(Vegetarian-Friendly) Lasagna Rolls

Who doesn't love lasagna? How many people like to make their own lasagna? Odds are, the answers to these questions are very similar (no one!). It's a shame that whenever the average American gets the lasagna fix, we have to settle for a frozen entree that either takes 2 hours in the oven or finishes as a watery mess in the microwave. This recipe is one that is inspired by a lasagna roll recipe that I saw on Giada's "Everyday Italian" the other day. Although I am a little inclined towards everything Giada, I thought this recipe was clever and a less-intimidating version of the traditional Italian dish. 

The version that I adapted uses a lot of stuff that I already had in my fridge/freezer. I decided to try it vegetarian style utilizing a lot of fresh herbs from my backyard, potted garden. The lasagna can be filled with whatever your heart desires (including meat).

Lasagna Rolls

• 1 pack of dried lasagna pasta
• 2 packages of frozen spinach
• 1lb of ricotta cheese (I used part-skim to lower the calorie count)
• Lots of parmesan cheese (or better quality, like parm-reggiano)
• Whipping cream (optional- could probably be swapped for olive oil)
• Plenty of kosher salt
• Black pepper
• Little dash of cinnamon or fresh nutmeg (because it's in all lasagna recipes)
• Dried red pepper flakes (optional- if ya like it hot!)
• 4-5 cloves of garlic, minced fine
• Lots of diced fresh herbs (I used basil, Italian flat leaf parsley, and a little thyme)
• Low-moisture mozzarella cheese (either the shredded stuff in a bag or the whole mozz that is throughly dried by wrapping it in a paper towel)
• Tomato sauce (I used a mixture of leftover uncooked pizza sauce and bottled Prego brand)

Action time!:

• Remove the frozen spinach from the carton and place it in a microwave safe container for 3 minutes or until its thawed. Let the spinach hang out until its cool to the touch. Then grab it into a big ball and squeeze the residual liquid out. If the spinach is not dry, odds are you will get some water-logged pasta. We want the pasta to soak up the liquid from the tomato sauce anyway, not spinach juice.
• Get a pot (big enough for the lasagna sheets) of boiling water started.
• Mix the spinach with the ricotta, a big handful or two of finely grated parmesan cheese, the diced herbs, garlic, and the dry seasonings. Mix them together until well blended. To get the ricotta to spinach ratio correct, see the picture of my mix. If your filling looks too dry, then add a little cream or olive oil. 
• Once the water comes to boil, add a handful of kosher salt to the water. Always season your pasta water with salt! No one likes bland pasta flavor. The water should be slightly salty to the taste. Some people say it should taste like ocean water, but I have some bad memories of swallowing water as salty as the sea...so I take it a little easier. 
• Add the pasta sheets 3 or 4 at a time to the pot and stir them with tongs to make sure they don't stick. Let them cook for about 7-8 minutes a batch or until the pasta is bendy and pliable without breaking. You want a really al dente pasta that will soften in the oven. Overcooking the pasta is another source of soggy lasagna.
• Fill each sheet with the filling, as pictured. You don't want to overstuff them so that the filling oozes out of the sides when you roll them up. After lining each sheet with filling, then roll the lasagna up like a sleeping bag. Repeat with each batch as they come out of the pot (if you wait too long, the pasta will dry out and break). 

Runways of flavor

• Stack each lasagna roll, side by side, into a oven safe dish that is lined with a thin layer of tomato sauce on the bottom. 

Ready and rolled!

• Preheat your oven to 450 degrees, with a rack in the middle of the oven.
• Spoon some more tomato sauce on each of the lasagna rolls and make sure that the pasta is well covered by sauce. You don't want any dried, uncooked pasta coming out of the oven. 
• Liberally sprinkle some more parmesan on top of the lasagna rolls.
• Top the rolls with mozzarella cheese. I used some leftover fresh mozz from last week's pizza night that I just tore apart by hand for a rustic look.
• Pop the dish in the oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the pasta has finished cooking through.

 

Before- and after- baking

• Let the lasagna rest for 3-4 minutes before serving and enjoy! The herbs really pop and add a nice complexity, without the meat. The cinnamon is barely noticeable, but it leaves a nice, savory lingering flavor in your mouth.

 

Check out the caramelization on that cheese- yum!

