Comfort Food Season!

Hello again, friends!  Yes, it’s been way too long since I’ve made a post, but I promise that this one is worth your time!

August is nearly halfway in the books, and that means a couple of things to most red-blooded Americans: Fall is nearly here, and FOOTBALL is about to start!  Well, why not kick off your Fantasy Football Draft or NFL Gameday with an easy, yet mildly sophisticated, option that’s sure to please even the most discerning of palettes.  I mean wings and brats are a staple, to be sure, but why not dial it up a notch with some international flair?  Basically, what I'm trying to say is that football season also means that it's comfort food season.

In that spirit, I give you FRENCH ONION SOUP!

Wait, French onion soup?  Yep, your eyesight is fine.  French onion soup, while not a standard Gameday offering by any stretch, it certainly is a staple of Fall, comfort-foody days where you just want to curl up with something warm other that your dog or significant other.  And if your favorite team is on their bye week, then what better way to pay it back to your favorite someone than comfort food, a nice bottle of wine (aside from the one in the soup), and a movie?  You can always do wings and brats next week…

Ok, so it’s really simple and I'll break it down Barney-style for you.  You melt butter, add onions (no fancy knife work required on those hot-rods), garlic and herbs, wine, and beef stock.  Then there’s the small matter of adding heat.  Pretty simple, right?  Just nod.  I’m right.

Here’s what you’ll need:

- 4 onions, sliced
- ½ c. unsalted butter (one stick out of the package)
- 2 or 3 cloves of garlic, chopped or minced
- 2 bay leaves
- Fresh thyme, about 5 sprigs or to taste (I don’t think you can really overdo it here)
- ½ bottle of red wine (any $10 or less bottle will do, and dryer is better)
- 2 Tbs. flour
- 2 quarts (64oz.) beef stock or broth
- Salt and pepper
- Stale or day-old crusty bread (Italian, sourdough, French, etc., and it doesn’t have to be old), sliced
- about ½ to ¾ cup of grated Gruyere cheese per serving, or as you see fit

And here’s what you do, expanding on my previous explanation:

Melt the butter in a stock pot over medium-high heat.  Add onions, garlic, bay leaves, and thyme, and season with salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring occasionally to keep the onions from burning, until the onions have softened and caramelized, about 25 minutes.  Add the wine and reduce quite a bit until it doesn’t look soupy anymore and/or the onions appear to have absorbed most of it, about 10-15 minutes.  Now reduce the heat to medium-low and dust it with the flour.  2 Tbs. should just about do it, but after you stir it up, it should look just a bit pasty.  Keep the heat on medium-low and cook for about 10 minutes, or until the flour taste is gone.  Now add the beef stock/broth and stir.  Increase heat and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium / medium-low and simmer for at least 10 minutes, or until ready to serve.  When ready to serve, ladle into crocks or bowls, place bread on top of the soup, and top with the cheese.  Broil on low until the cheese is melted and starting to brown.  Enjoy and make ready for compliments.

Ok, doesn’t that sound easy?  Just to recap, it really is just as simple as melting butter, adding stuff, waiting, adding more stuff, waiting, adding a little more stuff, and then adding bread and melting cheese on top.  Ker-blam.

So that’s my way of wishing you a happy Fall, and the opening of comfort-food season.  Before you know it (as long as I don’t get sidetracked for another several months), I’ll be posting some great family recipes for Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings, and getting ready to kick off 2015 with something awesome…as soon as I figure out what that is.  As always, my friends, thanks for taking the time to visit my site, and please let me know if you have any questions or comments; and by all means if you improve on any of my recipes, I’m all ears!  Cheers, my friends!

Oh, and one more thing: you’re welcome J

-Aaron

New Year's Comfort Food - Beer Cheddar Soup

Hello again, friends, and Happy (almost) New Year!  2013 was a good year for the blog, and I really hope that you've enjoyed what I've offered you so far.  Of course, there could always be more, so my first big resolution for 2014 is to give you more simple and delicious recipes right here.  I guess we'll see how I do...

