Several months back Fine Cooking ran an article on how to make lasagna from scratch, so I put a simple pasta rolling machine on my Amazon wishlist…and got it for Christmas! (Thanks, baby bro and sis-in-law!).
A week or two back I was feeling particularly wop-ish and decided to roll old-school (roll? get it? rolling out the pas – ahem. Onward.)
So…lasagna!
My first attempt at the “well in the middle of the flour” mixing technique was a total failure: I had a reactor leak and it took a few minutes to lock it down.
After I got it mixed, though, the kneeding and rolling out process went pretty well.
I briefly boiled the pasta and then put it into an ice water bath to arrest the cooking, as directed
The part I found weirdest was squeezing out the pasta to remove excessive moisture. I was quite surprised at how tough a durable the pasta was – I would have expected it to blow apart when subjected to this rough treatment, but it worked OK.
The ricotta, onions, tomato sauce etc. all came together with out excess excitement and pretty soon the lasagna was in the oven…and then out again.
Mmmmm.
Rating: A.
It was a bit bland on the first day, but it got MUCH better overnight.
The only changes I’d make: use hot Italian sausage instead of ground beef…and add more salt.
I’ve got that same issue of Fine Cooking. I really liked the look of the short rib and dried porcini lasagna – but won’t be making it anytime soon since 1) I lack a pasta roller and 2) I’m off the carb-heavy meals for the nonce.