Ok, I claimed this dish was vegetarian friendly but I cheated a little. As I was filling my lasagna rolls, I realized I didn't make enough filling (the amounts listed above should be enough though). I quickly whipped up another batch of spinach-ricotta-and prosciutto filling made up with some left over meat from my fig-goat cheese-prosciutto pizza night. Giada's recipe also orignially used prosciutto. The prosciutto batch had a little bit of sweetness. Moral of the story: utilize what you like and what you have on stock in your fridge if you can. 

pork au poivre

Today, I am making a pork spin-off of a traditional French dish: steak au poivre (pepper steak). True steak au poivre is a staple of French bistros, and involves a thick-cut NY strip steak or a filet mignon heavily seasoned in coarse ground pepper with a creamy cognac sauce. I was watching Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" feature his restaurants, the Les Halles bistro in NYC. My version uses a bone-in pork chop because they are cheap and are basically a culinary blank palette- you can do almost anything with it. The result is a blend of flavors: the saltiness and black-pepper heat from the pork chops balance the fruity and slightly sweet cream sauce. 

Like a t-bone, this cut of pork chop offers a great blend of really tender and really tasty parts of the pig. Notice a good amount of fat along the side- this adds flavor and keeps the pork moist

In all honesty, I bought my chops as part of a sale-priced value pack so they aren't cut super thick like the type of meat usually used for steak au poivre. That's ok for me because you have to cook pork all the way through, unlike steak. You can use thick cut pork chops, but just make sure its cooked completely. Anywho- on to the recipe!

Pork au poivre with roasted garlic potatoes

Ingredients:

For the potatoes:

• 2 medium Potatoes, your favorite variety, cubed (rinsed and/or scrubbed, skins on)
• 4 garlic cloves (papery wrapper still on, trust me)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Coarse sea salt or kosher salt
• Coarse ground black pepper
• Fresh thyme, rosemary (optional)

For the pork and pan sauce:

• Pork chops, one per person
• Olive oil
• Coarse ground black pepper
• Kosher salt
• Shallots or onions, diced (I used red onions, but you can use yellow or white but probably not Vidalia)
• Heavy cream
• Cognac (if you aren't a frequent sipper of the "yac" then you can get a few of those mini-bottles from the liquor store)

I used a bottle of Remy Martin VSOP that we had around the house

Directions

• Prepare the potatoes in advance by tossing the garlic cloves and cubed potatoes in olive oil in a large piece of aluminum foil (If the potatoes aren't coated, they will stick to the foil). Leaving the garlic in the paper helps them to roast and develop a really nice sweetness (and you can easily peel the paper off when its cooked). 

The pouch- before cooking

• Season the garlic and potatoes with salt and pepper.
• Toss in your favorite fresh herb if you want. This part is just another slight flavor enhancer. The real star of this dish is the pork.
• Fold the foil to make a pouch for the potatoes to steam in and bake the pouch around 400 degrees until the potatoes have softened all the way through. If you want, you can just roast them on the foil, not in a pouch, at a lower temperature. This will give you a drier, crispier potato with more caramelization. It's your choice.

The pouch after cooking

Roasted garlic - that dark brown color is what you should be shooting for

• Sauté the onions or shallots in a pan with olive oil and a little salt n pepa on medium heat until they get soft and semi-translucent.
• Season the pork chops with salt and lots of pepper (see the picture).
• Cook the pork chops on another pan on medium high for 3-4 minutes per side or until golden brown. If you chose the thick cut pork chops, I would leave them on the counter for 20mins to warm up to room temp a little before cooking them and/or finish the seared chops in a warm oven for a few minutes to make sure they are done.
• Turn the heat off the chops when they are done, leave them in the pan.
• Pour a healthy double shot of cognac into the pan with the onions and stir. Let the alcohol cook off for a few seconds.
• Add a little pour of heavy cream into the cognac and onions. The color you are looking for is a light brown (see the picture). 
• Stir and adjust any seasoning (salt and/or pepper). 

At this point you can either toss the pork chops into the pan with the sauce or you can pour the sauce directly on the chops. Garnish your prized pork with some of those roasted garlic-fragrant potatoes. 

A note on drinks - Rosé:

My drinking preferences change with the seasons. In the summer, I enjoy a little dry, chilled rosé. Yeah it's pink, so what? Europeans drink rosé throughout the summer. This stuff isn't sweet like Franzia or André blush. It has subtle flavors that range from cherry and strawberry to pomegranate. It's crisp, clean, and got a little more body than a sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio and can hold up to meatier dishes.