But let's concentrate on the here and now, and what sort of winter would be complete without your favorite comfort food?  I'll tell you what kind: no kind, wherefore I give you the ultimate in winter soul-warming awesomeness: beer-cheddar soup.  BOOM!

I like beer and I like cheese.  I like to enjoy them separately.  I like soup too.  So, what part of this is a bad idea?

So how do we do this?  Well, if you already know how to make a basic chowder, it's pretty easy.  And for those of you who don't already know how to make a basic chowder...it's pretty easy.

This recipe makes enough for 4 adults with plenty of leftovers besides.  Now while I don't include them in this post, you could serve this soup with some homemade butter and garlic croutons or fresh bread.  If you want to know how to make either of these, email me at fearnotyourkitchen@gmail.com

Here's what you need for the soup:

• 1½ c. diced celery
• 1½ c. diced carrot
• 1½ c. diced onion
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ c. unsalted butter
• ½ c. flour
• 4c. chicken stock
• 4 c.whole milk
• 2 c. beer (Sam Adams Boston Lager or similar)
• 1 generous tsp. of your favorite cayenne pepper hot sauce
• ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp. dry mustard
• 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 2 lbs. shredded extra sharp white cheddar cheese – about 6 c.
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

And here's what you do:

Melt the butter in a stock pot over medium heat.  Add onions, carrots, and celery and sweat until just soft, about 10 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add garlic and continue to cook for 1 or 2 more minutes until fragrant.  Add the hot sauce, cayenne pepper, Dijon and dry mustard, and Worcestershire sauce and stir well to combine.  Cook for about 2 minutes to allow flavors to blend.  Add the flour and combine thoroughly to make a roux.  Cook the roux for about 3-5 minutes to eliminate raw flour taste.  Add, in order, the chicken stock, milk, and finally the beer, stirring well after each addition.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce to a simmer for 10-15 minutes.  When ready to serve, remove from heat and stir in the cheese.  Serve immediately.

Now, it should go without saying that you should enjoy this soup with a glass of the very same beer you use to cook it.  I like amber-ish beers like Sam Adams, but you can use anything you wish.  I might even be tempted to try Killian's Irish Red.  Try a few and see what your favorites are.  And one word of advice: resist the temptation to add more beer to the soup than what's indicated above or the it won't come together as well.  If you want more beer flavor, just have a beer when you eat it.  This soup does also have a nice cayenne warmth to it, and if you want it hotter, add more cayenne pepper rather than hot sauce.

Like I mentioned before, you're going to have leftovers (unless you either eat like a bird or are feeding a small battalion).  This soup reheats really well in a saucepan over medium heat.  I didn't try microwaving it, but give it a shot and give me some feedback if you'd like.

Well, friends, I hope you enjoy this final offering of 2013, ushering you comfortably into 2014 and a happy and prosperous new year.  All the best to you and yours.  Share me with your friends and family and let's make 2014 a year to bring more food lovers into the Fear Not Your Kitchen fold.  Happy New Year!

Mama Mia! – Fresh Pasta

Hello again, friends!  I was doing some experimenting in the kitchen this weekend, and I stumbled across my Imperia pasta roller (which, incidentally I bought three years ago and never used).  Given my obsession with Italian food, and how I prefer making everything I can from scratch, I decided to give fresh pasta a whirl. 

I’ve got no fewer than 10 cookbooks of various kinds sitting around, and I figured that I would be able to get the gist of homemade pasta from at least one of them.  So, I compared some recipes, made a few notes, and came up with what I think is the 98% solution.  Of course, that’s a fancy way of saying that it’s super easy and requires only two ingredients: eggs and flour. 

Given all the fancy gadgets and doodads in the modern kitchen, it was refreshing to make something simple and without all that stuff.  So here’s the skinny: put about 2¼ cups of flour in a bowl and then reach in a make a well in the center with your fingers.  Make sure it’s big enough to hold the three eggs that you’re going to crack in the middle.  Well, get to it…I’ll wait. 

Once you’ve cracked the eggs in the middle, very carefully start to whip them up with a fork, slowly drawing in flour from the sides of the well, but NOT breaking the wall of the well. 

