Lasagne

I had some inspiration a few years ago to make lasagne. Mind you I had never made it before and had somewhat of an idea of how it was made. Or so I thought. Using no recipe but one could have been easily found. I should also say I should have asked my mother. I was ambitious, overly confident and thought I could pull this off. I should now say, my overly confident persona is way too confident for no particular reason. I do have those moments where it flourishes but it comes crashing down. Then I retreat back into my self critical world, which I find is a much more safer place to be. When my first lasagne came out of the oven, the sheets of pasta were dry and brown, the sauce did not exist and it was deemed that it should not be called lasagna. My husband hated it and when I mentioned that I was cooking lasagne again, it struck fear into his very being and then I assured him "I have a recipe, I have a recipe and I am not using my mind". That did not quell his troubled thoughts and was hesitant about it up to the very point I brought it out on a plate. Also he suggested that I should ask my mother for the recipe

So I revisited the lasagne and found a recipe on Taste called Our favourite lasange. Here is the next chapter of my quest to master the lasagne.

The Family of Ingredients

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 brown onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

750 grams beef mince

2 by 400 gram cans of diced tomatoes

1/2 cup dry red wine

1/4 cup tomato paste

salt and pepper to taste

2 lasagna sheets

1/c cup grated mozzarella

Cheese sauce

4 cups of milk

1 brown onion, chopped

8 whole pepper corns

2 whole cloves

60 grams butter

1/3 cups plain flour

1 cup finely grated parmesan cheese

pinch of nutmeg

salt and white pepper

The method

Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the onion and garlic until they soften. Add the mince and break up any visible lumps while stirring. Cook until brown. Then add the tomato, wine and tomato paste and bring it to the boil. I also added some peas and frozen spinach at this stage. Then simmer, with occasional stirring for 30 minutes until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.

For the cheese sauce, combine the milk, onion, peppercorns, cloves in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Remove from the stove and allow for the mixture to sit for 15 minutes.

Then strain the milk into a jug to remove the soils. Discard solids.

Melt butter in a saucepan until foaming. Add the flour and mix until the mixture bubbles or comes away from the side of the pan. Pour in half of the milk and mix constantly using a balloon whisk until the mixture is smooth. Then add the remaining milk while mixing.

Butter and flour mixture

Addition on milk

Then bring the milk mixture to the boil, while constantly stirring with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens or coats the back of the spoon. Remove from heat and add the parmesan and stir until the cheese melts. Then add the nutmeg, salt and white pepper.

Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius. Coat a rectangular 3L ovenproof dish with olive oil. Spread one quarter of the bechamel sauce over the base. Then array a layer of lasagne sheets over the sauce. Place one third of the mince mixture layer, then one third of the bechamel sauce and then a layer of lasagne sheets. Repeat until you finish with a layer of lasagna at the top. Layer with the remaining bechamel sauce and mozarella.Place it in the oven for 40 minutes, until the cheese melt. Remove from the oven and allow it to stand for 10 minutes to set.

Adding the layers

Layering completed

I did not take a picture of the cut up lasagne as it collapsed on me. So just use your imagination and imagine that it came out nicely and looked a treat. Yes dazzling and tantalizing.

I would definitely make it again but I would have left it to set for longer after removing it from the oven. As I tried to cut it up, it fell apart and the cheese just did not want to part from itself. So every time I tried to pick up a slice of lasagne the cheese would stretch and then bring the whole thing down. I eventually used a knife to make a clear cut and I ended up angry at the lasagne. So yes imagine a perfectly formed lasagna that is it just heavenly.

Pizza Margherita

I went to my kids friends birthday party last Saturday and her mother served us home made pizza. Loved it. The base was soft and I do not usually like the ham and pineapple pizza. I have issues mixing sweet and savory, well combining fruits with any vegetable or meat. I would pick out the fruit, thinking you should not be there and the put it to the side and not eating it. My thought process is that the fruit is tainted and should therefore not be touched and eaten. Yes, that places some limitation to what I cook but I may get over it one day but not today. So eating the pizza and the party got me into a pizza mood. I wanted to cook a pizza. I would have loved to cook a garlic one, a cheesy one. So onto the computer I went, googled pizza and spent a good half an hour looking for a recipe. I found one and one must pay recognition to the source as me, a once a upon a time budding scientist would have done with references. So here is my acknowledgment http://allrecipes.com.au/recipe/7394/pizza-margherita.aspx for you made my kids hungry for this pizza.

