Eggs make it creamier. Binds it nicely, but it really brings out the smooth texture of the cheeses without getting stringy. Usually mixed with ravioli stuffings so it won’t taste watery when served.
–from a daughter of a son of a first generation - Sicily
Now I realize this is definitely going to sound sacriledgous to some, but I’ve tried this recipe and if you’re pressed for time and really want lasagna, it’s pretty good!
Instead of using lasagna noodles, get those large, round (frozen) raviolis, preferably the ones stuffed with ricotta cheese. Prepare meat and sauce, layer the lasagna pan with meat sauce first, then layer of raviolis (uncooked!), layer of mozzerella cheese, sauce, raviolis… continuing until you cover the last layer of raviolis with the remaining sauce. Bake 30 min., covered with foil, then top with more mozzerella and bake until the cheese melts and bubbles. Serve with garlic bread.
Please note, this recipe is offered for those pressed for time! It really does taste pretty good, though. I do still make lasagna the traditional way, which is delicious (esp. the second day!), but this way will work in a pinch (and if you’ve got hungry kids).
Please don’t hurt me. 
Thank you so much for illuminating an honorable discussion of true Italian cooking (pizza doesn’t count). I shall add one or two of them to my lasagna or raviolis from now on. A lighter component of shipped eggs would break the more dense character of the cheese and that makes perfect sense. Especially so, to this misguided Viking who would add potatoes or gravy to everything on the table.
Four words:
make your own pasta.
You have many instructions for assembly and some good recipes. While lasagne is indeed greater than the sum of it’s parts, if the parts are pedestrian, the final result won’t be much greater, so…
Thin noodles, which means fresh. Trader Joes has a great fresh noodle which I parboil for about 30 seconds even though they are supposed to be “no boil”. Thick noodles are heavy and awful.
A great, sharp, light sauce. Again, if you have a TJ’s near you, their organic marinara is perfection, and I find almost all bottled sauce dreadful.
Flavorful cheese filling. The ideal way to acheive this is to blend several cheese together: ricotta, mozzarella, parmesano reggiano (it’s expensive and worth every penny), romano. Mix together with the old standbys, SALT AND PEPPER…hello. There is a reason those two have the stature they do. They make a difference. Especially salt. Taste your mix. If it is bland cold, it will be bland in the finished dish. Make it tasty. I also add fresh sage and basil, but not alot, just enough to add a hint of herbal essence. Throw an egg in there, two if you have a lot.
Those three parts, balanced correctly, topped with a THICK layer of mozz and parmesan to cook up to a lovely brown chewy crust, and you simply cannot fail.
So if one WERE to add an egg or two into these recipes, where would it be added? Is it beaten and then mixed with the ricotta cheese? Or is it more for the topping, ie the mozz and/or parmesan? If I had to guess I’d say mix it with the ricotta, but that’s just a guess…
Um…
I didn’t forget this!
The eggs are added to the stuffing directly and stirred in. Whether for stuffed pasta or layered dishes, let the mixture cool slightly and stir it in quickly. If it is your first time, crack the egg into a small bowl. Otherwise, you may cook the egg before you have time to stir it in.
You will notice instantly that the mixture is more binding to the touch, and has a creamier texture.
I prefer to mix the ricotta into the meat mixture directly. Something about layering it all by itself adds a soft of gritty dryness to the dish. I like things to melt in your mouth!
And if you want to make homemade pasta, I’d be glad to share some tips and recipes. I used to sit with my old Italian aunts and roll pasta all afternoon. If you can make a good pasta (soft as a baby’s bottom) and a nice filling…you need only melt a bit of butter and add some olive oil and the trinity and your sauce is made. You can use that simple base sauce on any pasta as well and add olives, ham and cheese to create a nice tossed pasta dish.
Other secrets for adding a smooth texture for meat and cheese dishes is a nice dallop of Hellman’s mayonaise. Believe me, it is fantastic.
If you really want a good primer on Italian Cooking, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan is an excellent edition. Great ideas and useful information…almost like a primer for those not blessed with an Italian Dad. Mom’s Irish and liked to boil things…
Oh, and start some herbs in your window!
You too, big guy.
I make a pretty good lasagna, although it’s not as authentic as most of the recipes here.
Fry up garlic and onions in a pan, add minced beef, a small can tomato puree, a can chopped tomatos, chopped courgette and red capsicum, sugar and seasoning to taste.
Make a roux with flour, milk and butter, and add grated mozzarella, paremesan and cheddar cheese (proportions to suit yourself) and a pinch of mustard powder. Season to taste.
Layer up with pasta in a casserole dish and grill (broil) until golden and bubbling.
For a veggie alternative substitute a mixture of pureed or mashed kidney beans and chickpeas for the minced beef.
When I make lasagna, nobody ever LETS it rest for any amount of time, and it would be dangerous to try to enforce a resting period!