 

Basically, keep the eggs in the middle, and keep whipping them around, reaching into the sides of the well a little more each time until the eggs aren’t runny anymore, then just get your hands in there and mix it up.  

If you need to add a little water, do so a tablespoon at a time.  I had to add two since I had everything all bundled up and had extra flour left over. 

 

Keep kneading and folding until you get a slightly moist ball of dough that looks about like this.

Now wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes. 

When it comes time to roll it out, you have a couple of options.  Whip out your pasta roller (hence the reason I’m writing this in the first place), or limber up and get out the old rolling pin.  If you use the roller, you still need to spend some time with the rolling pin. 

 

 Either way, work in batches and flatten the dough out until you have the thickness you want.  In the roller, work from the widest setting to about the middle setting.  If it’s too thin, the cutter will just make a mess of it.

Ok, from here on out, I’m just going to talk about the machine.  Like I said, roll the sheets out to a medium thickness.  Each quarter of the ball of dough will roll out to about 2 feet or more of pasta.  I rolled each one out individually and then sent them through the cutter one after the other.
 

 

 

 

Sure, it takes a little technique (which I barely have), but it worked out ok.  Now when you’re done, make sure to dust each batch with flour and then twist them into neat little nests. 

If you cook the pasta right away, it’s totally ready.  If not, wrap it in something airtight and refrigerate.  When you do cook it, realize that it only takes about 3 minutes, so get your water to a rolling boil, drop it in, and be ready to fish it out quickly.  Too long, and it’ll be mushy.  Then of course toss it with your favorite sauce and enjoy. 

Well, friends, I hope you find this as easy and rewarding as I did.  As always, let me know if you have any comments or suggestions.  Feel free to email me at fearnotyourkitchen@gmail.com with anything you’ve got, or send me a tweet @fearlessfoodguy. 

Until next time, friends!

On Twitter!

Hello friends!

Just thought I'd let you know that I'm up with the times now.  Social media has gotten its hooks in me.  Follow my blog on Twitter @FearlessFoodGuy

And now I cross my fingers and hope for the best...

OUTSIDE THE BOX – STRAWBERRY ROSEMARY JAM WITH PINK PEPPERCORNS



The Palette

Hello again, friends!  I’ve been on quite a roll lately, and I’m really excited to share this latest mini-adventure with you.  I’ve recently taken an interest in canning/preserving foods, and that means I get to open up a fresh box of awesome when it comes to trying something new.  I’ve mentioned before how I grew up on a farm, and how my family made everything from scratch.  Well, canning and preserving was a big part of that.  More than anything, I’m trying to ensure that this family skill doesn’t just fade away.  And as I’ve talked about before, I’m loathe to waste anything, so this method of food preparation is right up my alley.  And if you feel the same way I do about getting creative with ingredients you can’t use before they go bad, then get comfortable and pay attention.

My family took a mini-vacation to visit Grandma and Grandpa and the cousins, leaving me home alone to fend for myself.  Now, of course I miss them, but it also gives me a great deal of freedom in the kitchen to do some…experimenting [insert mad scientist diabolical laugh here].  So, given my recent leanings toward learning how to preserve food, I took a spin through the refrigerator to see what sort of palette of goodies I had to work with.  And hey, I found a quart of beautiful strawberries that looked like they were about to go south.  I also found a package of fresh rosemary in about the same situation, and the thought struck me: how good would it be to make a fresh jam from both of them?  Brilliant!

Now, I’ve never heard of a strawberry and rosemary jam, but the combination makes a lot of sense to me.  Here’s how I see it: strawberries are floral and acidic, with a very distinct, biting sweetness.  Rosemary is my go-to Italian herb of choice, and I’ve paired it with everything from tomatoes to ricotta cheese.  Something inside my brain just clicked, and I felt that it would be the perfect combination.  I’ve done some experiments with diametrically opposed flavor profiles in the past, and I’m a big fan.  Sweet/savory; hot/sweet; sweet/acid…these are all things that I’ve made work in the past.  I figured that sweet/woodsy would be just as good.