Sol Angélys - Tavel, France

To pare with my French-inspired pork au poivre, I am drinking a rosé from Tavel, France- one of the most famous cities for making rosé. I snagged this bottle after a recommendation from my local wine store proprietor for $12. Any guys who feel emasculated by drinking a pink wine can do a few pushups after dinner while watching the Spike channel.

getting your fried chicken fix

this post comes remote from winston-salem, nc. i will be back in the 'burg on monday.

maybe it's the little bit of southern in me, but every now and then i get a craving for fried chicken. however, fried chicken is sometimes a guilty pleasure because it obviously packs a lot of calories. some people might have trouble finding good fried chicken around them (KFC does not count). if youve ever tried making real fried chicken in your house, you know it isnt easy. you need a deep pan, a lot of oil (which splatters everywhere), and the chicken can be done on the outside but not done on the inside. thats why i save the real fried chicken for restaurants with pressurized deep fryers or grannies from the south. i like the idea of using chicken tenderloins because they are small and cook quickly. you dont need to worry if the meat around the bone cooked all the way through because there's no bone and no huge amount of breast meat to cook through. this is a great dish for guys with little cooking experience (yeah im stereotyping) to make for their dates because its fast and tasty, and you can play with the presentation to make it look playful and special.  

so- i am presenting a dish i made with some ingredients that are usually found around the house:

• frozen chicken tenderloins/fingers, unbreaded (thawed in room temperature water for an hour or so)
• 1-2 eggs (depending on the size)
• italian breadcrumbs (or season them yourself)
• corn meal
• seasoned salt
• pepper
• extra virgin olive oil
• box of store-bought wild rice mix (reduced sodium, preferably)
• fresh tomatoes and herbs, for garnish (i used basil, chives, and lemon thyme)

first- that your chicken by putting them in room temp water and letting them hang out for an hour. you can start on the wild rice. most directions usually involves pouring the rice, seasoning mix, and some margarine or olive oil in a small sauce pan and letting it simmer for 20-30mins. once the rice is soft, you can turn off the heat and let it hang out on the stove- itll stay warm for a while. you can also substitute some saffron/yellow rice (which come in packets for like 80 cents) instead of wild rice. 

get two shallow containers, whether they are bowls or tupperware dishes, and fill one with the eggs, scrambled, and enough italian breadcrumbs to coat the bottom of the container. dash a little bit of corn meal in the breadcrumb mixture (this adds a little crunch). season the breadcrumbs with seasoned salt and black pepper. you can even add some cayenne pepper if you like things a little spicy. 

after the chicken is thawed, set them on some paper towels in order to absorb any extra moisture. pour some extra virgin olive oil to coat the bottom of a pan on medium-high heat. 

once the pan is hot, dip your first chicken tenderloin into the egg wash, let the excess drip off, and then toss it in the breadcrumb mixture. after shaking the excess crumbs, gently PLACE the chicken in the hot oil. repeat with the rest of the chicken. if you are making several batches of these fried chicken fingers, dont crowd the pan with more than 4 or so of them, or else the oil temperature will drop too much. turn the chicken once they are golden brown. because you are using chicken tenderloins, it should not take too long to cook. once they are done on both sides, you can let them cool for a sec on some paper towels (which absorbs some extra oil, preventing oil-logged chicken). 

scoop the rice in the middle of the plate, and slant the chicken tenderloins on top of the pile of rice for each plate (i used 4 because ive got quite the appetite). garnish it with some halved cherry tomatoes or fresh herbs. be creative and play with the colors. you can even turn up the impress factor by pairing the dish with a great glass of wine. i used cardinal point's dry riesling (around $11-12), an excellent local white wine from near charlottesville. 

i know this isnt the most groundbreaking dish ever, but its a good example of a delicious meal that you can make at home without breaking the bank at the grocery store, heck you dont even need to make an extra trip to the store!

pizza pt. 2 - wet dough

i went home to richmond for the weekend to hang out with some friends and the family. i spent some time at my best friend's apartment in downtown richmond, and he showed me some tips to improve my pizza game. this guy has been making pizza in his kitchen for several months now, and has the process down pretty well. he made four pizzas with dough that rose in his fridge for about 24hrs. the dough was soft and spread almost instantly; no dough wrestling that resulted in any pizzas shaped like africa (see my first pizza trial). he used cento brand italian plum tomatoes that were seeded, rinsed, and drained to minimize bitterness and "steel can flavor." when the pizzas came out of the oven, there were great gluten bubbles in the crust, although i felt the pizza could have been left in the oven for 30secs more or so to give the crust a little more structure (it was almost too soft). however, this pizza is more like the pizza that im aiming for. to better understand his pizza process, he introduced me to a link:

http://www.varasanos.com/PizzaRecipe.htm

this guy, jeff varasano, was a software engineer turned pizza obsessor. he has spent countless hours testing almost every conceivable ingredient and technique in making the perfect basic, neapolitan pizza in his home kitchen. his instructions are often too detailed and a little too risky for my student apartment (no thanks to clipping the safety handle off of my oven's clean cycle- id like to get the security deposit back on my apartment).  however, i feel like his site is very helpful and practical if you take some things with a grain of salt. 

