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Cooking Is Easy's
"Idea Starters" for Baked Pastas

What da ya mean, baked pasta? Well, think Lasagne. Actually there are many different types of baked pasta dishes, and many different ways you can make lasagne. This page will feature a basic lasagne method, and several variations. We'll also show you some other ways to do baked past that don't look like lasagne at all. First we'll start with The Cooking Is Easy formula and expand on it from there.

Lasagne Basics

• Pre-heat oven to 375
• Tomato sauce (homemade or jar)
• Ricotta cheese (16-20oz)
• Grated mozzarella cheese 8oz
• Parmesan cheese, grated FRESH PLEASE!
• Lasagne noodles (boiled according to package, at least 9 sheets)
• Glass baking dish (9"x13")

If you added nothing else to this you'd have a nice meal, but usually you'll want some meat in your lasagne. My favorite choice is Italian sausage. If you can find it out of the casing that is best. If not just remove it from the casing and brown it. All meat must be cooked before adding to the lasagne. Here are the steps to assemble the lasagne.

1. Layer of sauce
2. layer of noodles
3. Sauce
4. Meat or other main ingredients
5. Ricotta cheese
6. Grated mozzarella
7. Grated parmesan
8. noodles
9. Repeat 3-8

I always top it with sauce, some parmesan, and small amout of the meat or other ingredients.

Cooking Instructions:

Oven at 350 (always pre-heat) Assemble in layers as shown above, cover with foil and cook about 45 minutes. Remove foil and cook another 10-15 minutes. When it's bubbling it's ready. Remove and let stand for about 15 minutes before serving.

Variations on Lasagne:

Now here's where we can start having fun. We can substitue Italian sausage for any number of cooked meat and vegetable ingredients. Pick one or your favorites or even better, a combination of these:

• Italian sausage (out of casing) 1-1.5 lb
• Any other ground meat, beef, pork, turkey (browned in a skillet and seasoned the way you like it
• Vegetable combinaions mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, zuchinni, peas etc. These can be sauted or just used raw
• Sliced or halved olives
• Eggplant (sliced and grilled or sauted)
• hard boiled eggs (sliced in half)
• meatballs (small size, or regular ones sliced inhalf)
• shrimp (saute in olive oil for 2-3 minutes)

You can even try different sauces. If you want to buy them ready made there are plenty of types available, tomato cream, and tomato with other flavors and ingredients in them. You could even use an alfredo sauce. For a non tomato lasage, especially a vegetable only lasagne, I recommed following the next recipe using a white sauce.

Vegetable Lasagne

This white sauce is not exactly a simple process, nor is it quick. It will take a little patience but trust me, it is not difficult if you stay with it and the results are worth it!

One of the 5 basic sauces in classic cooking is a bechemel sauce, a white sauce made from butter, flour, and milk.

This sauce starts with a bechemel sauce as a base, and we add parmesan cheese and dijon mustard to it.

• 1 stick butter
• 1/2 C flour (all purpose)
• 5 C whole milk
• 4.5 oz freshly grated parmesan cheese (1.5 C)
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• salt
• white pepper
• A wire whisk (you'll need it, just trust me)
  
  

Warning: Stay over the pan start to finish on this one. No wondering off!

In a saucepan, over medium heat, melt butter. (cut it in slices to melt faster)

When it's melted, add flour and stir together. Lower the heat to low and keep stirring or whisking them together. A paste will form - keep stiring with whisk. It needs to keep moving. The key here is not to let it brown, hence the low heat. If you want to get into foodie talk, you're making a blonde roux. We are trying to cook that flour so this will take 3-5 minutes. Your task is to cook it but don't brown it. (You can do it!)

After 3-5 minutes of roux stirring, start adding milk a cup at a time and whisk it in as you add.

When all the milk is in you just keep whisking. You don't have to whisk non-stop but pretty close to it. See the warning above and don't make any plans for the next 6-10 minutes.

add salt and white pepper (how much? count to 5 as you shake) add a couple shakes of nutmeg.

Turn up the heat at this point. We eventually want it to get to a boil, not too crazy but it needs to boil and bubble a little. All the more reason to stay close. If you walk away it can burn.

It seems like the moment will never come but it will start to thicken. You can feel it thicken as you stir it. It won't feel like a liquid anymore. (You now have a classic bechemel sauce)

At that point add the parmesan (which should already be grated) and dijon, turn off heat and you are done!!

You have just created a beautful white sauce for vegetable lasagne. Recipe to follow.

Main Ingredient: sauted vegetables:

Use any combination of vegetables here. You need to saute them in olive oil. For firm vegetables like brocolli, carrots, etc. saute for a minute or two, add a little water, and cover them. Steam for about 3 minutes, then add softer ones like zuchinni, squash, mushrooms, etc. See a full demo of this on the Cooking Is Easy DVD.

Assemble the Lasagna:

Layer the ingredients exactly as shown in the example at the top of the page. Use your white sauce instead of tomato sauce, and the vegetable mixture in place of the meat. Cook the same was also.

Varations on the sauce:

• add fresh herbs like basil or thyme. Chop and add in the last minute or two.
• sliced onions (remove after cooking)
• 2Tbsp Pesto (basil, or sun dried tomato etc available pre made)

Additional ways to make "White Lasagna"

• Saute shrimp and scallops as main ingredient
• A single vegetable (ie: Broccolini Lasagna, or assorted mushroom lasagne)
• sausage (sliced or out of casing, browned in skillet)
• Beans (white beans, garbonzo, or caneloni)

Here's a list of vegetables you can use, in any combination (nowhere near complete)

• Broccoli (steamed and sauted)
• Sliced carrots (slice thin, steamed and sauted)
• esparagus (steamed and sauted)
• Zuchinni
• Yellow squash
• Spinach (frozen, thaw and squeeze out water)
• Spinach (fresh, wilt a minute or so in oil)
• Mushrooms
• artichoke hearts
• eggplant (peeled, and dice, or grilled in thin slices in olive oil)
• sugar snap peas
• fresh tomatoes sliced
• Onions (saute these with any veggie combo)
• Garlic (minced and added to sauted vegetables)
• Any thing else you want to try

Remember, try different combinations. You can use vegetables and meat together, in either type of sauce. There are no rules!
(except that you must brown all meat first, and maybe some others)

Enjoy some Lasagna Creations!

Want to see a particular dish or technique? , drop us an email.