Saturday, March 2, 2013

Lasagna On The Big Green Egg...

I have never attempted to make a lasagna before; either in the oven or on my Egg... A few weeks ago, I decided it was time to give it a shot...

I found this recipe online and basically followed it except for using my Egg as the oven... It was better the next day as it had time to really set up nicely. After letting it rest for about 30 minutes once it was finished, it wasn't the prettiest dish, but it was certainly tasty!

Here are some images of the cook and the recipe will follow...



 Decided to shred my own provolone. The Egg has helped me to expand the use of my kitchen gadgets. I have used them more since I got my Egg than I have in the first 11 years of our marriage...

Here are the veggies getting prepped...


 Here is the sauce bubbling away... it was just a little too sweet for me. Next time I might cut down on the wine a little and increase the hot sausage a bit.

Constructing the pan of lasagna... I think it ended up with 4 layers if you count the top. The whole pan weigh around 10 pounds when I finished putting it all together...

Here it is resting after coming off the Egg. I let it cook at around 350 until my Thermapen showed an internal temp of 165...

It tasted much better than it looked on the first day; but after setting up in the fridge overnight, it looked a lot more traditional when it was served.

Hope you enjoyed the cook as much I did... Let me know if you try this and how it turns out for you...

The recipe is below...

Enjoy!

Ed


Lasagna


Prep Time: 1 Hour
Cook Time: 1.5 Hours
Ingredients
  • 2 pound dried lasagna noodles
  • Extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 pounds ground beef
  • 2 pound ground Italian sausage
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, sliced
  • 3 carrots, chopped
  • 2 stalks celery, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley
  • 1 tablespoon chopped oregano leaves
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups red wine
  • 2 (28-ounce) cans tomatoes (recommended: San Marzano)
  • 3 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 quarts ricotta cheese , (2 containers)
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded
  • 1 pound provolone cheese, shredded
  • Grated Parmesan and mozzarella, for topping
Instructions
Preheat oven (or Big Green Egg set up for indirect cooking) to 350 degrees F.
Cook the lasagna noodles in plenty of boiling salted water until pliable and barely tender, about 10 minutes. Stir with a wooden spoon to prevent sticking. Drain the noodles thoroughly and coat with olive oil to keep them moist and easy to work with.

Coat a large skillet with olive oil, add beef and sausage and brown until no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. In a food processor, combine the onion, carrots, celery, garlic, basil, parsley, an oregano. Process until pureed, add to the pan with the ground meat and stir to combine. Stir in the flour. Add the wine and cook until it has reduced by half. Stir in the tomatoes and add the heavy cream and the cinnamon.

In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta and the Parmesan. Stir in the eggs and season with salt and pepper.
To assemble the lasagna: Coat the bottom of a deep 13 by 9-inch pan with olive oil. Arrange 4 noodles lengthwise in a slightly overlapping layer on the sauce. Then, line each end of the pan with a lasagna noodle. This forms a collar that holds in the corners. Dollop 1/2 of the ricotta mixture over the pasta, spread to the edges with a spatula. Spread 1/2 of the meat mixture over the ricotta. Sprinkle 1/2 of the mozzarella and provolone on top of the ricotta. Top with a ladle full of sauce, spread evenly. Repeat with the next layer of noodles, ricotta, sauce, and cheeses. Top last layer with noodles, sauce, shredded mozzarella and Parmesan. Tap the pan to force out air bubbles. Bake for 1 hour. Remove from oven. Let lasagna rest for 30 minutes so the noodles will settle and cut easily
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