February 11, 2012

Authentic Lasagna - My nana's recipe (Agnone, Italy)

Day 1:

Boil 10 large tomatoes.
Dip in cold water & slip off skins
Puree in blender 2 at a time.
Cook in saucepan.
Reduce to sauce consistency --- instead of reducing in a saucepan on the stove - my nana would dry her sauce outside on a sunny day.
Add 1 large chopped onion, 4 cloves of garlic, fresh oregano, italian parsley, minced basil, red pepper flakes, salt & pepper to taste
Cook until onions disappear (4-5 hours)
When at the right consistency, add 2 Tbs brown sugar, 1 Tbs dark molasses, 1 T worcester & simmer for 2 hours.
Put in fridge over night

Day 2:

Soften 2 boxes of lasagna noodles in boiling water for a few minutes & put in cold water
Set aside
Beat 1 egg into 16 oz of ricotta (or some people prefer cottage cheese)
Set aside
Grate 1 1/2 lb of cheddar cheese, 1 1/2 lb mozzarella, 6 oz romano cheese
set aside
Brown 2 lb italian sausage (I really like the mixture of 1 lb spicy & 1 lb sweet sausage)
set aside
LAYER, in deep pan: sauce, noodles, sauce,sausage spoonfuls of ricotta (or cottage cheese), cheddar, mozzarella, romano.
repeat until the pan's full & if needed, get another pan started - keep doing that until you're out of everything...
Cover tightly with foil & let pan sit in the fridge for at least 24 hours.

Day 3:
Bake at 350 deg. for 30 min with the foil on tight & 30 min without the foil on.

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