Simple & Elegant Soul Food Recipes

Crispy Lasagna

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons of sunflower seed oil
2 tablespoons of garlic olive oil
2 tablespoons of butter
1 big onion – diced finely
1 big carrot (or 2 small ones) – diced finely
1 stalk of cellery – diced finely
1 heaped teaspoon sweet paprika powder
1 heaped teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
750 gr to 1 kg of Magliano’s Healthy Chicken Ragu (Mama Mariana’s Recipe) – or any other Ragu of your choice
200 ml of red wine of your choice
750 ml of Tomato Passata
1 heaped tablespoon tomato puree
2 cubes of beef stock (you could use vegetable or chicken as well)
750 ml water – hot
Parsley – 1 small bunch diced
3 eggs
1 kg Ricotta Cheese
500 gr Hard Mozzarella – grated
250 gr Smoked Cheese – grated
250 gr of Parmigiano Reggiano – grated
2 packets of lasagna sheets from Barilla (that is the only type of pasta we use other than made at home…)

Instructions:

1. 1. Heat up 2 tablespoons of the sunflower seed oil, half of the butter and all of the garlic olive oil in a very large pan on medium to high heat, and cook the onion, cellery stalk and carrot until tender.

1. 1. Add in the paprika, salt and pepper and mix well. A minute later add in the Ragu and mix as well.

1. 1. Once everything is very well mixed, add in the wine and mix again. You want to get all that goodness from the bottom of the pan!

1. 1. Once they are well combined, add in the passata, the tomato paste, the shredded beef stock cubes and the water. Mix everything very well and let it simmer on low heat for 1 to 2 hours until the sauce reduces quite a bit and gets a thick consistency.

1. 1. Towards the end of this process, start working on your other ingredients and prepare your cheese mix for the lasagna. In a big bowl, add in the ricotta cheese, the eggs, the parsley, 100 gr of the mozzarella, 50 gr of the parmesan and 50 gr of the smoked cheese. Mix everything thoroughly and set it aside.

1. 1. Once your ragu is ready, add in it the 1 tablespoon of butter you have left and stir it in vigorously until it melts. This will give your sauce a smooth, shiny, silky consistency. Take your tray (from this recipe you can make 2 trays of lasagna easily) and grease it with 1 of the 2 tablespoons of sunflower seed oil you have left and start layering your lasagna.

1. 1. First off you want to add in a few spoons of ragu and spread it really well on the bottom of your tray. Next come a few of the pasta sheets on top of the ragu. Your next layer will be your ricotta mix and your next one the mozzarella and smoked cheese mix. Top that with a little bit of the parmesan here and there and start over from the ragu, layering everything until your tray is full. You want to save most of your parmesan as well as a generous amount of the 2 grated cheese mix to go on top of your lasagna so you get a nice, crispy crust at the end of your cooking.

1. 1. Place your trays (one at a time) into the preheated 220 degrees Celsius oven for approximately 30 min. You could go up to 40 min (we did) and that will give you a crunchier texture on top of your lasagna but that also means that it will get a slightly burnt aspect. The taste will be just as amazing though… Serve with the same red wine you used in the ragu.

Prep time: 1h 30 min – 2h 20 min (it depends for how long you decide to simmer your ragu sauce)

Total time: 2-3 h

Notes:

If you want to store the second tray of lasagna you can do so and it will last in your fridge for up to 2 days or you can freeze it and in the freezer you could keep it for about 1 month. It’s important you don’t go above this period of time. It’s for your own health… Also, if you decide to store it in the freezer, remember that when something freezes it upscales it’s mass so you should really assembly your second lasagna in a silicone, metal or aluminium foil tray so that it doesn’t crack in your freezer or as soon as you take it out and it warms up a little… Also, if you decide to go with freezing your tray, you should add 10 to 15 minutes more to your cooking time and just pop your frozen lasagna straight into the preheated oven. Check it with a long wooden skewer to see if the lasagna sheets are soft and let it in for as long as you wish regarding the level of crunchiness you desire on top of it.

Tip: If you want to store your lasagna for a longer period of time, you can make your Magliano’s Healthy Chicken Ragu from scratch but that will make your preping time a lot longer. If you decide to do that, you could store your tray of lasagna for up to 3 months in your freezer.

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