FRESH HERB LASAGNA

FRESH HERB LASAGNA image

Categories Sauce Herb Pasta Tomato Bake Vegetarian Dinner Healthy

Yield 8 - 10, generously servings

Number Of Ingredients 24

Ingredients

Tomato Sauce:
3 Tbs olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbs fresh basil, chopped
1 Tbs fresh oregano, chopped
1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
3 carrots, chopped
3 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes (I prefer Red Gold Brand)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 tsp sugar (Optional, to cut the tart)
Fresh Herb Lasagna Noodles
5 large eggs (Not Jumbo!)
3 Tbs fresh basil
1 Tbs fresh oregano
3 c. all purpose flour, 1/2 c. to be added as kneaded
Special Equipment: Manual or automatic pasta machine, roll into sheets, as thin as you desire
Cheese Filling
1-1/2 c. soft mozzerlla cheese, cut into med-small chunks
1 1/2 c. ricotta cheese
1 1/2 c. porcino romano, grated
1 Tbs fresh basil
1 Tbs fresh oregano
1 tsp salt (optional to omit or add more)

Steps:

Tomato Sauce: Heat deep-heavy sauce pan to medium-high, add oil. Saute onions and garlic until translucent, 5 minutes. Add basil, oregano, and red pepper flakes, stir. Then add carrots and let cook for 3 minutes, or so. Add crushed tomatoes, then cover and let boil until most of the tomato juices cook off, 30 minutes to 1 hour. The longer you let the sauce cook, the richer the flavor. Add sugar and salt, and pepper to taste. Lasagna Noodles: On a granite counter, wooden chopping board, or bowl, add flour. Push the flour to create a wall with a hole in the middle to add the eggs, basil and oregano. Begin to stir the eggs and herbs (with hands of fork) in the middle, then slowly incorporate the flour. After the eggs become a gooey mass, roll up your sleeves and begin to knead until the egg is evenly dispersed throughout the dough, add more flour as needed. Wrap tightly in plastic and let sit for 20-30 minutes. (This will help create a perfect, light pasta noodle). After the dough has rested, cut it into 4 equal pieces or so. In your pasta machine roll our the dough into the pasta sheets, making the noodles as thin or as thick as you like (for my Marrcato Atlas 150, I usually roll it to a size 7 or 8, thats pretty thin!) Measure the noodles to fit comfortable in your baking dish or choice. When making pasta, hang the finished pieces on a pasta rack. Boil in salted water for 3-5 minutes, or until pieces float to the top and have stayed there for 30 seconds or so. At this point, I drain the pasta then let soak in luke warm water until I separate them to layer. Cheese Filling: Mix together all the ingredients until relatively consistent throughout. Salt to taste. Lasagna Assembly: Lay down the first layer of lasagna noodles, then sauce, then cheese. Repeat, letting the top layer be the pasta sauce. Cook for 15 minutes in a 375˚ oven.