My Meat Lasagna - A lighter version

Please review my Base Meat Lasagna recipe for reference. I modified that recipe to take the super heaviness out of the dish. Please experiment! Cooking is about trying stuff to see if it sticks (pun intended). In this recipe, I made the pasta sheets, so fresh pasta vs. commercial boxed dry. My pasta was 50/50 semolina to 00 flour with 5 eggs and some water. Also, I don’t precook my pasta sheets. Here we go!

1) Spread about 2 C. of Ragu’ Bolognese sauce on the bottom of a deep roasting pan. Lay pasta sheets side by side on top of the sauce. Try not to overlap as you want those layers of sauce and meat and cheese to intermingle and bubble up during cooking.

2) Here is the key to keeping the dish light vs. heavy: there is no need to build out a inch of sauce, cheese etc. for each layer.

3) Here is the order of battle:

1 ladle of Bolognese sauce dotted or dribble over the layer of pasta (have 4-6 cups on hand)

1 ladle of Bechamel sauce (look for my base recipe) dotted or dribbled over the Bolognese (have 4 cups on hand)

Spread little pieces of Mozzarella over the Bechamel sauce. I slice Mozzarella and tear tiny pieces (2 balls of Mozzarella on hand)

Grate some Parmesan and Pecorino Romano on this layer. (Blocks of cheese, fresh tastes so much better)

4) Repeat until you run out of fillings, pasta or sauce or room in the roasting pan. I typically have about 4-6 layers when I am all said and done.

5) Put in a 325 degree oven for 20-25 minutes. You can put foil on but you don’t need to cook much here as you have fresh pasta. For 10-20 minutes, crank up the heat a bit to add some crust for those how love those crunchy corners. Once done, let cool 10 minutes minimum prior to cutting and serving. Put a ladle full of Bolognese sauce on each portion and maybe a dash of cheese.

Eat.Drink.Savor.

Crispy Pork Belly

Here is a cut that often is overlooked as a standalone dish: Pork Belly. The belly is commonly used for bacon and/or pancetta and most butchers will cut the pork belly with that in mind; no skin. If you are fortunate to find skin-on pork belly, grab it! You can make more of a gourmet dish, porchetta where you wrap a belly around a tenderloin, add spices and tie it up like a nice roast. But we believe in simplicity here. We can gourmet some other time.

1) 2-4 pound skin-on pork belly. If you can find a bigger one, by all means grab it. Save one half for bacon or other uses. You can cook a larger belly but you run into real estate challenges with your oven or pan.

2) Crosshatch with a knife (diamond pattern) the skin. Be careful to cut only the skin and the fat. The goal here is to give the fat ample ways to render out during the cook. Season as you see fit, I keep it simple with maybe a little salt, pepper, dry mustard and thyme. You can dry brine this too if you have the time.

3) Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Low and slow here is the operative word. That belly has a ton of fat (and flavor) and you have to give it time to render out. No need to roll the belly into a roast. You can keep it flat, it may cook unevenly but it really doesn’t matter.

4) Put in a deep roasting pan with a rack. Cook for about 2-3 hours. Check for an internal temp (make sure you are testing the meat and not the fat) for close to 200 degrees and the meat is fork tender. Most of the fat should have rendered and is in bottom of the pan.

4) Take roasting pan out of the oven. Remove rack with belly on it and put it on a new roasting pan. Increase oven temperature to 500 degrees. Put belly back in the oven and cook it for about 15-20 minutes or until your desired crispiness. If you see it burning but need more time, put on some foil. Take out and rest for minimum of 20 minutes.

5) Depending on tenderness, you can slice and serve or pull it into shreds. Serve with the crispy skin.

This is pork heaven!!

Eat.Drink.Savor.

Basic Roasted Rack of Lamb

I love lamb but given its expense, don’t make it too much. When I do make it, I don’t want to mess it up. I love this recipe as the heat is moderate (easier to manage) and the time to cook the lamb is short. When you buy the lamb make sure the ribs are showing (Frenched) or have the butcher do it. There is a lot of fat in there and nothing worthy of eating, plus people love meat with a handle. This recipe is for 2 racks, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds each. Recipe was modified from Molly Stevens, Roasted.