The story doesn’t end here, friends.  The more I thought about the combination, the more I thought that it would need one more thing to really tie it together, otherwise it would just be a jar of strawberry jam that tasted of rosemary.  So I took a spin through the spice cabinet, looking for just the right bridge between the sweet, floral notes of the strawberry and the piney, woodsy loveliness of the rosemary.  Something to punch you right in your flavor-maker.  Yep, I found it: PINK PEPPERCORNS!!

For those of you who may never have heard of pink peppercorns, it really is the perfect bridge between the fruit world and the herbaceous world.  It’s got the hallmark flavor of black pepper, albeit not as assertive, but it also hits you with a real aromatic note of florality (is that a word?).  It really ties the two main ingredients together without detracting from the flavor profile of the jam.

So what did I do, you might ask…well, here we go.  Let’s cut to the chase.  This isn’t going to be symposium on canning, but I will list some of the very basics.  First of all, I cleaned my jars – I bought a case of 1-pint wide-mouth mason jars – and then placed them in a simmering water bath to sterilize them.  I only used two jars for this recipe since I only had a quart of strawberries to work with.  While this was going on, I cleaned and destemmed my berries.  Basically, I just pulled the tops off and then cored out the stump with a paring knife.  Yes, you could just cut the whole top off and speed things up, but remember, I don’t like to waste anything.

Once my strawberries were cleaned and destemmed, I mashed them in a large glass measuring cup.  I started with roughly 4 cups of whole berries and ended up with 2 cups of mashed berries.  My recipe called for a great deal more, so I made the right adjustment with the sugar.  For two cups of berries, I used 3 cups of sugar.  I also used one whole 3oz. package of liquid fruit pectin.  You can get this in the canning section of any store.  Pectin helps your jam set properly; otherwise you’ll just have a really nice glaze or pancake syrup and not a nice, solid jam.  I’m sure I used way too much given the amount of mashed berries I had, but anecdotally you can’t use too much (in all fairness, I’m sure there are limits, but I’m not a food scientist).  You want it to set.  Period.

Anyhoo, I put my mashed berries in a saucepan and added the pectin.  I gently brought it to a rolling boil, stirring often.  Once it boils, add your sugar all at once and return it to a full boil for 1 full minute.  Use a bigger saucepan than you think you need because it will try very hard to boil over.

WARNING: LIQUID, BOILING SUGAR IS NASTY.  I TREAT IT LIKE LAVA. YOU DON’T WANT TO GET HOT SUGAR ON YOUR SKIN.  NO BUENO.  JUST BE CAREFUL, M’KAY.

Ok, once it boils for a minute, remove it from the heat and skim off the foam with a spoon.  I haven’t read anything that says this step has to be perfect, but do your best.  Once I got the majority of the foam out of there, I stirred in 1Tbs. of finely chopped rosemary and 1Tbs. of pink peppercorns.  Don’t be tempted to overdo the peppercorns.  I may have used a rounded Tbs. of them, and trust me…a little goes a long way.  Did I mention not to overdo it?

Once I had everyone stirred in, I filled my jars with the magma-hot liquid using a canning funnel and ladle.  This amount of material gave me one whole pint jar plus one more nearly full.  I think if I’d had 2 ½ cups of mashed berries and used 3 ½ cups of sugar, I’d have had two full pints.  Oh, BTW, fill the jars to within ¼ inch of the top.  Then add your lids and rings and process them in a boiling water bath for 5-7 minutes.  Just go to any canning website for a basic run-through.  Remove from the bath and set on a towel or rack to cool overnight.  Oh, and by the way, they’re going to be HOT for a while.  If you have kids with curious hands like I do, get the jars well out of reach.

 

 

If you end up with any jars that aren’t filled completely, don’t bother with the canning routine.  You want to enjoy it anyway.  Let those jars cool on the countertop for a couple hours and then just put them in the fridge.  I waited overnight for the jam to set, and then had some this morning on toast made from my homemade bread.  Super money!

