Sunday: Pumpkin Lasagne Time!!!
When I posted the Tiramisù recipe, I said I was going to add more recipes as I had time to do it. This morning my mother did the Pumpkin Lasagne when I was still sleeping, so I don't have pics of the whole step-to-step procedure, just the final result...
I know, it's not pumpkin time yet, but we had some in our freezer so we used that, but it's the same, I assure you.
First Step: Do the bechamel sauce.
That's the most hard thing, we have a fantastic german kitchen robot called "Bimby" that mix and cook too, so it's easier now, but before we use to do it this way:
Ingredients:
50 gr. butter
50 gr. sifted flour
1/2 liters of warm milk
salt and nutmeg.
Melt the butter over low flame without browning it. Add the flour, stirring until you have a thick cream (a couple of minutes). Add the milk, the nutmeg and the salt. Set the sauce over moderately high flame and stir with the wire whip until the sauce comes to the boil. Boil for 1 minute, stirring: the secret is the continue stirring, but if there are lumps at the end, you can use a mixer.
[The procedure is well explained in this YT vid (just in italian, but check it to *see* what to do if I wasn't clear enough)]
Step two: Cook the pumpkin.
There are two ways to use the pumpkin in this recipe, a lot of people prefer to cut it in slice and dry it in the oven, but I prefer to make squared pieces and boil it with a little water (very little because it releases a lot of water by itself) and some olive oil and salt.
When ready, drain it as much as you can, and add it with the bechamel, mixing it in the mixer. We need it to "cook" the pasta (because I don't boil the lasagna first, I use it uncooked) so the sauce must be quite liquid.
This is the kind of pasta we use. It's barilla, and I think you can find it everywhere. (this is a egg based pasta). I love it because
a) there's no need to pre-cook it
b) they are not too long and fit my baking tin perfectly.
Step three: Other ingredients.
Being both the bechamel and the pumpkin quite sweet, you need to add some salted ingredient, like sausages. Also, you need some grated Parmesan and some cheese that melt well while backing (we use scamorza or mozzarella). This morning my mother used chicken sausages fried with some hot pepper to add more taste ;)
So prepare the cheese cutting it into slices, fry the sausages in a little olive oil (or whatever way you use to do it) and cut them into slices.
Step Four: Layering
Butter the backing tin. Put some bechamel+pumpkin sauce on the bottom of it. Then start layering:
- Lasagna
- Sauce
- Cheese and sausages
- some grated Parmesan
Repeat one time (usually I made just 3 layer of pasta)
Final layer:
- Lasagna
- Sauce (cover every bit of past with it, is important. If you haven't enough sauce at this point, add some milk. The important is to cover with some liquid all the pasta)
- Sprinkle abundant grated Parmesan on the top.
I've searched a little around youtube and I found one where layering is well done (well, with exception of the use of ricotta... we usually don't use ricotta in the lasagne! ;)). Go watch it if I wasn't enough clear
Step five: The dielle's family trick!
Take a sheet of wax paper (I guess that's the name in english, I mean that kind of paper used to avoid the backed food to stick on the bottom of the pan), soak it, squeeze it and stretch it over the backing tin, . This way, the vapor will help to cook the lasagna and the pasta will remain soft. If you like it a little more dry, take the paper the last 5 minutes.
Heat the oven at 180°C (about 350F) degree. Put it in the oven for 30/40 minutes.
IMPORTANT: Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. The melted cheese (and the pumpkin) need to rest a little, otherwise you'll have everything slip away when you'll try to put it in the dishes.
Bon appetit! ;)
Variations:
This is the way I do the lasagne.
If you want, you can make it without sausages, completely veg. Just remember that the pumpkin is sweet, so use some salted cheese with it.
Sometimes we add some boiled vegetables (always well drained), usually spinach. same procedure
layer: pasta -> bechamel sauce -> spinach -> cheese -> Parmesan, final layer as above. Spinach Lasagna
Also, my mother use to say "The more you put in, the more you find", so experiment with whatever you have... ;)
I know, this seems hard if you don't have some base cooking skill, but give it a try. It's delicious!
