The Community Table Project is about sharing signature recipes from everyday folks, and creating a sense of community around food. If you make a signature dish you think is great, send me an email at baconhound@gmail.com and let’s talk.
When I think about eating lasagne, it’s usually on a cool winter’s day, the oven warming my house, and me, curled up on the sofa enjoying plate after plate of carb-y goodness. I don’t often crave it in the middle of summer when the sun is high and the temperature is reaching 27 degrees, but when Lisi told me about her recipe I knew I wasn’t waiting for winter to try it.
The Cook:
Lisi Monro.
Lisi is a proud resident of the central neighbourhood Grandin. She is an active booster of Edmonton, both in her job with the city and in her spare time.
The Dish:
Lasagne.
Several years ago as Lisi travelled around Europe where she sampled over a dozen different regional varieties of lasagne. When she got home, she created her own regional version made of her favourite aspects of each variety she tried.
The Story:
In 2009, Lisi spent 4 months travelling through Italy and Greece, staying in small “pensiones” (essentially a European B&B). There was often significant language barriers, so she found herself communicating with her hosts through food. She spent much of her time learning from Greek yia-yias and Italian nonnas the origins of lasagne, and what makes each region’s variety special.
When she got home from her trip, Lisi found herself missing the people and places she connected with and wanted a way to remember them. In doing so, she began to create a version of lasagne that was entirely unique, borrowed from her favourite things about each variety and some special touches she learned along the way. She combined everything she learned into a “mega love-filled lasagne” that she now proudly makes for friends and family.
The Recipe:
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- 500 g regular ground beef preferably not lean
- 500 g regular ground pork
- 100 g pancetta use spicy pancetta if you want a kick
- 1 knob unsalted butter
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp each salt and pepper
- 1 cup water
- 1/3 cup double concentrate tomato paste
- 1 cup celery finely diced
- 1 cup yellow onion finely diced
- 1 cup carrot finely diced
- 4 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 cup dry white wine Sauvignon Blanc works well
- small chunk parmesan reggiano with the rind on
- 1.5 cup flour
- 1.5 cup salted butter
- 3 cup whole milk room temp
- 1/2 cup heavy cream room temp
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg or 1/8 tsp if fresh grated
- salt to taste keep in mind how salty your bolognese is
- 1.5 cup chopped spinach
- 2 large eggs
- 300-400 g ricotta fresh with high milk fat content is best
- salt and pepper to taste keep in mind how salty your bolognese is
- 2 cup mozzarella high milk fat content is better
- parmesan reggiano grated
- lasagne sheets of your choice
Ingredients
Bolognese sauce
Thick Greek-Style Bechamel
Ricotta Spinach Mix
Finishing
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- Heat the knob of butter and the olive oil in a heavy pot and throw in your pancetta, beef, and pork to brown. Medium-high heat is best depending on your stovetop - the point is to try and get the meat a nice golden brown colour for extra flavour instead of boiling it in its own juices.
- Once the meat is nice and browned, add the veggies (carrots, onions, celery) with your garlic, salt, and pepper. Keep that pot on medium-high and cook for approx.10-15 minutes. Add more oil or butter if it seems like the pot is getting too dry.
- After the veggies are cooked down a bit, turn down the burner if needed and add your tomato paste - cook that for 2 minutes. Once the tomato paste is incorporated and cooked a bit, add your water and milk. You can also either add the rind from your parmesan chunk, or 3 tbsp of the grated cheese. Turn the heat down to low and gently cook this for 45 minutes- 1 hour.
- **While the sauce is simmering, you can assemble your ricotta mix and/or get your bechamel sorted out**
- After the sauce has cooked down, check to see if any goopy parmesean rind is leftover and needs to be removed. Turn the heat back up to medium and add your white wine. Cook the wine down for 15-20 minutes depending on how hot your stove is.
- Set aside your meat sauce to rest while you get the rest of your dish components ready. If you're assembling the lasagne ahead of time (I like to assemble the day before), then allow the sauce to cool before layering.
- Melt your butter over low heat, and all your flour while whisking. Cook that down for 6-8 minutes to start to get rid of the flour taste.
- Add your first cup of milk while whisking quickly and cook for 1 minute. Add your second cup of mil and cook for a further minute. Add your last cup of milk and the half cup of heavy cream along with the nutmeg and salt to taste. Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook on low until it's really thick (this can sometimes take me 15 minutes).
- **The key here is to get a really thick Greek-style bechamel similar to what you would see on the top of a moussaka.**
- mix the ricotta, eggs, and chopped spinach, Salt and pepper to taste (If your ricotta has a high moisture content, stick to using 1 egg).
- Follow the directions for the lasagne sheets of your choice. I cook the sheets 2 minutes under the al dente recommended time, and then lay them out on kitchen towels after they've been drained.
- **Definitely worth spending the extra $ for quality dry pasta here. Don't use the oven-ready variety for this dish, or the lasagne will be super dry.**
- Use an extra large lasagne pan or any large/deep casserole dish that you think might be suitable.
- Start with a thin layer of meat sauce at the bottom, followed by a lasagne sheet. From there, layer meat sauce, ricotta mix, and top with bechamel. Add another layer of pasta and continue as above. Make sure you have enough bechamel to top everything off over your last layer of pasta.
- Sprinkle the grated mozzarella and parmesan over the last bechamel layer.
- Cover and cook at least 45 minutes at 350 degrees (you'll need longer than this if you're pulling it out of the fridge from the day before). Cook until it's bubbling, uncover, and throw on the broiler to get the bechamel and cheese browned up. Let the dish sit for at least 10 minutes before tackling it.
Tips and Tricks:
Lisi likes to use thick, coarse pasta, preferably Pirro or la Molisana, which she gets from The Italian Centre.
Big thanks to Kunitz Shoes and The Italian Centre Shop for coming on board and sponsoring The Community Table Project. The support of strong community-minded companies like these help make content like this possible, so go see Kunitz Shoes next time you’re in need of quality shoes and cool socks, and The Italian Centre Shop for everything you need to make these recipes at home.
Baconhound is an Edmonton food blog, focusing on the best restaurants and dishes in Edmonton and beyond. Phil Wilson is a food writer and also the host of the Canadian food podcast, Off Menu. Find it in the iTunes store and on Stitcher.
Great recipe.