Missys Lazy Day Pasta Recipes

MISSY'S LAZY LASAGNA

Steps:

• 1. Brown the ground turkey and onion, and drain. Then you will cook the noodles accordin to the package. However, before you put them in the pot; break them up. You will want to break them in different shapes, just larger than bite size. Then cook.
• 2. Then I take the sauce and meat and put them in the microwave bowl for a couple of minutes. Once the sauce is heated, you will somewhat layer the noodles like normal lasagna, then layer sauce/meat and then layer cheese. You will repeat this a total of three times. Then top with a nice layer of cheese. You can add a little parsley (my kids do not like so I did not add it this time). Back at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

MARY'S LASAGNA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the noodles. Put a bowl of ice water near the stove, and set out a few towels next to the bowl to drain the pasta.
• Generously grease a 10 by 14-inch baking pan using 1 to 2 tablespoons of the butter. Set aside.
• In a small bowl, mix the ricotta, egg, and parsley together. Rip up the basil leaves and fold them into the ricotta mixture. Season with salt and set aside.
• With a slotted spoon, transfer the pieces of pork, sausage, and meatballs from the Sunday Gravy to a separate bowl. They will be coated with some of the tomato gravy. That's okay. Set the remaining gravy and bowl of meats aside.
• Generously salt the boiling water and cook the lasagne sheets, a few at a time, at a rolling boil for 1 minute. The noodles will be very firm; they will cook further in the oven. Transfer the pasta to the ice water with a long-handled flat skimmer or strainer. As soon as they are cool to the touch- less than a minute- lift them out, shaking off excess water, and lay the noodles out on towels to drain. Repeat the process until all the pasta is cooked.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Cover the bottom of the baking pan with a layer of lasagne sheets, allowing the pasta to hang over all sides of the pan. Top with another layer of lasagne sheets cut to fit the bottom of the pan without an overhang.
• Cover the pasta with 1/2 of the reserved meats. Spoon over enough gravy to moisten well, about 1 cup. Sprinkle with a rounded 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano. Cover with another layer of pasta cut to fit without an overhang. Top with 1 cup gravy. Dollop 1/2 of the ricotta mixture over the gravy and top with half of the mozzarella and a rounded 1/4 cup of Pecorino Romano. Repeat the pasta and meat layer and the pasta and ricotta mixture layer.
• Cover with a final layer of pasta (you may not have used all the lasagne sheets) cut to fit the inside of the pan without an overhang. Top with the remaining gravy and Pecorino Romano. Bring up the overhang of pasta and fold over the top of the lasagne to enclose the filling. Dot with remaining butter and loosely cover with foil.
• Bake the lasagne for 25 minutes, uncover, and continue to bake until very lightly browned and bubbling hot, an additional 10 to 15 minutes. To keep the top noodles soft without browning, bake the lasagne covered with foil for 35 minutes and uncovered for the last 5 to 10 minutes in the oven. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.
• Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed stockpot. Add the pork chops and sausages and brown on all sides. Transfer the pork chops and sausages to a plate to make room for the onions. Toss the onions into the pot with the garlic, fennel, and salt. Saute over moderate heat, stirring frequently and scraping up any bits left behind by the pork and sausages, until the onions are soft and golden.
• Put the pork chops and sausages back in the pot with any juices on the plate. Add the tomatoes, water, and tomato paste. Drop in a few cheese rinds or ends if you have any. They are completely optional but give a nice flavor to the sauce. Cover the pot, bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Gently drop in the meatballs, 1 at a time, shaking the pot a bit to encourage the meatballs to nestle in with the pork and sausage and to make room for the addition of more meatballs. After all the meatballs have been added, continue to simmer, covered, for an hour longer or until the pork chops are very tender.
• To finish the gravy, transfer the pork chops to a cutting board. Remove and discard the bones, chop up the meat, and return it to the sauce. Keep warm over low heat.
