Lasagna From the Scratchiest Scratch (Almost)

Every time I make lasagna from scratch, I wonder why I don't do it every week without fail. It is the most delicious, mouthwatering, lovely, indescribable culinary experience I've ever had, and it just seems weird to say that. It might make more sense to me if that sentence described something with truffles, something exotic or something with loads of dark chocolate. Or something. But no, for me, it's Emilia-Romagna-style many-many-super-thin-layer-lasagna, all three components made from scratch.



The paper thin pasta made from a simple mixture of bread flour, semolina flour and eggs is so wonderfully delicate that you only need to boil it for mere seconds before prepping it to go into the pan.



The Bolognese sauce starts with finely, finely minced Mire Poix (a flavor booster of 1 part onion to 1 1/2 parts each carrot and celery), lots of butter, fresh pureed Italian tomatoes, white wine and well-marbled, well-crumbled ground chuck. It simmers for at least three hours, but all day is best. It's especially great when you make it in the morning and set it to the lowest of possible simmers and your house smells like Italian heaven all day.

The third component is Bechamel, also from scratch; a simple roux of flour and butter, added to scalded milk that's been steeped with 1/2 an onion and a few peppercorns. Add a grating of fresh nutmeg and you have lasagna-binding perfection.




When it comes time to get the gorgeous creation into the oven, the layering is the most wonderful part. I love to see how many super-thin layers I can get out of my components. Sometimes I only manage six, but once I managed eleven! Oh, heaven, you are eleven! Of course one of the layers is freshly grated Parmesan cheese, and that's what you end with on top, but that's the only cheese involved in this amazing invention. And it only spends 15 minutes in the oven!

This is so different from the thick, hefty, chewy, chunky lasagna you get at the Olive Garden or frozen from a box. every simple step in making this beauty is delicate, even down to the eating of it. I just cannot plow through a serving of my lasagna. It's because every bite demands full attention of every part of the tasting experience. It looks delicate in the pan, delicate on the plate, on the fork, and feels delicate in the mouth. Nothing convinces me more of the importance of cooking foods from scratch than my lasagna from Emilia-Romagna.