Well, that’s it, friends.  I just wanted to share my little adventure with you, and encourage you to step outside the box and try something new every once in a while.  If you’re curious about different herb/flavor/etc. combinations, drop me a comment or send me an email to fearnotyourkitchen@gmail.com and we can explore your idea.  As always, if you want to just tell me about your own cool kitchen adventure, or point out something I could do better, I’m all ears!

Until next time, friends!

RISE TO THE OCCASION - HERBY ITALIAN BREAD

Hello again, friends, and welcome to another installment of the Blog!

Today is going to be a special one, and you’ll see why in just a few minutes.  First, ask yourself what your favorite smells are.  Fresh flowers?  Pizza?  Hot cookies fresh out of the oven?  Hold that thought, and think of how those scents make you feel, and when you smell them when you’re out and about, what do they remind you of?

The reason I’m asking you those questions before getting to the heart of the matter is that this Blog post is going to hit at one of the most powerful things that I can remember growing up.  As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I grew up on a farm in rural Montana, and my mom and both grandmas used to make everything from scratch.  Jams, pickles, breads, and even macaroni and cheese were all homemade, as the nearest town with a decent grocery story was over 30 miles away.

Memory is a powerful thing, especially when it comes to smells.  When I think back to those simple days as a kid on the farm, I can start to smell the chicken coop, the dirt on the gravel road, the lilac bushes around Grandma’s garden that attracted the bees, and even the smell of Grandma’s house itself (a century-old farmhouse from the Homestead Act days).  Even as I’m writing these words, my mind goes back to the days before I was even 4 feet tall, and I can clearly recall – and even smell – the warm, inviting, wafting deliciousness of Mom’s kitchen on fall afternoons after school when she had decided to make homemade bread.

Now, my mom’s homemade bread isn’t the subject of this Blog, but I’m going to hit you with something equally as awesome.  I’ve been making this at home for a couple years now – more recently – and it’s one of the most amazing, quick, easy bread recipes that I know.  And when you pop the loaves in the oven, it doesn’t take long before your entire house is filled with the soothing, aromatic promise of hot, fresh bread.  I don’t know about you, but it’s enough to soothe any savage beast.  There’s just nothing quite like fresh bread right out of the oven.

Ok, let’s get to it.  This recipe makes two loaves of bread, and they’re going to be a little smaller than a “standard” loaf of sandwich bread.  But because it’s so easy, it’ll be ok that you gobble it up as fast as you can make it.  And trust me, you’re want to go get your paws on some good olive oil and some aged Balsamic vinegar.  You’ll thank me.

You’re going to need a few things before you get started.  You’ll need some sort of mixer with a dough hook (or mixing bowl and a stiff wooden spoon if you don’t have one), a glass bowl big enough for a volleyball, yeast, olive oil, butter, flour, sugar, salt, water, and fresh herbs.  For my herbs I use half rosemary and half thyme, although this bread works beautifully with either one.  Another alternative is fresh oregano.  It’s really your choice; this is a win-win-win sort of deal.

First, fill a glass measuring cup with 1c. of warm – not hot – water.  If it’s too hot, it’ll kill the yeast.  No Bueno.  Add 1Tbsp. of sugar and 1 packet of yeast (1/4 oz.).  If you’re using yeast out of the jar, then 1/4oz. = 2 ¼ tsp.  Let that get happy for about 5 minutes, or until it’s really frothy.  Meanwhile, melt 2Tbsp. of butter in the microwave (or you could just let it get to a nice, soft room temperature, but that’ll be awhile).  Pour the yeast mixture and the butter (make sure the butter isn’t too hot!!) into the bowl of your mixer, add 2Tbsp. of olive oil, 1tsp. of salt, and about 2-3 Tbsp. of whatever herbs you’re using.  Make sure the herbs are chopped up nice and fine.  Finally, add 2 ½ c. of flour and start the mixer on low speed with the dough hook attached.  If you’re using the bowl-and-wooden-spoon method, get your elbow grease out and start going.

