When the going gets tough, there is nothing more comforting than a quiet table, a mellow glass of Malbec, an ooey-gooey plate of lasagna and the soft snoring sounds of a sweet pup snoozing nearby.
That kind of comfort is just what I’ve desperately needed lately.
My beloved Nikon D800 is broken. There is a little whirring noise when I press the shutter button. The screen where the beautiful food photo should be is blank. Focus? You’re kidding, right?
Cameraless.
I’m cameraless except for my humble iPhone.
Of course, there are a million, never-ever-to-be-repeated great photographs to be taken right at this moment.
The ever elegant Juliet is striking a bazillion prize-worthy poses. Riotiosly-colored orchids are waking up from winter and blooming in my tiny greenhouse. A beautiful goldfinch has taken up residence in my dormant Japanese maple. And on and on.
And, then, there is this beautiful lasagna to which I can only give iPhone photographic justice.
*Sigh.*
Here’s the recipe. Forgive the photo.
Save RecipeIngredients
- 2 T. olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion (finely chopped)
- 4 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 T. Tomato paste
- 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes
- 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 2 C. water
- 1 1/2 pounds fresh mozzarella (grated or shredded)
- 16 ounces (2 C.) whole-milk ricotta
- 1 C. coarsely-grated (or shredded) parmesan (plus more for topping the assembled lasagna)
- 1/4 C. heavy cream
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Chopped cooked spinach
- Finely-sliced mushrooms
- 1 pound dried lasagna noodles
- Olive oil (for drizzling)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- To prepare the sauce, heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Continue cooking until the onion is soft and translucent. Stir occasionally. This should take 8 to 10 minutes.
- Add tomato paste and cook and stir until the tomato paste begins to turn a dark red color. This should take about 2 minutes.
- Crush the can of peeled whole tomatoes with your hands and add tomatoes and their juices to the pot along with the can of already crushed tomatoes. Add 2 cups of water. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens.You want a nice thick sauce for this lasagna so that your final dish will not be too watery. This will take about 35 to 45 minutes.
- To prepare the lasagna filling, combine mozzarella (except for 1 C. that you set aside to sprinkle over the lasagna at the end) and the ricotta, parmesan and cream. Season filling with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Heat large pot of salted water to boiling. Cook the lasagna noodles in the boiling water until the noodles are just al dente. This will take 4 to 5 minutes. Drain noodles.Separate noodles. Drizzle noodles with a bit of olive oil. Lay the noodles out on paper towels to dry a bit.
- Spread some sauce on the bottom of a 3-quart rectangular baking dish. Top the sauce with a layer of noodles.Spread about 1 1/4 C. sauce over the noodles. Top sauced noodles with dollops of the cheese filling--about 1/4 of the cheese mixture. Top this with another layer of noodles, sauce, cheese. (I added a layer of cooked and chopped spinach and a layer of butter-sauteed mushrooms during the layering process.) Do this for several layers to fill your baking dish. You want the final layer to be noodles covered by sauce. Top with the reserved 1 C. of mozzarella and additional parmesan.
- Cover lasagna with aluminum foil. Set the pan of lasagna on a foil-lined baking sheet to protect your oven from drips. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. After the initial baking, remove the foil and continue baking until the lasagna is golden brown. This will take another 35 to 45 minutes. Your lasagna, when done, should be a pretty golden brown on top and the sauce should be hot and bubbling up from around the edges of the lasagna.
- Remove lasagna from the oven and let cool a bit before slicing. Garnish with chopped parsley and additional sauce (optional).
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This recipe is adapted from one that appears in Alison Roman’s cookbook Nothing Fancy. You can buy her book here.
