Lasagne

We had three couples over and all their children on Sunday and I made a batch of lasagna Bolognese and chicken lasagna. It was delicious and we’ve been eating the chicken lasagna leftovers the last two nights. Pete keeps saying this is one of (if not) the best dish I’ve ever made. High praise indeed so I thought I’d share.

For sauce, I sautéed an onion, 2 carrots and 2-3 celery sticks (all diced to a fairly uniform size) in butter and olive oil. Add some tomato paste and some wine and 2 cans of San Marzano tomatoes (if you want add a half stick of butter). Simmer for a few hours and season to taste with salt/pepper.

Separately bake two bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts that have been rubbed with olive oil and seasoned with salt/pepper (the Ina Garten method for her salads). When cool to touch, shred.

When sauce is done, add shredded chicken. For Bolognese, I did a classic recipe (pancetta, ground pork, ground beef, ground veal, carrots, celery, onions, San Marzano tomatoes, a little paste, a little wine, and some whole milk …. Simmer for several hours).

Instead of making my pasta like I normally do, I bought pre-made fresh lasagna from a local Italian restaurant and it was great. I did five or six layers, each layer with the sauce and alternating layers with shredded parmeseano reggiano and sliced fresh mozerella.

I topped both lasagnas off with fresh béchamel seasoned with salt and nutmeg.

For dessert, I made Elaine’s chocolate molten cakes and Julie’s oreo truffles. They were both a huge hit!

We forgot to take pictures :-(