As the mixer goes, you’ll start to see the dough come together.  After it starts to form into one mass, let it go for about another 5 minutes, and then turn off the mixer and see how sticky it is.  With the 2 ½ cups of flour you already added, it should be firm and a tiny bit tacky, but not overly sticky or loose.  If it is, add ½ c. flour and try again.  Once it’s the right consistency, knead in the mixer or by hand for 10 minutes.  Put about 1 Tbsp. olive oil into the glass bowl and turn the dough out into it.  Personally, I like to manhandle the dough for a few minutes before I put it in the bowl with oil.  I turn it over a few times in my hands and shape it into a ball.  What can I say?  I love handling dough J

Roll the dough over a couple times to coat evenly with oil, then cover the bowl with a clean dishtowel and let it rise until roughly doubled in size.  How long this takes depends on how healthy your yeast is, how much of the sugar they decided to eat, and how warm your kitchen is.  Just walk away and give it awhile.  I start with about an hour.  Once it’s doubled in size, take a cookie sheet and grease it lightly with olive oil.  Remove the towel from the dough bowl and (literally) punch the dough down.  Yes, I really do mean punch it.  You’ll notice it’s light and airy; evidence that the yeast has been working hard.  Remove the punched-down dough from the bowl and divide in half.  Shape each half of the bread into nice rounds and place them on the oiled baking sheet.  Cover again with the towel and let rise until roughly doubled.  After about 45 minutes, you should be about there, and the unbaked loaves should looking something like this: 

While the rounds are rising for the final time, preheat your oven to 375 degrees (350 if you have a convection oven) and make sure the rack is in the middle.  Once you’re satisfied that they’ve risen as much as they need, throw them in the oven for 20 minutes.  Yep, that’s it.  Once 20 minutes is up, they should be nice and golden on the top and should sound a bit hollow when tapped.  Oh, and one more thing…your whole house should smell AWESOME!!

Once the bread comes out of the oven, I like to brush the top with some melted butter.  You don’t have to, but I prefer it.  It certainly doesn’t make or break the experience, so do one of each if you want to compare.  All said and done, you’ll get two loaves that look something like this:

Now, I believe I mentioned something about oil and Balsamic vinegar…tear into this bread and get to work!

Ok, well that about does it for the Blog this time.  Try this awesome bread out and see what you think.  Feel free to leave me a comment, or send me an email at fearnotyourkitchen@gmail.com if you want to let me know if you tweaked anything that turned out awesome.

Until next time, friends!

WHERE'S THE BEEF? - VEGETABLE LASAGNA

Hello again, friends!  Time for yet another trip to culinary Nirvana with this installment of the Blog.  I’ve decided to do something a little bit different (at least for me), and talk about a fresh twist on a classic dish. 

I’m a HUGE fan of Italian cuisine.  I love the flavors, the herbs, the freshness, and most of all the wide variety of Italian meats that accompany many of the dishes that I like the best.  Sit me down in front of a big ol’ plate of soppressata, Calabrese salami, cappocola, or prosciutto, with a big (and I do mean BIG) glass of Chianti and there’s nothing you can do to get the smile off my face.  And one of my absolute favorite things to make from scratch is Italian sausage.  I put it in everything from pizza to marinara sauce, and it’s a staple component in my…wait for it…LASAGNA!! 

But (of course there’s a “but”) today I have to force myself to set aside my carnivorous tendencies in order to share with you a wonderful way to make classic lasagna without a lick of meat anywhere to be found.  And before you shimmy your mouse up to the red X button to get rid of this page, just wait a second.  I promise that this recipe has just as much flavor and punch as the original, and is a great way to get your lasagna fix without it being chock full of meat. 

All you really need to get started is a few of your favorite vegetables (there are a few that are must-haves), some tomatoes, and some herbs.  Obviously you’ll need something for the filling like ricotta (or you can use cottage cheese if you prefer a thicker texture) and parmesan cheese, and you’ll need a box of standard-issue lasagna noodles.  You can get as sexy with the noodles as you want, and by that I mean you can go El Cheapo and get the $1 store brand, or you can splurge for the whole-grain, hoity-toity “healthy” pasta.  It’s entirely up to you. 