jeff emphasizes 3 things: 1) heat, 2) kneading technique, 3) yeast type. of the three, i have the most control over #2). my buddy is planning on growing his own italian yeast culture, but i am sticking with the store bought stuff for now because it's easily available and i want other people to replicate my recipes on this blog whenever possible. traditional pizzas are usually cooked in brick ovens which burn well over 800-1000 degrees (F), while the normal kitchen can only bake around 500-550. my oven dial goes up to 525ish on the bake cycle, but could probably get higher if i then switch it to the broil cycle (which i think is how my friend made his pizzas). in theory, my oven could cook over 900 degress on the clean cycle if i did the "varasano" mod on my oven- but im not. anyway- jeff quotes a recipe in his site that is very similar to what i was doing, except he says it is WRONG. haha! ohhh well. cooking is a process, remember? the first few trials did give me a feel for handling the dough and gave me confidence with working with flour (not my favorite cooking ingredient to manipulate). i plan on making some more dough with the following modifications:

• using a MIXTURE of king arthur (KA) brand AP flour and KA brand bread flour, for added gluten and a better crust. this is similar to what jeff and my friend use. ill probably use a little less than a 50-50 ratio of bread to AP flour.
• AUTO-LYSE step of making the dough- this is something that is common in breadmaking. basically, you add all of your ingredients into the mixer with the paddle attachment (but reserve a little of the flour), and mix until it all of the ingredients are a wet dough. then let the wet dough rest in the mixer for about 20 minutes. apparently this is a more effective method of developing gluten in your dough/bread. after 20mins then you can knead.
• kneading a WET DOUGH for only 30 secs-1 minute. i dunno why this didnt make more sense to me earlier. good eats led me to believe that the dough should be a little drier and that it should spin in the mixer for 15mins. apparently not. think about pancake batter: you dont want to overwork/mix the batter or else your pancakes will not get fluffy and soft. jeff's page is really good on telling you what the consistency should be like (like a baby's bottom-ha!). quickly kneading a wet dough on some flour using a hand tuck and fold method (more on this in subsequent posts) will probably be more effective.
• using less olive oil when putting the dough in the fridge to rise. the oil burns at higher temperatures and can give off some funky tastes and blacken your pizza stone. 
• using uncooked tomatoes in the sauce, for a fresher sauce. theres no need to cook it twice. i cooked my marinara the first time to tweak the flavor of my kroger tomatoes of unknown taste and quality. next time, ill get something of a little better quality. 

unfortunately, i will be away from kitchen for the next few days and will be in winston-salem for a debate conference. the next few updates will be a mixture of describing some of my more classic recipes and reporting on the excellent food finds from NC. 

***UPDATE***

i made pizza from the last bit of dough leftover from the batch i made last thursday. this dough was rested for basically 5 days and it had an extremely soft texture, similar to the texture i felt at my friend's (or "baby bottom soft" as varasano would put it). this dough ball was super easy to stretch, and i got the pizza quite thin (as you can see from the pictures). i baked it at 550 degrees (the highest my oven does on "bake") since i was inspired by my findings on the effect of heat on the quality of pizza. it took a little more than 4mins to cook, whereas the pizzas i baked around 500-520 degrees took over 5-6 minutes. there was some decent puff on the crust but i still need to tweak the recipe. overall- dough that has rested for several days isnt too bad of a thing. 

im a fan of basil baked under the cheese as well as fresh basil after the pizza has cooled for 2-3 minutes (or else it will blacken). the baked basil is crispy and has a slightly sweet taste while the fresh basil is pungent and full of flavor. 

this cross section shows how thin the pizza was, and how part of the crust didnt rise and bubble too much. 

same slice of pizza from the other side- many more gluten bubbles. 

just a little bottom shot- a little bit of good charring around the top edge of the pizza. i credit this to the higher temp.