tablespoons butter in a saucepan along with 4 tablespoons of flour. Stir constantly until a homogenized lumpless mixture forms and the mixture bubbles around the edges. Add 2 cups of milk to this and whisk to combine well. Cook over low heat, whisking near constantly to avoid lumps, until very thick. Stir in the cup of grated parmesan and whisk until melted. Set aside.


At this point, drain the lasagna noodles well and preheat the oven to 375.


Place half a cup of the Sunday/tomato sauce in a 9x9 inch square pan and spread so that there is some sauce on all of the bottom of the pan. Add a layer of noodles on top of the sauce, then more Sunday sauce, some of the Béchamel, some diced mozzarella chopped basil and salt, noodles, Sunday sauce, etc., ending with a later of the mozzarella-basil on top of the sauces as you reach the end. You will probably have to halve the noodles to get them to fit into the pan.


Sprinkle the mixture with the remaining grated Parmesan and place in the now preheated oven. Cook for about 30 minutes until everything is bubbling and golden and then turn off the oven and leave the door slightly ajar. Let the lasagna rest for 15 minutes in the cooling oven before eating or you will burn the roof of your mouth off on the first bite.


This takes about thirty minutes from fridge to table + thirty minutes cooking time + 15 minutes resting time so is not among my quickest offerings but nowhere near as long to make as people think lasagna will.




bottom of page