little lasagnas with tomato, fresh mozarella and pesto

Homemade pasta, a gorgeous, basil infused pesto and fresh tomato sauce created from vine-ripened Roma tomatoes made this dish extravagant.

Semolina flour, used for pasta making, adds a nice, mellow texture to the pasta dough and EVOO pulls the dough together. Semolina flour provides elasticity in the dough and less breakage. Pasta dough needs to be kneaded and set in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to relax the dough before using. With those notes made, I would like to add how the dough and I did battle for about an hour before the dough decided to pull itself together . . .Do not be afraid to add moisture if the dough is too dry. For some reason, dryness was an issue this evening. The dough finally held together, relaxed and I was allowed to roll it through to the right thickness. Pasta dough usually is not hard to make. I was already tired and started later in the evening . . . contributing to undertone grumblings . . . BUT the end result was delicious!

The recipe I used came from the La Cucina Italiana website. The food magazine published from Italy (called La Cucina Italiana) is authentic Italian fare with amazing articles, breath-taking photos of food and countryside along with tips and instructions to help anyone create homemade Italian food in any kitchen. Very user friendly!

little lasagnas with tomato, fresh mozzarella and pesto

PASTA

3/4 c. farro or semolina flour plus more for dusting

1 lrg egg

1 T. extra-virgin olive oil plus more for pasta water, baking sheet and lasagnette

Fine sea salt

PESTO

2 c. packed fresh basil leaves plus more for garnish

1/2 c. extra-virgin olive oil

2 T. freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese plus more for lasagnette

2 walnut halves

1 t. pine nuts

1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped

1 T. club soda

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

TOMATO SAUCE

Coarse sea salt

4 vine-ripened tomatoes

1 T. extra-virgin olive oil

1 T. unsalted butter

1/3 c. finely chopped onion

1 garlic clove, peeled and diced

Freshly ground black pepper

1 t. tomato paste, preferable double concentrated

8 fresh basil leaves

ASSEMBLY

8 ounces fresh water-packed mozzarella, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 T. unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

FOR PASTA:

In a small bowl, mound flour and form a well in the center. Add egg, oil and pinch of salt to the well. Using a fork, gently break up yolk and slowly incorporate flour from inside rim of well. Continue until liquid is absorbed, then transfer dough to a lightly dusted work surface and knead until dough forms a complete mass. Knead, dusting work surface with flour as necessary, for 2 minutes more. Wrap dough tightly in plastic and let rest for 30 minutes.

FOR PESTO:

Fill a small bowl with ice water. Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil; add basil leaves for 15 to 20 seconds. Using a slotted spoon, transfer leaves to ice water. Let sit 1 minute, then drain and squeeze water from leaves using a clean towel.

In a blender or food processor, puree basil leaves, oil, cheese, walnuts, pine nuts, garlic, club soda and generous pinch of salt and pepper until smooth. Transfer pesto to a small bowl and immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent discoloration. Chill for 1 hour.

FOR TOMATO SAUCE:

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to boil. Drop tomatoes into water and boil 20 seconds; drain, peel, seed and cut into 1-inch pieces.

Heat oil, butter, onion, garlic and generous pinch of salt and pepper in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently for 3 minutes. Add tomato, tomato paste, basil leaves and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a bare simmer and cook until sauce is thickened, about 25 minutes. Remove from heat and adjust seasoning.

FOR ASSEMBLY:

Cut pasta dough into 2 pieces; rewrap one. Flatten dough so that it will fit through the rollers of a hand-cranked pasta machine. Set rollers of pasta machine at the widest setting, then feed pasta through rollers 3 or 4 times, folding and turning pasta until it is smooth and the width of the machine.

Roll pasta through machine, decreasing the setting one notch at a time (do not fold or turn pasta), until sheet is about 16 x 5 inches (if dough feels wet, dust with flour). Cut pasta into 4 (4-inch) squares; discard scraps. Lay squares 1/2 inch apart on a dry baking sheet and cover with a clean dish towel. Repeat with remaining dough.

Heat oven to 450 degrees F.

Fill a medium bowl with ice water. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add 1 teaspoon of oil and 4 pasta squares; Cook for 2 to 3 minutes after water returns to a boil. Using a slotted spoon, transfer pasta to ice water, then to a large plate. Repeat with the remaining squares.

Pat pasta dry. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and brush with oil. Put 4 pasta squares onto baking sheet. Dollop half of tomato sauce onto squares. Dot with half of fresh mozzarella. Dollop 1 teaspoon pesto on top of each square, then sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano and pinch of salt and pepper. Top with remaining pasta squares.

Drizzle lasagnette with melted butter and a touch of oil (you will have leftover ingredients) and bake until edges are lightly golden, about 7 minutes. Transfer to serving plates. Top with remaining tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella and drizzle of pesto (reserve leftover pesto for another use); garnish with basil leaves. Serve immediately.