Vegetable Lasagna (Lasagne di Verdure in Italian) starts with a solid base of aromatics, and then adds layers and layers of flavors on top, ending with a beautiful bath of tomatoes and every chef’s favorite ingredient: time.  So, I’m not going to give you “the” answer to the question “how do I make it,” but instead give you a basic approach so that you can literally build your own.  What follows is one general approach to getting to a good veggie lasagna.

Get yourself a large dutch oven with a healthy glug-glug-glug of good extra virgin olive oil in the bottom.  Heat that baby over medium to medium-high heat and add one diced onion (or two if you like) and about 5 cloves of fresh garlic, minced.  Stirring frequently, cook the onions and garlic until soft, about 2-3 minutes.  Don’t forget to season as you go; layers of flavor are what you’re after.  I add a pinch or three of Kosher salt and a few turns of fresh black pepper at this point.

Next, you’ll want to start adding your veggies, and a good rule of thumb is to add them in the order of their relative strength.  By that I mean if a vegetable tends to break down under heat (e.g., squash, tomatoes), then add them toward the end.  Things like bell peppers, carrots, etc. are “harder” and take longer to break down, so add them first.  At this point I like to add some diced red bell pepper and soften it up for a couple minutes.  Then, diced yellow squash and/or zucchini, mushrooms (I like to use baby bellas, but morels or chanterelles would be great as well), tomatoes, and then any fresh herbs like basil.  I use an obscene amount of fresh basil in my Italian cooking.

Remember, season as you go, but also TASTE what you’re doing.  Don’t just add salt and pepper because I say so.  Your best gauge of seasoning is your own palette, so make sure to use it.  Also, as a technique, I like to use fresh rosemary in my sauces.  I just take 3 or 4 sprigs of the stuff and drop them right in after the aromatics are soft.  You can add fresh thyme as well, and if you don’t like fishing sticks out of your sauce, tie them all together with butcher’s twine and drop the whole thing in.

A quick note on the tomatoes.  I like to use San Marzano tomatoes when I cook Italian food.  These are peeled, whole plum tomatoes packed with basil, and are a wonderful addition to good Italian cooking.  The trick, though, is to crush them by hand as you put them into the sauce.  I also add the juice they’re packed in, realizing that I have to simmer it down more in order to thicken the lasagna filling.

Once everybody’s in the pool, put your heat on medium and just let everything get happy.  Stir about every 10 minutes or so, and make sure nothing’s sticking to the bottom.  This shouldn’t happen, but it’s good to be sure.  I like to keep it at a decent simmer, making sure that excess water from the veggies cooks out and helps the sauce thicken.

 

Meanwhile, as your pool party is in full swing, you make the other part of the filling.  Take about 32oz. of ricotta (or cottage cheese).  You can use the whole milk or part skim; I don’t really care which.  Add 2 eggs, beaten, about 8oz of grated fresh parmesan (you could use Romano or Asiago if you wish), and salt and pepper.  Mix thoroughly and set aside in the fridge until you’re ready to build the lasagna.

For the last step, bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil and cook your pasta to al dente.  Make sure not to skimp on the salt.  Italians believe that pasta should taste like the sea.  Make it happen.  I usually add a wicked fist full of salt to my water.

And now, friends, the payoff.  Get yourself at least a 9x13 baking dish, if not an 11x15, depending on how much filling you have and how big of a pan you want to make.  I always rub some olive oil around the inside of the dish to ensure my pasta doesn’t stick when I serve it.  Place a layer of pasta on the bottom, covering all the surface area of the dish.  Slap a few globs of your ricotta mixture on top of the noodles and spread it around.  Then sprinkle a decent amount of shredded mozzarella (or sliced buffalo mozzarella) on top.  Finally (for this layer), spoon a healthy amount of your vegetable filling in there and spread it around.  Repeat this pattern as desired, ending with the vegetable filling on top.  You can dust it with fresh parmesan if desired.

Bake on 350 for about an hour and fifteen minutes.  That’s it.  Oh yeah…make sure to enjoy it too.

Well, friends, I hope that this inspires you to try something new.  As always, feel free to post a comment or shoot me an email.  fearnotyourkitchen@gmail.com

Until next time, friends!