• Homemade, fresh pasta is glorious and well worth the effort. Nothing compares to the silky, light, slippery noodles you can produce in your own kitchen. This is a quick recipe. The dough is mixed in a food processor and a pasta machine kneads and rolls the dough. George's whips this up easily, in 5 minutes tops.
• There are minor variations depending on the weather and the moisture in your flour (you may have to knead in an extra tablespoon or 2 of flour) but if you follow these proportions you will have excellent pasta.
• The organic eggs we buy at the farmers' market vary in size. The most reliable way to get an accurate measurement is with a portion scale. The measuring cup method will work, too (crack eggs into a small mixing bowl, whisk to combine, pour the required amount into a liquid measuring cup, and discard or save any excess for another use). In making pasta, skill is developed through repetition. Each batch will be easier than the last and with a little experience exact measurements will be less important.
• Don't fret if the final dimensions of the pasta are different from those specified in the recipe. The strips coming through the rollers of the pasta machine may be longer and/or not as wide. The ends may also narrow rather than being perfectly square. For instance, the edge going through the rollers first will be u-shaped (they can be cut later to square the noodle, if you like). Practice does make a difference in developing a feel for the process. Try to roll the dough as wide as possible--a little less than the width of the rollers, but don't be discouraged if that doesn't happen the first time. Adjust the cutting of the pasta to the strips you have--less wide sheets of lasagna noodles, for instance.
• Put the flour in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. With the motor running pour the eggs through the feed tube. Stop the machine as soon as the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Run the motor again pouring the hot water through the feed tube. Pulse on and off for 10 seconds; stop the motor. The dough should stick together when pressed between your fingertips. If not add another 1/2 to 1 teaspoon hot water and run the motor again. Turn out onto a cool, smooth surface--marble is ideal. Knead for 1 to 2 minutes until the dough is smooth and pliable. If it is sticky, knead in 1 to 2 tablespoons flour. Shape into a ball and cover the dough completely with plastic wrap and allow to rest at room temperature for a minimum of 20 minutes or up to 2 hours in the refrigerator. If the dough is refrigerated, remove it from the refrigerator about 20 minutes before proceeding with the recipe.
• Set up the pasta machine with the rollers at their widest opening.
• Divide the dough in 1/2. If the dough is sticky, dust it with flour. Flatten the dough half with the heel of your hand, and feed it through the rollers of pasta machine. Fold the dough in half lengthwise and feed it through the rollers again. Repeat 20 to 30 times occasionally folding widthwise to fit between the guides. This kneads and smoothes the dough further, creating silky and supple pasta.
• Now you can roll the pasta into thin sheets by feeding it through each successive setting of the pasta machine until you have passed it through the second thinnest opening (dust with just enough flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking). This process is done without folding. If the sheet of pasta becomes cumbersomely long cut it crosswise into 2 pieces to make it more manageable. Repeat with the second half of the dough. Lay the dough out on a barely floured counter or clean, dry kitchen towels. Each half of dough will yield 2 strips of pasta roughly measuring 3 feet by 4 inches.
• Try to make lasagna noodles as wide as your pasta machine allows (4 to 5-inches); cut the lengths the most appropriate size for the pan you plan to use--anywhere from 8 to 12-inches long (longer if you like, or shorter if smaller noodles are easier for you to handle. Lasagna noodles can be cut and patched together in assembly). Keep in mind the pasta will grow, or expand, when it boils, increasing its dimensions.
• After you have cut the noodles, you can cook them right away or lay them out in a single layer without touching on a lightly floured surface or on clean, dry kitchen towels until ready to cook (flour dusted or towel lined baking trays work well if you don't have counter) If you are not using the pasta the same day, allow it to dry completely, then transfer to long, shallow containers with lids. You can keep it in a cool, dry place for 1 week.

