Skip to main content

Vincisgrassi #LasagnaDay


We make and eat lasagna frequently. I've even got my husband to help me - when I made my 4-2-5-5 Lasagna for the robotics team - and the boys were in charge of making Eight Cheese, Three Meat Lasagna for our friends' joint birthday dinner.

I've also made Seafood Lasagna, Lasagna Bianca, and Pumpkin Lasagna. So, when Christie of A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures asked us to join her for celebrate National Lasagna Day, I knew I had to try something new.




Christie wrote: "Bring it! Your best lasagna recipes for MY holiday! They called me Garfield. Just sayin." LOL. Here's what the Festive Foodies are bringing to the table:

Vincisgrassi

While the boys tore up the carpet this weekend to get ready for the hardwood flooring guys tomorrow, I started doing research on regional differences in lasagna and came across an intriguing variation from the Marche. Look at my house! I swear, we've lived here for three years. You couldn't tell by looking at the rooms tonight.


But, back to the lasagna from the Marche. This version features an incredibly rich ragù that's made with lard, pancetta, pork loin, and offal. I used chicken hearts, but you can use sweetbreads, liver, etc. And, like the lasagna that I learned to make in Italy, this Vincisgrassi has meat ragù and bechamela sauces.

Ingredients makes 1 pan

Meat Ragù
  • 1 onion, peeled and diced, approximately 1 C
  • 1/2 C diced carrot
  • 1/2 C diced celery
  • 1/2 C diced pancetta
  • 1 C diced chicken hearts
  • 2 T lard
  • 1 C cubed pork loin
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 pound ground pork sausage
  • 2 C fresh tomato sauce
  • 1/2 C white wine
  • 1/2 C water
  • 1 C fresh chopped parsley
  • 2 T fresh oregano
  • 2 T fresh basil
  • freshly ground salt, to taste
  • freshly ground pepper, to taste
Bechamela 
  • 3 T butter
  • olive oil
  • 2 T flour
  • 1 C milk
  • 1 T fresh parsley
To Assemble
  • no boil lasagna noodles
  • 3 C shredded cheese (I used a mixture of mozzarella and provolone)
  • 1 C shredded parmesan
  • 1 C fresh mozzarella balls
  • 1 C whole milk ricotta
Procedure

Meat Ragù
Melt lard in a large, flat-bottom pan, add the onions, carrots, celery, diced pancetta, chicken hearts, and pork loin. Cook until the pancetta fat is mostly rendered and the onions are softened and translucent. Add in the ground meats and cook till all meats are browned through completely.

Add in the tomato sauce, wine, and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, stir in herbs, then season to taste with salt and pepper.

Bechamela 
In a small pot melt the butter in a splash of olive oil. Stir in the flour to make a roux. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Pour in the milk. Whisk constantly until thickened to a nice gravy consistency. Stir in the parsley and set aside.



To Assemble
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. To assemble the lasagna, layer meat sauce, noodles, shredded cheese blend, ricotta, mozzarella balls, and bechamela. Repeat till your pan is full though the last layer should be meat so that the noodles are completely covered.

Cover with foil. Bake in the 375 degree F oven for one hour. Remove the foil. Sprinkle with shredded parmesan. Return pan to the oven for another 10 to 15 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese melted. Let cool for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing. Serve hot.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé #Winophiles

This month the French Winophiles group is looking at affordable wines from Burgundy.  Host Cindy of Grape Experiences wrote: "Burgundy, or Bourgogne, is known for its wines of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir... as well as Aligote, Gamay, Sauvignon, César, Pinot Beurot, Sacy, Melon in lesser quantities. Many of the well-known wines are quite expensive, but there are plenty of values to be found." Read her invitation here. And there won't be a Twitter chat for this event, so you will have to dive into the articles themselves to read about our pairings and findings. Here's the line-up... Wendy Klik from A Day in the Life on the Farm enjoys Domaine Chevillon Chezeaux Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits, 2018 Paired with a Maple Pecan Chicken . Camilla Mann from Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares her love of Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé. Jeff Burrows of FoodWineClick! explains why we should Look t

Meyer Lemon Custard-Filled Matcha Turtles #BreadBakers

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our  Pinterest board  right here. Links are also updated after each event on the  Bread Bakers home page .  We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. This month Stacy of Food Lust People Love  is hosting and she wrote: "Your bread can be large, as in one big animal, or small - animal-shaped rolls. Use your imagination! Points for flavor and shape!" If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to Stacy at foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. Here's the animal-shaped bread basket from the #BreadBakers... Beef and Sweet Onion Dim Sum Pandas from Karen's Kitchen Stories Bird Bread Rolls from Ambrosia Easter Bunny Buns from Cook with Renu Ham and Cheese Elephant Rolls from Food Lust People Love Hedgehog Bread from Making Mir

Homemade Lorna Doone Cookies #SundayFunday

Today the Sunday Funday group is celebrating childhood favorites. Thanks to Stacy of  Food Lust People Love , Sue of  Palatable Pastime , Rebekah of  Making Miracles , and Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm  for coordinating this low-stress group. Today Stacy is hosting and she's given us the following prompt: "Childhood favorites. Did you have a favorite dish growing up? It could be something your family cooked or a restaurant dish, even a Chef Boyardee canned good or packaged ingredients like Rice-a Roni or mac and cheese. Recreate THAT dish from SCRATCH for this event."  Here's the #SundayFunday childhood favorites line-up... Chili Mac from A Day in the Life on the Farm Ham and Mushroom Breakfast Burritos from Making Miracles Homemade Lorna Doone Cookies from Culinary Adventures with Camilla Homemade Wonder Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories K-Mart Sub Sandwiches from Palatable Pastime Kempakki Dosa from Sizzling Tastebuds Meat Chilly Fry by Sn