/ck/ - Food & Cooking

[Anonymous No.16381177]

I made a Lasagna yesterday. I watched a few videos and kinda combined what liked from them into one recipe. Tell me what you think.

[Anonymous No.16381180]

>>16381177
The bechamel sauce was made with some meh parmesan cheese that was already powder because I couldn't find anything good in the shop.

[Anonymous No.16381187]

>>16381177
That doesn’t look like lasagna

[Anonymous No.16381190]

The beef was a bit too finely ground for my linking and a bit too lean.

>>16381187
Every journey starts with a single step.

[Anonymous No.16381194]

>>16381190
I used some salted fatback to render some sweet pork fat to sear the meat.

[Anonymous No.16381199]

>>16381194
And I had a nice snack to go with my beer while I cooked.

[Anonymous No.16381201]

>>16381199
I manhandled the meat a bit and then seared it in portions to not crowd the pot too much.

[Anonymous No.16381203]

>>16381201
Nice colour.

[Anonymous No.16381212]

>>16381203
I allowed some of the juices and small pieces that came out of the meat to burn a bit in the fat to have something to go with the holy trinity(see OP) after I've taken out the meat.

[Anonymous No.16381220]

>>16381212
I threw in the holy trinity into the fat after cooking the meat and let it sweat for a few minutes, then added some tomato concentrate and tried to "burn" that a tiny bit before adding the stock.

[Anonymous No.16381226]

>>16381220
After adding some stick in and deglazing the pot I threw in the meat with the remaining juices and broke it up with a spatula, then added the crushed tomatoes, two cans.

In hindsight I could have added 3, or even 4 and made some more meat. I was a bit short on the sauce.

[Anonymous No.16381232]

>>16381226
I seasoned with oregano, basil, salt, pepper, and a tiny bit of sugar since the tomatoes weren't that sweet, nor the carrots.

[Anonymous No.16381240]

>>16381232
While the sauce and the meat did their thing I combined my ricotta, mozarella, some eggs, and some other cheezes like parmezan and some cheddar into a paste-like thing for easier applicaiton. I also added fresh basil leafs and pepper.

[Anonymous No.16381248]

>>16381240
The ricotta I bought was a bit low on far, which I assume isn't optimal. I could have gotten some more other cheeses too.

[Anonymous No.16381252]

>>16381248
Gotta love fresh basil.

[Anonymous No.16381256]

>>16381252
Before final assembly I re-heated the bechamel and boiled the pasta for like a single minute just to avoid it being undercooked.

[Anonymous No.16381262]

>>16381256
I also touched up the bechamel with some additional nutmeg, black pepper and salt. And some milk to make it less thick.

[Anonymous No.16381265]

>>16381262
The first layer is just the red sauce and the meat. The pan was of course rubbed with olive oil to avoid sticking.

[Anonymous No.16381269]

>>16381265
3 layers of pasta if I remember correctly. 4 layers of fillings.

[Anonymous No.16381274]

>>16381269
I was indeed short on the red sauce and meat.

[Anonymous No.16381280]

>>16381274
The fresh basil leafs in between the layers really make a difference.

[Anonymous No.16381284]

>>16381280
~30 minutes in 210*C oven with foil on top to not burn it too much, then another ~25 minutes without the foil.

[Anonymous No.16381287]

>>16381284
And there it is.

[Anonymous No.16381291]

>>16381287
It came out quite well, but I definitely needed more of the red sauce and meat. And the meat could have been less learn and less finely ground. Next time I'll grind it myself.

[Anonymous No.16381297]

>>16381291
Definitely better than anything I've had previously, but I bet it would be better if there was a better balance between the white and the red sauce. It seems like the cheeses and the bechamel overpowered the bolognese and the meat.

[Anonymous No.16381312]

Well done OP, but still don't see why you browned the meat in big chunks

[Anonymous No.16381317]

>>16381312
Well, I didn't want to brown ALL of it, that would be too much, and I didn't want to sear them in small pieces, because that would make them hard and dry much too fast.

Think about it, a layer of pork fat, and small chunks of ground meat. Instead of a bit of sear on a surface you'd get small burned chunks of ground meat.

[Anonymous No.16381322]

>>16381312
Also, thank you.

I should have taken a few pics of making the bechamel sauce, but forgot.

[Anonymous No.16381329]

Good job, but it looks like your bechamel is a bit too thick

[Anonymous No.16381332]

>>16381329
You're absolutely right. I overdid it initially with the flour, and had to rescue it by adding more butter, and then later on more milk. It was my maybe 3rd time doing it, and haven't don it in a while, so I made a mistake by dumping too much flour from the start.

[Anonymous No.16381346]

>>16381297
>>16381322
Quality thread OP, thanks. Would eat/10.

[Anonymous No.16381537]

>>16381297
It's been a long time since I made lasagna, but two big cans of tomatoes made two layers of sauce. I'd cook up some bell pepper, onion, and mushroom, then add loose sausage. Once that's brown, add spices, then add tomatoes and a small tin of paste. For the cheese layer, ricotta with an egg or two, parm, seasoning, and slices from a block of mozzarella. Mine were only three layers, with the cheese in the middle. More cheese on the last sauce layer.

For you, I'd add mushrooms, use both sausage and ground meat, and get some mozzarella. You cut it about 1/4 inch thick and nestle it in the ricotta/bechamel layer.

[Anonymous No.16381552]

>>16381537
>cheese in lasagne
Didn’t know they had reliable internet in trailer parks.

[Anonymous No.16381559]

>>16381537
>but two big cans of tomatoes made two layers of sauce
Yes, quite right. I definitely was off on the amount of crushed tomatoes.

>I'd add mushrooms, use both sausage and ground meat
Yes, I've seen people combine italian sausage with the ground beef in several videos but I had no time to get one, but next time I'll definitely find some.

I had mozarella, but it wasn't very good quality.

[Anonymous No.16381850]

bretty gud anon more red sauce though looks a bit dry but would def eat

[Anonymous No.16382188]

>>16381194
very good idea given your meat leanness

[Anonymous No.16382190]

>>16381240
>cheddar

[Anonymous No.16382193]

>>16381265
the usual thing to do is put sauce down first rather than oiling it

[Anonymous No.16382198]

>>16382188
Yeah, I thought so too, and it helped with getting some nice colour on the meat.

>>16382190
I had some leftover and I wasn't going to use it for anything else so I chucked it in. I know it's not traditional.

>>16382193
Well, I saw people didn't use oil, but they were all using ceramic and mine was metal, so just to hedge my bets I rubbed some olive oil in. It worked great, no sticking.