January 31, 2007
Beef and goat cheese lasagne
This came about because I had a lump of pasta dough that was not enough to make a pot of linguine or any straight pasta. I knew it was enough for a lasagne, since I used its other half for that purpose a couple of days ago (with mushrooms, gruyere, cream, and white truffle oil). I also had a few ounces of goat cheese, some Monterrey Jack, and two pounds of ground beef (alright! Dinner without having to go to the grocery store!).
So, the first item was to whip up a semi-ragu:
Fry a quarter of a pound of finely chopped pancetta in EVOO. Add a few crushed and peeled cloves of garlic as it nears completion.
Add a finely diced onion and fry for a minute or so.
Add a finely diced carrot and a finely diced stalk of celery. Fry.
Add your ground beef, a generous splash of dry marsala, a cup or two of brown chicken stock, a cup of milk, thyme, oregano, Worcestershire Sauce, a box of Pomi tomatoes, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, pepper, and bay and cook for about an hour. As it nears completion, adjust for salt and acidity.
Preheat your oven to 350.
Layer your lasagna (reading from base to top):
Bottom: thin layer of meat sauce
Fresh pasta
Sauce
Goat cheese in lumps. Grated jack and/or gruyere and a bit of grated reggiano parmiggiana
Fresh pasta
Sauce
Cheese blend. Freshly cracked pepper.
In oven. It is done when it smells right and the cheese on top is browning beautifully.
Remove from oven. Let sit for a couple of minutes (it is about the temperature of hot lava anyway, and it needs to reabsorb juices). Cut, top with freshly diced parsley, and serve with a hearty red wine.