Crab Lasagna Rolls baked in Shrimp Alfredo Sauce and Speedy Hazelnut Bundt Cake

The crab Lasagna Rolls baked in Shrimp Alfredo Sauce may not look gorgeous on the plate BUT the flavors meld wonderfully! The Canadian Snow crab used is slightly sweet mixed in with fresh parsley, freshly grated Parmesan and cottage cheese. The Alfredo sauce makes a large amount and the remaining sauce can easily be used for a separate pasta dinner. Fresh Alfredo sauce is worth the effort to make and once you have tasted the difference, your taste buds will never want to go back to store bought.
Buy a loaf of freshly baked French bread, slice the the center horizontally, add a mixture of 1/2 c. butter (melted), 2 T. olive oil, 4 cloves garlic minced, and 1/2 t. kosher salt (all ingredients mixed and left alone for 30 minutes before applying to the bread halves). Wrap in foil and Bake in a 300 degree oven for 20 minutes. Slice and serve with the pasta dinner. Delicious way to sop up the Alfredo sauce!

Crab Lasagna Rolls baked in Shrimp Alfredo Sauce

Ingredients:
****START SAUCE WHILE COOKING LASAGNA NOODLES****
Crab Lasagna Rolls:
1/2 pound flaked or lump crab meat
4 regular lasagna noodles, cooked and drained
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2/3 cup cottage cheese
1 egg
3 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
Additional grated Parmesan (optional)

Shrimp Alfredo Sauce:
1 stick butter
2 onions, chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1/2 cup minced celery
Garlic to taste
1 pound medium shrimp
1/2 cup flour
2 c. whole or 2 % milk
1 c. heavy cream
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup clam juice
1/4 c. parsley, minced
Salt and white pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 c. Chopped mushrooms
1 beefsteak tomato cut into thin slices

Directions For Crab Lasagna Rolls:
Beat the egg. Thoroughly combine crab meat, Parmesan cheese, cottage cheese, egg, fresh parsley and onion powder.Divide filling into 4 equal portions. Spread filling mixture on each noodle.

Roll noodles tightly, and place seam-side down in an 8-inch square baking dish.

Pour shrimp Alfredo sauce over top. Add thin slices of tomato. Cover and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 5 minutes.

Sprinkle with additional grated cheese if desired. Serve immediately.

Directions for the Shrimp Alfredo Sauce:
In a saucepan melt butter and add onions, green onions, celery and garlic.

Add shrimp and cook until shrimp turn pink. With cooked shrimp, add at the last 5 minutes. Add flour and stir in completely. Add about half the whole or 2 % milk and half the cream. Let simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes, stirring often. Add more milk and cream to desired thickness. Add Worcestershire, clam juice, fresh parsley, salt and white pepper to taste, cayenne if using and chopped mushrooms.

Simmer over low heat for about 5 minutes. Pour over crab lasagna rolls and top with thin slices of tomato.

I do not make a habit of using boxed cake mixes but we enjoy the texture and flavor of this recipe and the cake has become a family favorite over the years. You can change the liqueur to different flavors and end up with the same great results. Amaretto is another liqueur I use for this recipe. VERY tasty!

Easy Hazelnut Bundt Cake

1 cup chopped pecans

1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix

1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix

4 eggs

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup Hazelnut liqueur

Glaze Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup water

1 cup white sugar

1/4 cup Hazelnut liqueur

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan. Sprinkle chopped nuts evenly over bottom of pan.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix and pudding mix. Mix in eggs, 1/4 cup water, 1/2 cup oil and 3/4 cup Hazelnut liqueur. Beat for 5 minutes at high speed. Pour batter over nuts in pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then invert onto the serving dish. Prick top and sides of cake. Spoon glaze over top and brush onto sides of cake. Allow to absorb glaze repeat until all glaze is used up.

Directions for the Glaze:

In a saucepan, combine butter, 1/4 cup water and 1 cup sugar. Bring to a boil and continue boiling for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup Hazelnut liqueur.

Intense Lasagna

I forgot the photo showing a thick slice of this gorgeous lasagna with a ladled scoop of Grandma's sauce over the top, sprinkled with freshly grated Parmigiana and chopped parsley and basil. If taste buds could sing a thousand pictures!

This lasagna contains a mix on Bobby Flay's Bolognese Sauce, Ricotta Mixture, Grandma's Tomato Sauce, Bobby Flay's Mornay Sauce and Assembly Instructions. Takes about 3 hours total, including cooking the bolognese in the oven but once you sink your teeth into this heavenly lasagna, the time will mean nothing.

How many of us continue making the same ingredient combinations for certain comfort food dishes? Lasagna being one of those essential family comfort foods. I use too. Then I hooked up with a friend whose family is from Italy and my thinking on all things pasta changed. So happy to finally look outside the box for what I thought was everyday cooking. It was Not. My Mom use to cook what my parents were able to afford for a large family and she is my biggest influence for cooking today.

The Intense Lasagna has everything to do with layers BUT not piling the same layers over-and-over. Each layer is important on its' own. You will have multi cheese layers in a sauce form but your ricotta cheese layer will be 1 layer and your Bolognese sauce meat layer will also be 1 layer in this lasagna.

