Lasagna and other pasta bakes

SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
Well it was a bit of a marathon as I couldn’t get started on the cooking until 5pm but eventually I got there!

As I made it with dairy free ingredients I went for creamy garlic mushrooms in place of the bechamel or cheese component and kept the vegan cheese ‘Cheddarton’ for just the topping because used sparingly in cooking you would genuinely mistake it for real cheese but over do it and you’ll be able to tell it’s not dairy.

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The good gluten free sheets required pre-cooking, which at this volume was time a consuming pita!


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Five kilos of mushrooms cooked in plenty of garlic.

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In their creamy Dijon garlic sauce, it was hard to stop ‘testing’ those. Would have liked to put some aside to put on toast but it never ceases to amaze me how much mushrooms shrink and I could see I probably had only just enough.

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Made a strongly flavoured ragu. Two bottles of red wine reduced right down with four kilos of beef mince and plenty of sofritto amongst other things.
Had a taste test (or three 😜 ) and was happy with the result, so assembled ten loaf tins worth, no-one will be leaving hungry! 😂
Fingers crossed they stay happily in the freezer until they’re needed!
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What size are your loaf pans? I use the mini pans to make mine. Small/Mini Loaf Pan - 5-3/4" X 3" = about a 1/2 lb./8 oz. each. Each pan 1 - 2 servings.
 
msmofet said:
What size are your loaf pans? I use the mini pans to make mine. Small/Mini Loaf Pan - 5-3/4" X 3" = about a 1/2 lb./8 oz. each. Each pan 1 - 2 servings.
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20cm X 10cm ( 8” X 4”) 1llb each 😬 😂

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07G2ZGBXY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

I could (should) use smaller but the fact they are the same size as a sheet of lasagne (so no trimming) saves a lot of time and hassle, especially with no cook sheets.
But they are very active people and generally require a lot of calories so smaller would probably just get me complaints anyway 😂
 
I use these little Staub ceramic baking dishes for individual portions - this one is sitting on a standard 9-inch dinner plate, so you can judge the scale:

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TastyReuben said:
I use these little Staub ceramic baking dishes for individual portions - this one is sitting on a standard 9-inch dinner plate, so you can judge the scale:

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Lovely looking. I did look all of the prettier options (including staub) but they were either a bit too small for my lot or required sheets to be trimmed and when you scale up (I normally really go for it and freeze a load too) anything that makes it easier to assemble wins.

Mind you If I was sat at a table being served (ie I hadn't made it and was the grateful recipient of lasagne.. nom nom nom.. distracted now 😂) I'd take a beautiful staub over a tala loaf pan any day!
 
SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
20cm X 10cm ( 8” X 4”) 1llb each 😬 😂

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07G2ZGBXY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

I could (should) use smaller but the fact they are the same size as a sheet of lasagne (so no trimming) saves a lot of time and hassle, especially with no cook sheets.
But they are very active people and generally require a lot of calories so smaller would probably just get me complaints anyway 😂
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I use the oven ready no cook noodles. I just break them to fit.
 
msmofet said:
I use the oven ready no cook noodles. I just break them to fit.
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Yer I don’t like breaking uncooked noodles, the uneven shards rankle a bit.

Plus with gluten free lasagne sheets the world is definitely not your oyster and they have to be treated just right or they show what a lack of gluten does to pasta.
 
Oh these all look great! I do love a good lasagne and haven’t made one in years now that I think about it. I really need to make one again.

This is one I cooked a few years back. Spinach and Ricotta with a Bechamel sauce in between the layers.
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A more classic one with a tangy Red sauce.
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AgileMJOLNIR said:
Oh these all look great! I do love a good lasagne and haven’t made one in years now that I think about it. I really need to make one again.

This is one I cooked a few years back. Spinach and Ricotta with a Bechamel sauce in between the layers.
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A more classic one with a tangy Red sauce.
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You have succeeded in doing something I've never achieved - a lasagne which you can cut to show the layers. Mine always end up in a collapsed sauce laden heap.
 
Morning Glory said:
You have succeeded in doing something I've never achieved - a lasagne which you can cut to show the layers. Mine always end up in a collapsed sauce laden heap.
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Hmmmm thats interesting Morning. Too much sauce? Maybe the noodles aren’t being drained enough?
 
AgileMJOLNIR said:
Hmmmm thats interesting Morning. Too much sauce? Maybe the noodles aren’t being drained enough?
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Too much sauce I suspect. But I lost the will to make lasagne back at its trendy height (in the UK that is.) That would be in the early 80's I think! To be honest I'm not very keen on it. In general I don't much like pasta bakes (too stodgy). But I do like spinach and ricotta and your lasagne looks really good.
 
Morning Glory said:
Too much sauce I suspect. But I lost the will to make lasagne back at its trendy height (in the UK that is.) That would be in the early 80's I think! To be honest I'm not very keen on it. In general I don't much like pasta bakes (too stodgy). But I do like spinach and ricotta and your lasagne looks really good.
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For the same reason I often substitute the pasta sheets for sheets of Zucchini. As long as you salt them beforehand to draw out the extra moisture it yields a lighter lower carb lasagne that I quite enjoy and it holds together well. It just means I can have a slightly bigger slice without having to loosen the belt:wink:

I like a good meat Lasagne but am definitely a fan of the spinach and ricotta filling. Again its not as heavy and the flavors pair well with one another. There’s a million different ways to make a lasagne but that’s definitely one of my favorites.
 
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