My time during the week is rather limited. With work, my kids studying, my studies takes quite a bit of the day so I am trying to cook something new during the weekend. We also have been watch My Kitchen Rules on TV and my kids suggested I should go on. Me don't think so. I need a recipe on paper and what I know is rather limited. Even the kids on Junior Masterchef could out cook me.

So here is the recipe for pizza margherita which I loved.

The ingredients

The dough ingredients, did not take a picture of the other ingredients

 The dough:

1 sachet dry yeast

1 1/4 cups of plain flour

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/4 cup of olive oil

The topping 500 grams of tomatoes 1/4 cup olive oil 1 finely diced clove of garlic 1 cup mozzarella, drained and diced (I used the shredded version) 1/3 cup red wine 3 table spoons of chopped basil leaves 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese 1 tablespoon dried oregano The method Grease a pizza base of roughly 30 cm diameter with olive oil. Sprinkle yeasts over lukewarm water. Combine the flour salt, oil and yeast in a bowl. Knead the dough for roughly ten minutes, add flour or water if required. I have never created pizza base from dough before, again, this is something I should have learnt from my mother. When kneaded, form the dough in a ball, place it in a bowl and cover. Allow for it to rise for one and a half hours. I thought that this was not looking promising Rise, rise Meanwhile you can work on the topping. On each tomato, mark a cross at the base of each tomato with a small knife. Place the tomatoes in boiling water until the skin on the cut curls back. Then transfer the tomatoes into cool water. Peel off the skins and cut the tomatoes in half. Cut the stalks out, remove the seeds and then dice the tomatoes. Heat 2 tablespoons of garlic in a pan. Add the tomatoes and wine and cook until it is reduced. Then season with salt and pepper. I added a teaspoon of oregano at the point. Heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Roll out the dough on a flour surface to a round shape. Place on the greased pizza pan. The dough before it was rolled out Bake the pizza in the oven for 3 minutes and then remove from the oven. Spread the tomato paste and mozzarella on the base.The sprinkle the basil and olive oil on top. Then I sprinkled on more mozzarella and dried oregano. Place it into the oven until cooked, about 10 to 15 minutes. My kids loved it so I will be definitely making it again. They saw the chopped basil but thankfully that did not deter them from eating it.  Pizza before it was cooked Finished pizza

Spinach and Ham Frittata

Since my renewed interest in cooking, I have been interested in learning to cook a few things. One of recipe I wished to try was making a frittata. It seemed similar to a making a quiche, which my children like and so I thought I was onto a sure thing. Alas, my son walked into the kitchen when I was at the spinach stage and he declared he did not have any love for spinach and would therefore not eat it. He then walked in again I was at the cherry tomato process and said he does not like cooked tomato. Woe was me. I had already lost before it was cooked and yes indeed neither one of my little ones touched it. I was left alone to eat it as the love of my life was away and food should not go to waste, no, no. So I had it for lunch and dinner for several days.

I personally enjoyed it and I thought it looked rather pretty. It was easy, quick, such a time saver. It consist of protein and vegies and my tummy was thankful for this. It does not seem to particularly like carbs anymore.

The ingredients

1 bunch of spinach leaves, chopped up

100 grams of ham, chopped

250 grams of cherry tomatoes, halved

Frittata mix

6 eggs

2 cloves of garlic crushed

1/2 cups cream

1/3 grated parmesan cheese

The method

Preheat the oven to 170 degree Celsius. Grease a pan, rectangular or square pan. Line the base and sides with baking paper.

Place the chopped spinach in the pan and then place a layer of chopped ham on top. The put on the remaining spinach layer and then a layer of ham.

Whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl for the frittata mix and pour the mix over the spinach and the ham. 

Place the tomato halves on top in neat rows.

Bake it for about 40 minutes and here is the finished product.