College Cooking: lasagna

Lasagna might be the most classic comfort food. It’s not as hard to make as you’d think, and it’s extremely rewarding. It is very time consuming though – the whole process took me about 2 ½ hours to prep, plus another 1 ½ hours of baking and cooling until it was ready to eat. It’s definitely worth it because not only will there be lots of leftovers, but they are easily reheated in the microwave and you’ll have dinners for a week. Lasagna is also very versatile; you can fill it with anything and it will still taste great. This one is a vegetarian version with lots of healthy vegetables for guilt-free comfort.

When cooking the pasta, the trick is to cook it for about half of the time that the packaging recommends. This will ensure that the noodles don’t overcook in the oven. I suggest that you lay the noodles flat on a baking sheet once you take them out of the water. This will cool them slightly and keep them flat, which will make layering much easier. Also, make sure that there is little to no excess water. Especially when cooking vegetables, it is important to cook off as much water as possible and avoid adding water while cooking.

Ingredients:

Sauce
- 2 15-ounce cans of tomato sauce
- 12 ounces red pasta sauce
- 8 ounces tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- One-quarter teaspoon salt
- One-half teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 6 cloves garlic
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
Vegetables
- 10 ounces spinach
- 2 zucchinis
- 1 pound mushrooms
- 1 medium onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
Cheese
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup parmesan
- 2 cups ricotta
- 1 pound mozzarella
1 ½ 1-pound packages lasagna noodles

Tools:

Lasagna pan (or a large casserole dish)
Large saucepan
Large sauté pan, preferably with a wide base
Wooden spoons
Large mixing bowl
Whisk
Knife
Cutting board
Optional, baking sheet

Steps:

Sauce

Crush garlic
Mix spices together
Add oil to a large saucepan and heat over medium high heat
Once hot, add garlic and cook for a minute, stirring constantly to avoid burning
Add in spices and cook for another minute, again stirring constantly

Lower heat to medium low and add in all of the tomato sauce and pasta sauce
Add in tomato paste and stir until everything is incorporated

Let simmer for 30 to 45 minutes. Then, take off the heat and allow to cool until you’re ready to start layering

Vegetables

Dice onion and crush garlic
Quarter the zucchini and slice

Slice mushrooms

Add oil to large sauté pan and bring to medium high heat
Sauté onions until translucent, add salt and pepper to taste
Once the onions are translucent add garlic and cook for about a minute

Add mushrooms and zucchini and cook until soft

Once soft, start to add spinach and cook until all of the spinach is added

Take off heat and allow to cool until layering

Cheese

In a bowl, beat together the two eggs.
Add parmesan and ricotta

Mix until combined and set aside until layering.

Layering the lasagna

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and liberally salt.
Once at a rolling boil, add pasta; this might need to be done in two or more batches depending on the size of the pot
Cook for 6-7 minutes, about half recommended time, you want them to be undercooked.
Remove from pot and rinse with cool water
Lay lasagna noodles flat on a baking sheet before layering