1) If you can, I do recommend either a dry brine (salt 24 hours ahead of time) or my Lamb Paste. The paste is a couple of TBSPs of chopped up fresh rosemary, 2-4 cloves of minced garlic and olive oil to mix. Rub all over the rack and let sit for 24 hours. If there is a 1/4” inch or less layer of fat, make sure you crosshatch or prick it or the paste/dry brine won’t penetrate the fat. If there is more fat, I’d trim some down but don’t remove all of it or the lamb can get dry. That fat provides flavor and heat protection.

2) Preheat oven to 350 degrees or less. I like going lower as it is a slower roast and you won’t have a runaway train (in terms of internal temperature) to stop if you don’t keep a close eye on it or get distracted.

3) Heat a skillet over high heat, put rack meat side down on skillet and sear it for a few minutes until you see a nice brown. Do the same for the bottom of the rack. Transfer racks to a roasting pan, meat side up. OPTION: You can do the sear process at the end of the cooking process but I like this way better, more margin for error.

3) Cook until 125-130 degrees for rare/medium rare, about 20-25 minutes. Adjust upwards for your choice of doneness. Let rest on a carving board for maybe 10 minutes, you don’t want the lamb to get too cold. Carve between rib bones or you can get fancy and do a double or triple chop. I doubt you will have any pan juices from the pan but if you do, drizzle on the chops.

Eat.Drink.Savor.

Roast Chicken - Weeknight

Someone asked me one time, “if you had me over to your house for dinner, what would you serve me?”. I answered without thought, “Roast Chicken”. For me, it is the ultimate comfort food. Complimented by a starch, a veggie and some gravy, it can’t be beat. One thing I have learned is that each cook is different and it is best to keep that in mind. With the variables in play, I focus on this: 165 degrees internal temp on the breast and anything above 180 degrees for the thighs. Cook time can be a problem especially during the week. Here is what I do to cut my cook time to 45 mins - 60 mins:

1) Take out (or have the butcher do it) the backbone of a chicken with a knife or shears. Spread out the bird and turn it over. With your hands and force, crack down on the breast (this makes cutting easier but it is only an option). Cut the breast in half. Season as you wish or dry brine if you are doing this ahead of time.

2) Turn your oven on to 450 degrees. In a rimmed baking/roasting pan or how I do it with a skillet, take an onion and cut into wide slices. Put slices down and put the chicken halves, breast side up on top of the onions, sort of a food roasting rack.

3) Cook and watch the internal temps. I like to arrange the pan in the oven with the legs toward the back as it is warmer in the back. If the skin is getting too brown, cover with foil. If the legs are done before the breast but the breast is higher than 155 degrees, I take it out as there will be carry-over cooking and the temps will exceed the USDA recommended 165 degrees if you let it rest for 20+ minutes. Resting is important here. I have a blog post about it as well.

4) Now, once the chicken is out and resting on a carving board, you have the option to make gravy. Yes, that is why the onions are there.. to flavor the gravy….

After a rest, start carving your bird and serve. The skin should be crispy and bird delicious. You can play with the oven temps and time.

Eat.Drink.Savor.

Twice Baked Stuffed Potatoes

Wow! Look at these potatoes! A family favorite! The best part of this recipe? You can experiment with the ingredients. Have fun!

1) Bake 4 whole potatoes as you normally would or grill cut sides down to sear. Put on indirect side of grill to finish cooking. Let potatoes cool and cut in half. Scoop out a majority of the potato into a bowl without piercing the skin. Mash the potato up.

2) In the bowl, mix in 3/4C sour cream, 1/2C whole milk. Mix in 1/2C minced ham and 3/4C gruyere (Swiss) cheese, 2 tsp of Dijon mustard. Salt and pepper to taste. If it is a little dry, you can add more milk or cream. It is easy to make it soupy so be careful.

3) Put mixture back into the potato halves. Sprinkle 3/4C of cheese on them and put in 350 oven/grill for about 15 minutes to melt the cheese and warm the mixture.

Oh my!! The potatoes can be made up 1-2 days ahead so a very versatile recipe. Have fun the ingredients and how you bake the potatoes. Eat.Drink.Savor.!