Intense Lasagna

Bolognese Sauce:

4 T. olive oil

2 ham hocks, preferably smoked

1 to 1 1/2 pounds bone-in beef rump roast

1 pound pancetta, diced

fresh ground black pepper

salt

1 1/2 c. finely diced sweet or yellow onion

1/2 c. finely diced carrot

1/2 c. finely diced celery

6 whole garlic cloves

1 c. dry red wine

3 cups homemade beef stock

1 (15-oz.) can diced tomatoes and their juices

3 fresh sprigs rosemary

4 fresh sprigs thyme

5 sprigs flat-leaf parsley

1 c. tomato sauce, recipe follows

Chopped fresh parsley leaves

Chopped fresh basil leaves

Ricotta Mixture:

3 c. ricotta, strained in a cheesecloth lined strainer for at least 4 hours

2 large eggs

1/4 c. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

3 T. chopped fresh basil leaves

1/2 c. freshly grated Parmigiana-Reggiano

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Grandma's Tomato Sauce

7 cans (16-oz) Tomato sauce, preferably Hunts

1 can Tomato paste, again Hunts preferable

2 cans 912-oz) Diced tomatoes

1 cup freshly grated Parmigiana cheese

3 T. EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

4 garlic cloves thinly sliced

1/3 cup fresh Parsley chopped finely

1/3 cup fresh basil chopped finely

1 medium sweet onion finely chopped

2 celery stalks cleaned

1 whole carrot just peeled and cleaned

1 T. dried Oregano

2 Bay leaves, whole and dried

Mornay Sauce

2 T. unsalted butter

3 T. all-purpose flour

3 c. whole milk, heated

Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

3/4 c. fontina cheese

1/2 c. freshly grated Parmigiana cheese

Assembly:

2 T. unsalted butter

Mornay Sauce

1 pound lasagna noodles, (cooked in boiling, salted water until slightly under al dente, about 5 minutes)

Ricotta Mixture

Grated Parmigiana cheese

Fresh Basil Leaves

Bolognese Sauce

Directions:

For the Bolognese Sauce:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season the ham hocks and beef rump roast with salt and pepper, place in the pan and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 4 minutes per side.

Remove the shanks to a plate. Remove fat from the pan. Add the pancetta to the pan and cook until golden brown. Remove pancetta with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towels.

Add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic to the pan and cook until soft and lightly golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes.

Add the red wine, scrape the bottom of the pan and cook until completely reduced. Add the beef stock, diced tomatoes thyme, rosemary and parsley and bring to a simmer. Add the ham hocks and 1/2 of the pancetta back to the pan, cover and transfer to the oven. Cook until the meat is tender and falling off the bone, about 2 hours.

Remove the ham hocks to a cutting board and when cool enough to handle, shred the meat into bite-size pieces and place in a bowl.

Strain the cooking liquid into a bowl. Place 3 cups of the cooking liquid into a large high-sided saute pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until the liquid is reduced to about 1 c. Add the shredded meat and the remaining cooked pancetta to the pan along with 1 cup of the tomato sauce, parsley and basil and stir to combine and just heat through.

For the Ricotta Mixture:

Stir together the ricotta, eggs, parsley, basil, cheese, salt and pepper in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to allow flavors to meld.

Directions for Grandma's Tomato Sauce:

Use a large pot. Heat olive oil on medium-low heat. Put garlic and onion in oil and heat until it is tender. Put parsley, basil, oregano and bay leaves in and continue to heat for 3 minutes.

Open all cans of tomato products, add in sauce pot. Raise heat to medium-high. Make sure to occasionally stir sauce. Cook and stir sauce until hot. Once sauce is hot, lower heat to a simmer.

Add celery stalk and whole carrot in sauce, continue to simmer 15 minutes.

Add 1 cup of freshly grated Parmigiana cheese to sauce, continue to simmer 15 minutes.

Remove carrot and celery, cover sauce, continue to simmer. Make sure to occasionally stir sauce.

For the Mornay Sauce:

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and let cook for about 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in 3 cups of the hot milk and continue whisking until the sauce is thickened and loses its' raw flavor, about 5 to 7 minutes. Season the sauce with nutmeg, salt and pepper. Whisk in the cheeses. If the sauce is too thick, whisk in some more milk.

For Assembly:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Butter the bottom and sides of a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Ladle a thin layer of mornay evenly over the bottom of the pan. Place a layer of lasagna noodles on top of the Mornay sauce and top the pasta with the ricotta mixture and spread evenly.

Spread a thin layer of Mornay over the ricotta, sprinkle with a few Tablespoons of Parmesan and some basil leaves. Top with another layer of pasta and spread the meat mixture evenly over the top.Ladle an even layer of Mornay over the Bolognese mixture, sprinkle with a few Tablespoons of Parmesan and some basil leaves. Place the final layer of pasta dough over the meat mixture and ladle the Mornay sauce over the top to completely cover the pasta and sprinkle with 3 Tablespoons of Parmesan.

Place the pan on a baking sheet and cover loosely with aluminum foil. Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees, remove the foil and continue baking until the top is golden brown and the filling bubbling, about 25 to 35 minutes longer. Remove from the oven and let rest 10 minutes before cutting.

CUT into slices and top with some of the tomato sauce, more grated cheese, chopped parsley and basil.

**NOTE**: Remaking this week and will add final picture then =)