Spinach, Kitchen Aid, and Daring Bakers
This month, I got to pull out the pasta attachments for my Kitchen Aid mixer. We made spinach lasagna - this was super simple to make, and was loved by some our good friends. As for baking - I put that at a bit of a stretch, but I followed the recipe none the less. I already have a pasta maker, so no amount of pushing or pleading will get me to make pasta by hand again.The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.
The first thing I did was to make the Ragu alla Contadina. I used the meats I had on hand (and I can't stand to use veal) - so we had sirloin steak, buffalo, and a pork loin. To that I added some prosciutto and panchetta, celery, onions, carrots, tomatoes, and some other ingredients. This slow cooked for about 2 hours.
Next up was the pasta - this was fun. I used organic frozen spinach, eggs, and flour. This is where a pasta machine is your friend. I've made pasta by hand before, and it is so much more enjoyable when you have something to help flatten the pasta for you.
I took it all the way to the thinnest setting. It was remarkably thin. I could see the wood grain of the butchers block through the pasta. Once rolled and cut, I laid out the pasta to dry. I wanted to keep it flat, because I dislike cooking the pasta ahead of time, especially if is homeade.
Some of it curled up, but a little time with the ragu/bechamel sauce, they quickly hydrated and flattened out. though I did run into one problem when assembling. This recipe did not scale well to my lasagna pan. I could not find a pan size in the instructions, so I went ahead and started with my normal, straight edge, shart corner metal lasagna pan. Well, after the first layer, I realized the pan was way too big. I only got in five layers, and I stretched one of those. Only two layers had meat. This meant short and wide slices, insted of tall and narrow slices. Next time I will double the recipe.This was excellent hte first day, and just as good the second. I think it could have used a little more cheese, and a slight touch of spice. Unfortunatly, we didn't get any pictures of the night of service, but I remembered to take a shot of the last piece before it was eaten.
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