I know, it's not pumpkin time yet, but we had some in our freezer so we used that, but it's the same, I assure you.
First Step: Do the bechamel sauce.
That's the most hard thing, we have a fantastic german kitchen robot called "Bimby" that mix and cook too, so it's easier now, but before we use to do it this way:
Ingredients:
50 gr. butter
50 gr. sifted flour
1/2 liters of warm milk
salt and nutmeg.
Melt the butter over low flame without browning it. Add the flour, stirring until you have a thick cream (a couple of minutes). Add the milk, the nutmeg and the salt. Set the sauce over moderately high flame and stir with the wire whip until the sauce comes to the boil. Boil for 1 minute, stirring: the secret is the continue stirring, but if there are lumps at the end, you can use a mixer.
[The procedure is well explained in this YT vid (just in italian, but check it to *see* what to do if I wasn't clear enough)]
Step two: Cook the pumpkin.
There are two ways to use the pumpkin in this recipe, a lot of people prefer to cut it in slice and dry it in the oven, but I prefer to make squared pieces and boil it with a little water (very little because it releases a lot of water by itself) and some olive oil and salt.
When ready, drain it as much as you can, and add it with the bechamel, mixing it in the mixer. We need it to "cook" the pasta (because I don't boil the lasagna first, I use it uncooked) so the sauce must be quite liquid.
This is the kind of pasta we use. It's barilla, and I think you can find it everywhere. (this is a egg based pasta). I love it because
a) there's no need to pre-cook it
b) they are not too long and fit my baking tin perfectly.
Step three: Other ingredients.
Being both the bechamel and the pumpkin quite sweet, you need to add some salted ingredient, like sausages. Also, you need some grated Parmesan and some cheese that melt well while backing (we use scamorza or mozzarella). This morning my mother used chicken sausages fried with some hot pepper to add more taste ;)
So prepare the cheese cutting it into slices, fry the sausages in a little olive oil (or whatever way you use to do it) and cut them into slices.
Step Four: Layering
Butter the backing tin. Put some bechamel+pumpkin sauce on the bottom of it. Then start layering:
- Lasagna
- Sauce
- Cheese and sausages
- some grated Parmesan
Repeat one time (usually I made just 3 layer of pasta)
Final layer:
- Lasagna
- Sauce (cover every bit of past with it, is important. If you haven't enough sauce at this point, add some milk. The important is to cover with some liquid all the pasta)
- Sprinkle abundant grated Parmesan on the top.
I've searched a little around youtube and I found one where layering is well done (well, with exception of the use of ricotta... we usually don't use ricotta in the lasagne! ;)). Go watch it if I wasn't enough clear
Step five: The dielle's family trick!
Take a sheet of wax paper (I guess that's the name in english, I mean that kind of paper used to avoid the backed food to stick on the bottom of the pan), soak it, squeeze it and stretch it over the backing tin, . This way, the vapor will help to cook the lasagna and the pasta will remain soft. If you like it a little more dry, take the paper the last 5 minutes.
Heat the oven at 180°C (about 350F) degree. Put it in the oven for 30/40 minutes.
IMPORTANT: Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. The melted cheese (and the pumpkin) need to rest a little, otherwise you'll have everything slip away when you'll try to put it in the dishes.
Bon appetit! ;)
Variations:
This is the way I do the lasagne.
If you want, you can make it without sausages, completely veg. Just remember that the pumpkin is sweet, so use some salted cheese with it.
Sometimes we add some boiled vegetables (always well drained), usually spinach. same procedure
layer: pasta -> bechamel sauce -> spinach -> cheese -> Parmesan, final layer as above. Spinach Lasagna
Also, my mother use to say "The more you put in, the more you find", so experiment with whatever you have... ;)
I know, this seems hard if you don't have some base cooking skill, but give it a try. It's delicious!