Another thing I have tried recently and it has worked marvelously, is using a bechamel (white sauce) alongside the tomato. I saw Julia Child do it and I was astonished. Then I tried it and I was amazed at how much it added.
I wouldn’t have bothered except I was making two lasagnes, one of which was a PESTO lasagne, and my good cook’s heart told me that pure pesto just would not work. Too intense. The bechamel was perfect.
I hope you keep plenty of ice at the dinner table for all of those 3[sup]rd[/sup] degree mouth burns. Lasagna is second only to hot chocolate for scalding the living crap out of your mouth.
Ok, I’m very much a lasagna purist, and while different regions of Italy have a different base of ingredients, I prefer the classic meat sauce and bechamel version. I’m not going to go all out with the exact recipe, since I do it more-or-less by feel, but here’s the basics (as taught to me by an old Italian granny who lived in my neighborhood.) Experienced cooks should be able to easily follow along.
Make a fresh pasta dough out of eggs, flour, water and chopped spinach. IIRC, I use about a pound or so of flour, three eggs, and enough water to make a firm, yet pliable dough. The spinach gives it a nice green color, and frozen spinach is OK in this case. How much to use? Just enough for color. Fresh pasta makes a huge difference, trust me. Roll it out and cut into lasagna sheets.
Make a sauce bolognaise. Purists have told me a true bolognaise shouldn’t have any tomatoes in it. Maybe, but not for lasagne. For a good flavorful bolonaise you need the following: ground beef, Italian plum tomatoes, two chopped chicken livers, prosciutto, garlic, finely chopped carrot, onions, dry red wine, olive oil, salt pepper to taste … that’s about it IIRC. Sweat the onions in olive oil, add the garlic, carrots, beef, liver and prosciutto. Brown. Add about two cups of wine. (Some recipes add milk before the wine stage; I don’t.) Cook down until pretty much all the wine has evaporated. Add canned Italian plum tomatoes (and perhaps some pureed tomatoes or tomato paste). Let cook for 3 hours over a low heat. Parsley, oregano, and basil may be added, if you wish.
The prosciutto and liver are key in making this meat sauce stand out.
Bechamel. Make about two or three cups of bechamel sauce. Don’t make it fancy. Just a plain bechamel made of milk, butter, flour, salt, pepper and perhaps the tiniest pinch of nutmeg.
OK, we have our key ingredients: spinach lasagna sheets, bechamel sauce, and bolognaise sauce. Boil a pot of salted water. Cook the fresh lasagna sheets one by one (should take about 30-60 seconds) and place them on the bottom of a buttered baking pan. When you’ve finished this layer, spoon a layer of bolognaise sauce over it. Sprinkle generously with freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese. DO NOT USE THAT SHIT THAT COMES IN A GREEN CARDBOARD BOX. If parmigiano’s too much for your budget, try pecorino or grano padano or something. Then add another layer of pasta as before, and now a layer of bechamel topped with the grated cheese. Then pasta, meat, pasta, bechamel, pasta, meat, pasta
Bake until bubbling in a 350 degree oven and that’s it! This is by far the best lasagna I have ever had, and its quality depends on: fresh pasta, freshly grated parmesan (or similar) cheese, and a deep, flavorful bolognaise. Be very careful with the salt, though. The parmesan cheese is pretty salty as is, so make the sauce and bechamel less salty than you normally would.
Good luck!
“the tiniest pinch of nutmeg??” I agree with everything except that. Nutmeg should be used in excess, IMHO. And, you can keep the nuts for ever! No need to buy in the can.
Zenster I used your recipe tonight and subjected a friend and his family to my first (ever!) attempt at lasagna.
It was a big hit (except for the picky 5-year-old, but that’s to be expected). Biggest raves: the mushrooms and the sausage on top. Biggest questions: the amount of onion. I LIKED the onions, but I might be biased. And there can never be too much garlic!
I used a (cringe) bottled marinara sauce, but it seemed to work out fine. If anything, I could have used about 1/2 cup more sauce than was in the bottle.
I’m also thinking about mixing the ricotta cheese with the beef filling and an egg the next time around.
Of course, everyone fine tunes their recipes over time. I just wanted to say thanks for a great first-time attempt!
And pulykamell you’re up next for a “first try” attempt!
My attempt at bolognaise may not end up being deep and flavorful, but at least it will be a sauce!!
Damn, I need to take a cooking class or something. Homemade pastas, homemade sauces…it’s a lot to learn. Fortunately I have a lot of time off in the near future (unfortunately, it’s because I’m getting furloughed from my flying job), so I have plenty of time to experiment and learn by experience.
I guess that leads me to a question about cooking classes. Not the Get-A-Degree type of chef-school classes, but the community college evening learn-how-to-do-things classes. Anyone here ever taken some of these? Were they worth it, time and money-wise? Anything that you’d learn in class that you couldn’t pick up from cookbooks and Dopers like Zenster?