How do you spell love and comfort? L-A-S-A-G-N-E.
25 minutes to heaven. This is the ultimate shortcut to a soul-warming Italian feast.
One of my absolute favourite food groups is comfort food. That’s not a food group, you say? I can fight you about it.
I think the best thing about food and cooking is that there are almost no restraints. The only limiting thing, really, is a lack of imagination. Naturally, if certain ingredients are not available, that can be an issue, but then it’s better to cook something else—something you can prepare with things you can actually find near you.
Getting off track here… I was supposed to talk about comfort food, and not just any comfort food, but the maiden, the mother, the crone: Lasagne.
Sidenote: Lasagne (plural) refers to the baked dish, while lasagna (singular) technically refers to a single sheet of pasta.
Simple yet rich ingredients, satisfying textures, deep flavours, and the positive emotional and social associations it evokes make lasagne an eternal and timeless classic. It’s a dish one can adjust until the end of time by changing the seasoning, trying different types of cheese, using a classic béchamel sauce, or leaving it out like I do here, not to mention using different kinds of vegetables to make it even more filling and, most importantly, making sure you do eat your greens!
The Details
To prepare this, I’m using my favorite 2.5-litre (approx. 9 x 13 inch) lasagne dish from Arabia.
In the following recipe, I use ready-made lasagne sheets, and flavour and umami are created fast by using beef bouillon cubes. Using 2/3 Datterini (baby plum) tomatoes in the sauce will give it a wonderful fleshy texture and a delicious sweet flavour, combined with 1/3 Polpa (finely chopped tomatoes). As we take these shortcuts, it leads us to a total of 1 hour of cooking time (though you can let the sauce simmer a lot longer than 15–30 mins; the longer you do, the deeper the flavours get). When it comes to spices, use the measurements as suggestions—taste, taste, and taste again! If you like it spicier, add more chili flakes; if you don’t like thyme, leave it out. You cannot go wrong here.
Also, a few additional notes and suggestions:
The beef bouillon cubes are salty as it is, so only add extra salt if you must. These two cubes should be enough!
If you have some leftover cheese, you might consider using it in the lasagne instead of the mozzarella, or go 50/50.
If you have a leftover Parmesan rind, you can throw it into the sauce while it simmers; it adds great depth and umami—just make sure to remove it before you put the lasagne into the oven.
If you are too hungry to wait for the lasagne to cook in the oven for 25 mins, you can just boil spaghetti and serve the sauce as a bolognese. In that case, maybe ditch the mozzarella and use grated parmesan on top instead.
La dolce vita, after all.
Lasagne (Quick and easy)
The Facts:
Yield: Serves approx. 6
Time: About 1–1.5 h (including 15–20 mins to rest)
Ingredients:
15 Lasagne sheets (approx. 250 g / 9 oz)
400 g Ground beef (approx. 14 oz; 10%–17% fat, or a mix of beef and pork)
2 x 125 g Fresh mozzarella balls (approx. 2 x 4.5 oz)
The Sauce:
400 g Mutti Polpa / Finely chopped tomatoes (approx. 14 oz)
600 g Mutti Datterini / Baby plum tomatoes (approx. 21 oz)
1 Red onion, finely diced (or 1 tsp onion powder)
2 Garlic cloves, minced
10–15 Fresh basil leaves
1 tsp Dried oregano
A pinch of dried thyme
Dried chili (to taste, optional)
1 tbsp Tomato paste or ketchup
1 tbsp Olive oil
2 Beef bouillon cubes
Black pepper
Salt to taste (if necessary)
The Process:
The Tomato Sauce:
Finely dice the red onion and garlic.
Add the olive oil to a pan over medium heat (confession: I often use a wok when making pasta sauces because it’s so much easier to contain the mess). Once it starts to shimmer, add the onions.
Sauté the onions for a few minutes until they begin to soften.
Add the meat and increase the heat. Brown the ground beef until it is almost fully cooked.
Add the chopped tomatoes, beef bouillon cubes, oregano, black pepper, thyme, and chili.
Continue cooking on low heat so the sauce bubbles gently but doesn’t splatter. You can simmer the sauce for anywhere from 10 minutes to 1 hour.
Stir in the hand-torn basil and cook for a few more minutes.
Assembling the Lasagne:
First, spread about 1–2 ladles (approx. 2–3 dl / ¾–1 ¼ cups) of sauce onto the bottom of the baking dish. You should be able to see the bottom of the dish through the sauce. Place 3 lasagne sheets on top.
Prepare the following layers in the same way.
Finally, press down lightly on the lasagne to ensure the sauce is distributed evenly.
Pat the mozzarella dry and tear it over the top.
Bake at 220°C (425°F) for about 25–30 minutes. Note that while some sheets only need 20 minutes to cook, the extra time ensures the mozzarella gets color and the edges become partially crispy.
Let the dish rest for 15–20 minutes before serving.
Serving suggestions:
Fresh green salad, medium-to-full-bodied Italian reds with high acidity, such as Chianti (Sangiovese), Barbera, or Valpolicella.
Pairs well with:
For cozy nights in, unforgettable dinners, and “Coming Home” by Leon Bridges. Click the button below to listen to the song on the SLOW JAMS: The Letters playlist.
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