Lasagna Vincisgrassi Recipes

LASAGNA VINCISGRASSI

Steps:

• Place 3 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add prosciutto and sauté until starting to brown. Lower heat to medium-low and add onions, celery and carrots. Cook until soft but not brown. Stir in tomato paste and cook 2 minutes.
• Heat 4 tablespoons butter with 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large sauté pan. Add veal and sauté over medium-high heat until meat starts to brown. Transfer veal to a saucepan, draining it well.
• Discard fat in sauté pan. Return pan to medium-high heat, add Marsala and boil, loosening residue in pan with a wooden spoon. Cook until reduced to 2 cups. Pour into saucepan. Add veal stock, 2 cups chicken stock, cloves and herbs. Partly cover. Simmer 2 hours. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
• Place porcini in warm water to cover and soak. Meanwhile, combine cream and remaining 4 cups chicken stock in a large saucepan, bring to a simmer and cook about 1 hour, until thickened and reduced to 2 cups. Pour into a blender and process on low, then higher speed. Add egg and process briefly. Taste and season with salt and pepper, strain into a bowl and set aside to cool.
• Squeeze porcini dry and chop. Add remaining olive oil to a skillet, add all mushrooms and sauté until cremini have started browning. Fold into veal mixture (ragu). Set aside.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Have a large bowl of salted ice water ready. Line a large baking sheet with kitchen towels. Add pasta sheets to boiling water one at a time, cook each 2 minutes then place in ice water. Drain pasta sheets and spread on towels to dry.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush a 9-by-13-inch lasagna pan with remaining butter. Lay a sheet of pasta in pan. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup cheese. Spread about 1/4 of the ragu over cheese. Spread on 1/2 cup cream sauce. Continue layering until covered with last sheet of pasta. Spread with remaining cream sauce, then remaining cheese.
• Bake 25 minutes, until bubbling. Increase heat to 400 degrees and bake about 5 minutes to brown top. Remove from oven and let stand 20 minutes before cutting in squares and serving.

VINCISGRASSI (WILD MUSHROOM & PROSCIUTTO LASAGNE)

Steps:

• Pour the stock into a saucepan, bring to the boil and tip the dried mushrooms into a heatproof bowl or jug. Pour over the hot stock and leave to soak until it has been absorbed and the mushrooms have cooled. Drain the mushrooms over a bowl, pressing down on them to release all the stock. Reserve the stock, roughly chop the mushrooms and set aside.
• Heat the olive oil and two-thirds of the butter in a large, shallow saucepan. Add the soaked mushrooms and bay leaf, and sizzle for a few mins. Turn up the heat, add the fresh mushrooms and garlic, and fry until soft. Season, scatter the flour over the mushrooms and cook until you have a thick, sticky paste. Pour in the mushroom stock and boil until everything is gloopy. Gradually add the hot milk, stirring between each addition, until you have a thick mushroom sauce, then simmer for 10 mins, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat, fish out the bay leaf, then stir in the cream, prosciutto and parsley, and leave to cool slightly.
• If cooking straight away, heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Grease a rectangular casserole dish (about 22 x 30cm) with the remaining butter and cover the bottom with a layer of lasagne sheets. Using a slotted spoon, layer about a third of the mushroom mixture and some of the sauce over the lasagne sheets, then scatter over a little grated Parmesan and drizzle with a few drops of truffle oil, if using. Repeat until you have three layers of mushrooms (save some sauce in the pan), then top with a final layer of pasta. Now spread over the remaining sauce - it should be reasonably mushroom free. Scatter over the remaining grated Parmesan and drizzle with more truffle oil, if using. Can be made a day ahead, covered and chilled.
• Bake the lasagne for 20-25 mins until golden and bubbling. Turn the oven up at the end of cooking if it's not brown enough. Remove from the oven and leave for a few mins to stand. Cut into squares, scatter over the Parmesan shavings and drizzle over some more truffle oil just before serving, if you like.

VINCISGRASSI (LASAGNE FROM THE MARCHE REGION)

Steps:

• 1. Chop pancetta, chicken liver, stomach and / or hearts and rabbit fillets, set aside with the minced beef.
• 2. Finely chop onion and carrot.
• 3. In a saucepan, heat 1 tbsp. butter and 1 tbsp. oil and saute onion and carrot, then add the meats. Fry until the minced beef is crumbly, then add wine and broth.
• 4. Add tomato passata and salt, pepper and a pinch of cinnamon to taste
• 5. Cover and simmer on low for about 30 minutes.
• 6. Remove cover and simmer for 20 more minutes on medium heat
• 7. Meanwhile, make the bechamel sauce: melt remaining butter in a pot, stir in flour and fry until golden, then slowly add milk, stirring constantly to avoid lumps.
• 8. Stir until smooth, season with salt, pepper and a little nutmeg to taste and let simmer on lowest heat for 5-10 minutes, stirring
• 9. Preheat static oven to 200°C (400°F) or convection oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease a lasagne form, cover the bottom wth a little of the sauce, then place the first layer of lasagna noodles in the form, add a layer of sauce, then some bechamel, sprinkle a little parmesan over it, then repeat until all the sauce is used up, but some bechamel and parmesan are left over. Cover the last layer of noodles with bechamel, sprinkle with the parmesan and dot with butter flakes.
• 10. Bake for ca. 35 minutes until surface is golden brown