MISSY ROBBINS'S FRESH FETTUCCINE

Steps:

• Place flour on a wooden work surface and create a barricade with a center sanctuary for your yolks that is 5 to 6 inches in diameter but not more. (If you create too much space, your barricade won't be strong enough to hold the yolks as you begin to incorporate the flour.) To avoid any additional risk to your barricade, mix, but do not beat, your yolks before adding them to well. Kick off by adding half of yolks to well and use a fork to incorporate inner layer of flour, stirring in a continuous motion around circumference to combine. Continue adding the rest of yolks, incorporating flour as you go. If you bust through your barricade, not to worry. Use a bench scraper to catch egg mixture and fold it back into flour, doing this at every edge until you have a mixture that is thick enough to contain itself.
• Knead: The dough will be sticky at first, so as you work it, continue to remove dough that clings to your hands and return it to the mass. The dough will begin to firm up as the gluten is activated by kneading, but if it feels a touch too dry and is not integrating (this can happen when the environment is drier, such as during the winter or when you're working in an arid climate), add about 1 tablespoon room-temperature water to loosen. Fold dough in on itself, pressing down and away from your body with the heel of your dominant hand. (You can hold the edge of the dough closest to you with your other hand to keep it in place as you stretch it away from you.) Rotate 180 degrees, fold, and press again.
• Repeat this rotating, folding, and pressing motion until dough is smooth and relatively firm to the touch, 8 to 10 minutes. Use bench scraper to clean off any pieces of dough that clump and stick as you're kneading. Lightly dust board with flour if needed; be careful not to add too much, as it will dry out the dough. When properly kneaded, dough's texture should resemble that of Play-Doh, and it should spring back just slightly when poked. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside at least 30 minutes. (This allows it to become more pliable.) If you're not forming pasta until the evening or the next day, place dough in refrigerator and remove 20 minutes before you plan to roll it out, so it returns to room temperature. Use within 24 hours.
• Roll and sheet: These instructions assume that you're using a manual sheeter (such as Imperia). If you're working with the Kitchen-Aid attachment or another motorized sheeter, more power to you. It will undoubtedly make your life easier, and the instructions that follow will be more detailed than necessary, though they will still apply. I do recommend, however, starting with a manual sheeter, as it will help you learn to make decisions based on feel rather than prescription. To start, cut your dough into quarters so you're working with smaller, more manageable pieces. Begin with one piece and cover remaining pieces with plastic wrap. Dust board and rolling pin with a bit of flour. Roll dough out to an oval, 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick and about 8 inches long. (You want it to be thin enough to fit through the sheeter's widest setting, but not so wide that it doesn't have room to expand widthwise as it's fed through.)
• Feed dough through once, cranking with your dominant hand while you very gently lead it through with your nondominant hand. Then fold dough into thirds by bringing one end to middle and then other end over top, as if folding a business letter. Lightly press on top to seal, then feed one narrow end of dough through sheeter again. (What you're doing at this point is essentially re-kneading the dough and making sure there is no extra air in it.) Repeat fold-and-feed at least three times, until dough is smooth and uniform.
• Decrease setting on your sheeter (to 5 on the Imperia, or 2 on the KitchenAid) and feed dough through again. At this point, the sheet will be long enough to be a bit unwieldy to work with. You can return it to your floured board, cut it in half, and work with only one length at a time, covering length(s) not in use with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap. As the sheet becomes longer and thinner, you will need to handle it with more care. Continue passing sheet through roller and decreasing the setting in this way until it has been passed through at number 6 on the Kitchen Aid (passed through one time) or down to 2 on Imperia (passed through twice). As you work, your sheet may become tacky and require a light dusting of flour; be careful not to add too much, or you'll end up with a sheet that's too dry. Lightly dust with flour and transfer to a parchment-lined sheet tray, layering parchment between each sheet to ensure they do not stick together. Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and repeat process until you have sheeted your full batch of dough.
• Lightly dust your wooden work surface with more "00" flour. Line a baking sheet with parchment; lightly dust with semolina. Lay your sheet(s) of dough on the work surface. Use a knife to cut 18-inch-long sheets, removing scraps from unclean edges (save them for soup). Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel.
• Place a fettuccine cutter on your hand-cranked pasta machine (such as Imperia) or KitchenAid. (If you don't have a cutter attachment, or prefer to hand-cut, fold one pasta sheet in half and then in thirds, until you end up with a small packet, about 4 1/2 by 6 inches. Position packet horizontally with longer side parallel to you. Trim and discard any uneven edges. Beginning at left or right edge of your packet, move inward and cut 1/4-inch-wide strips; skip step 4.)
• Holding one end of a pasta sheet with your nondominant hand, gently feed opposite end into cutter and begin cranking with your dominant hand. Keep sheet nearly perpendicular to machine as you crank. As pasta moves through machine, move your nondominant hand under cutter to catch it. (If you are using a KitchenAid, feed with one hand and catch with the other.)
• Generously dust strands of fettuccine with "00" flour and gently shake to separate. Curl batch into a nest and place it on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining pasta sheets. Let dry 20 to 30 minutes at room temperature. If not using right away, cover sheet with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 24 hours.

MISSY'S LAZY DAY PASTA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain and set aside.
• Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Saute green onions and garlic until tender.
• Pour in broth and cook 3 minutes, then stir in tomato. Cover and simmer another 2 minutes, just until tomato becomes soft, then add cooked spaghetti and heat through. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve.