Baked Turkey Tacos

When I'm on track with my diet, I prefer to eat raw in the mornings and evenings and eat a healthy, cooked meal for lunch. When I'm craving something a bit more naughty, I make these guiltless, turkey tacos.

Italian-Inspired Burgers

I'm back! Sort of :). 

In May of 2008, I first fell in love with Italy. For my first solo trip abroad, I visited Firenze, Pisa, and Venezia and promised myself to return here for good. So on the 2nd of July 2012, I flew from Los Angeles to Berlin to Roma. For almost 9 months now, I have been living in Europe trying to realize my dream of remaining in Italy (yes, even with its economic and political problems) for the rest of my life. Although it does not look like it is going to happen this time around, I plan to come back here after 90 days; and while in the States, I plan to apply for a long-term visa. 

Supplì

My blog has caused me to realize that I like Italian food more than any other International food. The reason could also lie in the fact that I am addicted to ItalianFood.Net and watch their cooking videos almost daily.

When I saw this video for supplì (already in the plural form; pronounced [soop-PLEE], based on U.S. English pronunciation), which are fried, stuffed balls of short-grained rice and ragù. When I saw these nuggets of meat, tomatoes, cheese, and rice, I just knew I had to get over my dislike of homemade, fried foods and make them. The chef even says that supplì are one of his favorite treats, so I had to make them.

*UPDATE* Supplì are not arancini, although they are very similar. The latter are shaped differently and do not include ragù (the tomato & beef sauce). Moreover, supplì are said to have originated in Rome and arancini in Sicily. I hope to try out arancini sometime very soon. 

While this dish takes quite a bit of time, it is well worth it in the end. I made the ragù the day before so that the flavors could meld overnight in the refrigerator. The next day, I made the rice mixture and created my assembly line for the coating. I had never fried in olive oil before, but I didn't notice a huge difference between using any other type of oil.

Anyway, I highly suggest making supplì for a party, your kids, or just because. I halved the recipe and still had enough for 3-4 people (I don't know why the chef says the full recipe is for four people!). I decided to roll up the supplì you see in the photos and to save the rest of the rice mixture for whenever I want more. That way, the supplì are always fresh. If I don't feel like making more supplì, I could also just eat the rice mixture as is, which is made almost exactly like risotto. It tastes amazing with or without the coating. Seriously.

I took the last photo while eating my first bite ever of supplì. I almost ended the photo session at that point. LOL! That first bite was amazing.

Ragù alla Bolognese

reposted from here and adapted from Italian Food Net (video)

You only need a FOURTH of this recipe, but I halved it here so that you can have leftovers for other dishes.

1 lb ground beef (or ground turkey)
4 cups (1 Litre tomato sauce (I used about one box of Pomì crushed tomatoes)
1/2 of tomato paste tube (2.25 oz)
1 big carrot (½ cup) chopped
1 celery rib (½ cup) chopped
1/2 white onion (½ cup) chopped
1/4 cup of red wine (I used about 4 oz of Fre Red Wine, a non-alcoholic wine!! Yeaa!!)
1-2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce (optional)
1-2 Tbsp fresh sage
1-2 Tbsp fresh rosemary
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and black pepper to taste

Heat a large saucepan. Pour in olive oil. Add celery, carrot, onion, and let them brown over medium heat. Then add sage, rosemary, and cook the mixture for 1-2 minutes.

Add the ground beef, divide it well, and cook until the liquid has evaporated (about 5-10 minutes), then season with salt and black pepper.

After 10 minutes of cooking pour in the red wine, and let it evaporate. Add tomato paste, stir well, and add tomato sauce, cover and let it simmer for 1 ½ hour on a low heat. Make sure you season this sauce well before assembling the lasagne.

Supplì 

halved & adapted from Italianfood.net (text in Italian) (video with subtitles) (video w/o subtitles)

Make the ragù ahead of time. You could also form the supplì without coating them ahead of time.

3/4 cups (175 gr) (6.15 oz) short-grained rice (I used arborio. Other suggestions: Carciofi, Bomba)
1 cup (250 gr) (9 oz) ragù (meat and tomato) Sauce (homemade or storebought; can be vegetarian)
1 large egg
50 gr (3.52 oz) cubed mozzarella cheese (enough to put in the small rice balls)
1/4 cup (50 gr) (3.52 oz) finely-grated parmesan
2 Tbsp (30 gr) (2.11 oz) unsalted butter, separated
2 cups (500 ml) beef broth or stock (can use chicken or vegetarian stock)
Enough flour and breadcrumbs to coat (I used Italian breadcrumbs)
Extra virgin olive oil for rice and for frying
Kosher salt to taste

Heat up a pot over medium heat then add 1 Tbsp of olive oil, 1 Tbsp of the butter, and let it melt. Once the butter has melted, add rice and toast it for about 2 minutes.

Add enough hot broth to cover the rice and when the broth has almost completely evaporated, continue to add enough broth to cover the rice, and keep doing this until there is no more broth, and the rice has evaporated.

When the rice is cooked al dente, season with salt, add remaining butter, ragù sauce, grated parmesan and stir quickly until becomes creamy. Turn off the heat and let it cool down to room temperature.

Make your supplì: 

Break the egg and whisk. Pick up a handful of the rice mixture, mold into small balls, and firmly press it, place a small cube of mozzarella into the center then reshape into a ball. Firmly press the rice giving the typical elongated oval shape.

(In order to not make too much of a mess, I rolled up half of the rice mixture up to this point, and set them aside. That way I did not have to roll each ball through the coatings, wash my hands, and start over.)

Roll the rice ball in flour. Continue molding the rice to give it the elongated oval shape, then dip the supplì in egg, and finally roll it well in breadcrumbs. Repeat until all the rice is used.

Heat extra virgin olive oil, which should be 3 inches deep, in a pot over high-medium heat, then add supplì. Let them fry until golden brown and crisp on all sides, turning over occasionally. When all supplì are golden brown, remove with a slotten spoon and place on kitchen paper to drain the olive oil.

Transfer supplì to a serving dish and offer to your friends. Remember to eat them with hands!

Swedish Meatballs

Remember the black-peppered egg noodles? Well, I used them as a fragrant, flavorful base to these Swedish noodles. I searched for an authentic recipe that didn't call for sour cream and found an excellent recipe on Cafe Johnsonia's website.

Unfortunately, my limited exposure to Swedish meatballs includes the type you usually see in church potlucks. I remember popping them in my mouth like popcorn and feeling like 5 of those suckers were never enough.

I had a feeling that these meatballs would taste different b/c the potlucks I frequented were in the South, and I was right. The meatballs I was used to eating were more like Italian meatballs without the tomato sauce. These meatballs didn't have Italian spices, but it was flavorful and unique. I had to add some more salt to the dish after the fact, but aside from that, it was very good.

Accompanied with the peppered noodles, the dish was full of flavor and the spices that danced in your mouth. I added paprika in the noodles because I read that paprika is a common ingredient in Swedish noodles. The gravy is basically a roux plus beef stock or beef broth - my favorite type of gravy.

Did you notice the color scheme in the above photos? I tried to match the colors of the flag of Sweden. I didn't have a good background the same shade of blue, but this .75 cent blue plate from Bed, Bath, & Beyond was good enough. The yellow "napkin" is actually my Psi Chi Graduation Stole from undergrad LOL! 

I hope you give this recipe a go. It was definitely a new and welcomed dish for my tastebuds!

Swedish Meatballs

adapted from Cafe Johnsonia

Swedish Meatballs
from The Joy of Cooking

1 Tbsp. butter (I used margarine)
1 Tbsp. onions, finely minced

3/4 lb. ground pork (I used all ground beef)
3/4 lb. ground beef (I seasoned the meat with kosher salt before adding it into the mixture)
2/3 cup fresh bread crumbs*
1 cup milk or water
2 egg yolks
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. each: nutmeg, allspice, ground pepper

4 Tbsp. butter (I changed back to butter b/c margarine affects roux)
2 Tbsp. flour
2 cups beef stock (I used one 14.5 oz can of beef broth)

Melt butter in a small, heavy-bottomed pan and cook the onions until soft, about 1-2 minutes. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the bread crumbs* and water. Let stand 2 minutes.

To the bread and milk/water, add the egg yolks, spices, salt, meat, and cooked onions. Beat on low speed until smooth.Turn the mixer to high and beat until the mixture becomes light in color and fluffy, about 10 minutes.

I apologize for the yucky photos of the beef. It isn't that red because it was stored in the freezer for awhile.

Use two spoons or a 1" small ice cream scoop dipped in water to shape the meat into 1" balls. Heat the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat.

Cook the meatballs in batches of 15-20, making sure to brown them evenly on all sides. Divide the butter in half, and use 2 Tbsp. per batch of cooked meatballs instead of all 4 tbsp at once.

Remove the browned meatballs and drain them briefly on a plate. After all the meatballs have been browned and removed, add the flour to the skillet with the drippings and leftover butter.

Cook, stirring, until lightly browned. Slowly add the beef stock. Cook while whisking until the gravy is thick and smooth. Then, add the partially-cooked meatballs back to the gravy, and let them simmer for another 10 minutes or so.

Serve atop egg noodles or mashed potatoes.

*For homemade breadcrumbs, preheat the oven to 350 degrees; break up old (or fresh) bread, and place them in the blender (2 slices at a time!). Blend the bread, and pour the crumbs onto a jelly-roll pan. Spread the crumbs out evenly and toast for 15 minutes. (It is suggest that you toss around the crumbs halfway through, but I didn't do that, and it worked out fine. It was darker around the edges of the pan, but once I mixed it around, it looked fine.)

You can store the crumbs in your freezer for up to 3 months and use the crumbs for meatloaf, meatballs, and a topping on salads.

Daring Cooks: Stacked Enchiladas and Giveaway Winner

¡Hola! from the land of Daring Cooks. Our hosts this month, Barbara of Barbara Bakes and Bunnee of Anna+Food have chosen a delicious Stacked Green Chile & Grilled Chicken Enchilada recipe in celebration of Cinco de Mayo. The recipe, featuring a homemade enchilada sauce, was found on www.finecooking.com and written by Robb Walsh.

Yes, I'm a Daring Cook. Yes, I'm late. Yes, I've been a Daring Cook for a long time without posting anything. Shame on me. I saw this dish, though and knew I had to make it. It didn't come out as pretty as I'd like, but the enchilada sauce was amazing. Click here for more!

Old-Fashioned Bacon Meatloaf

Why do so many cooks still act like they assume only women cook? For instance, aside from using "y'all" all of the time, Paula Deen frequently addresses her audience as "ladies" or "women" even though she has two sons who love to cook. On Spanish-speaking cooking shows, the male and female hosts address the audience as "señoras" ("ladies" or "women"). I just don't get it; it is so frustrating to me. Click here for more...

Shredded Beef Tacos

I cannot believe I forgot to blog about this dish! Remember when I made the adobo sauce many moons ago?! Well, there was a purpose for that sauce, and I was supposed to share with you all this dish I'm posting today.

What a bad food blogger I am!! I must have been distracted by something sweet or something because this dish was fantastic. Along with this flavorful beef, I made arroz mexicano (yes, I used the same recipe. I guess I used more red tomatoes the first time and tomatillos/regular tomatoes this time. I don't remember.) and tortillas de harina or flour tortillas.
The good thing about the beef is that you make it in the crockpot. You could also make the tortillas the day before by rolling them out, placing the uncooked, flattened discs of dough between wax paper, place them all in a freezer bag, and keep them in the refrigerator (or freezer for a longer amount of storage). The next day, you take them out and cook them on a comal, cast-iron skillet, or some very hot oven-top surface.
The arroz can be made ahead of time, too, but it tastes better when it is first made. I grated monterey jack and lots of cheddar cheese. I also used a bunch of jalapeños. These jalapeños weren't very spicy, so I could handle a bunch of them for added flavor and zing.

I apologize for holding out on this amazing dish. It was truly perfect. I wish I could make some more right now, but I haven't been in the kitchen much these days. I think I've lost my mojo for now. I hope to get back in the kitchen very soon.

Shredded Beef Tacos
adapted from Gimme Some Oven and Baking Addiction

1-2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 pounds beef (boneless chuck roast)
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
1 cup beef stock or broth
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced (homemade version here!)
1/2 large sweet onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
Flour tortillas, homemade or store-bought

Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, combine the chili powder, cumin, and smoked paprika in a small bowl.

Rub the spice mix into the beef, covering each side evenly. Once the oil is hot (it will shimmer a bit in the skillet), place the beef in the skillet and sear on each side. Do NOT MOVE the meat while it cooks for 2-3 minutes on each side.

Remove the beef from the skillet, and place in the bottom of a slow cooker. Leave the pan on the heat, and add in the beef stock to deglaze, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the tomato paste and minced chipotle or adobo sauce, and whisk into the pan sauce. Bring the sauce to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for a few minutes until the sauce has reduced and thickened slightly.

Add the diced onion and minced garlic on top of the seared beef in the slow cooker. Pour the pan sauce down over the onions, garlic, and beef. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours.

Remove the beef from the slow cooker, and shred with two forks. Use a slotted spoon to remove the onions from the slow cooker, and mix into the shredded beef.

Serve the beef in the flour tortillas, topped with your favorite taco toppings, such as fresh salsa like pico de gallo, frijoles refritos, arroz mexicano, etc.

Sloppy Joes

For my first giveaway, one of the questions I posed dealt with what types of dishes you all would like to see on my blog. A couple of commenters suggested I blog about some family recipes. While most people would see this suggestion as normal and more than satisfactory, I thought it was quite humorous because for my family, there is really no such thing as a family recipe because the relatives with whom I grew up never really learned how to cook. Their inability to cook stemmed from the fact that my grandmother would kick the kids out of the kitchen!

This sentiment may come off weird, but I'm actually proud to admit that my mom is considered the worst cook of my family b/c her ineptitude in the kitchen goes against gender stereotypes. She doesn't like to be in the kitchen for more than 5 minutes. In fact, her dream house would include a small kitchen and a huge bathroom. My dad, on the other hand, does know how to cook, but I was not raised by him. My maternal aunts and uncles are inept in the kitchen as well; however, one or two of my aunts have been getting better b/c their husbands or ex-husbands taught them how to cook.

So, unfortunately, I won't have any family recipes to share on this blog. Well, my mom does know how to make one dish: potato salad. So, I could share that one day (mom?). Anyway, I wrote all of that to say that the recipes on my blog will probably become my future family recipes if I ever procure my own family, and this sloppy joe recipe will definitely be one of them.
The dish was very flavorful. I didn't make any buns, so I just used regular, store-bought bread. I highly suggest you make this recipe part of your "family recipes" soon. Enjoy!

Sloppy Joes
adapted by allrecipes

1 pound lean or regular ground beef or black/kidney beans (for vegetarian option)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper (optional; I didn't use)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
3/4 cup ketchup
3 teaspoons brown sugar
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
Topping: cheddar cheese, optional

In a medium skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef, onion, and green pepper; drain off liquids.

Stir in the garlic powder, mustard, ketchup, and brown sugar; mix thoroughly. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Plan-ahead: Fill the cups in a muffin tin with leftovers, and freeze them. When frozen, pop them out, and store in a Ziploc bag in the freezer. Each one is the perfect size for a bun and ready to microwave.

Pot Roast

If you don't like your different food items to touch each other, please don't look at the subsequent photos. :)

When Monica from Lick the Bowl Good and I decided to meet up for the first time, we went to Mimi's Cafe. The first I ever ate at this restaurant, I was happy with what I ordered so I never went again until my meeting with Monica. She gave me some suggestions on what to order, and one of her suggestions included pot roast with mashed potatoes. I don't normally order or even eat pot roast, but I was in the mood for a comforting, "home-cooked" type of meal and veggies.

Well, that pot roast was AMAZING! It was so tender and succulent, and the mashed potatoes and veggies were perfectly seasoned. The dish was so good that I kept thinking about it for days. I then decided to try making it myself for the first time.

After unsuccessfully looking for a copycat recipe for the Mimi's Pot Roast, I decided on the recipe found on Pioneer Woman's site because she didn't use a crockpot. I cooked the meat for half the time she suggested because my oven overheats (I have to cook half the time for every recipe I use), and the meat wasn't ready (see photo below).
So, I ending up cooking the meat for one more hour, and it came out just as tender as it looks on Ree's site. I served this pot roast with leftover colcannon, carrots, and onions. Although it was tender and flavorful, it didn't taste like the pot roast at Mimi's. Maybe it was because I didn't use fresh thyme and rosemary, and I used all broth instead of wine. I don't know, but I guess I'll have to keep on trying. For the next time, I'm going to use a crockpot and a different recipe. Nevertheless, this pot roast came at a close second place.

*UPDATE* After eating it a second and third time, the flavors have melded, and the pot roast tastes amazing. I think the only missing is the gravy. I used the juices from the broth as my gravy, but a real, thickened gravy would make this even better than the pot roast I had at the restaurant. So, please make gravy out of the leftover beef broth by making a small roux (about 2 Tbsp flour + 2 Tbsp butter) and adding the juices to the roux. I wish I had done that.

Pot Roast
adapted by Pioneer Woman

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Tbsp butter
1 whole Chuck Roast (mine was 2.5 lbs)
2 whole Onions (I used 1/2 onion chopped in long, semi-circled cuts)
6 whole Carrots (I had only 2 carrots and chopped them in smaller pieces)
Salt To Taste (Try using Lawry's Seasoning salt)
Pepper To Taste
3 cups To 4 Cups Beef Stock (can substitute one cup of broth for red wine if you want)
3 sprigs Fresh Thyme, or more to taste (I didn't have)
3 sprigs Fresh Rosemary, or more to taste (I used dried, about 2-3 Tbsp)

Generously salt and pepper your chuck roast. Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Then add 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil and butter.

Cut two onions in half and cut 6 to 8 carrots into 2-inch slices. When the oil in the pot is very hot (but not smoking), add in the halved or chopped onions, browning them on one side and then the other. Remove the onions to a plate. Throw the carrots into the same very hot pan and toss them around a bit until slightly browned, about a minute or so.

If needed, add a bit more olive oil to the very hot pan. Place the meat in the pan, and sear it for about a minute or two on all sides until it is nice and brown all over. Remove the roast to a plate. With the burner still on high, use either red wine or beef broth (about 1 cup) to deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom with a whisk to get all of that flavor up. When the bottom of the pan is sufficiently deglazed, place the roast back into the pan and add enough beef stock to cover the meat halfway (about 2 to 3 cups). Add in the onion and the carrots, as well as 3 or 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary and about 3 sprigs of fresh thyme.

Put the lid on, then roast in a 275F oven for 3 hours (for a 3-pound roast). For a 4 to 5-pound roast, plan on 4 hours.

Tamal or Tamale Pie?

I was struggling with the proper way to name this dish since "tamale" isn't a word in Spanish. However, this dish is nothing like tamales, so I guess "tamale" is appropriate since both are are not authentically Mexican :). Anyway, when I told my Mexican girlfriend that I was making this dish, she went crazy because it is nothing like a tamal. I've made tamales, and I've helped my girlfriend's mother make tamales as well. So, I'm aware of how much work, time, and ingredients are involved in making the real thing.

LOOK! As a reward to myself for completing my paper, I bought my first Le Creuset item at an outlet mall! It is a 3 1/2 quart casserole pot. I love it!

Nevertheless, I was curious about the combination of cornbread, cheese, and seasoned meat all in one dish and wanted to try out this dish. No matter how this dish should be called, I must say it is beyond tasty. I loved it so much that I immediately spooned out seconds after eating the portion you see on the plate below.Look at that crust!

I compared a few recipes online, but I preferred the one I used because of the layer of corn and the mix-in of cheese in the cornbread batter. The "originator" of this recipe used Jiffy cornbread mix, but I used my favorite cornbread recipe instead. Even though I'm a southerner, I prefer a little sugar in my cornbread, but feel free to reduce or eliminate the sugar. It was easy to put together the cornbread batter, so I really don't think you need go out and buy a pre-made box of cornmeal, flour, and baking soda. That is really all it is, you know haha.I know I almost always tell you all to try out whatever meal or dish I post, but this is really good. You can make it with ground turkey or a load of beans if you don't eat beef. Make sure you season the meat/bean section well. I added the other filling options in the recipe below. Enjoy!

Tamal/Tamale Pie
greatly adapted from FoodWishes

1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp veg oil
1/2 medium onion 1-2 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
1 lb ground beef, turkey, or canned beans (I actually used grass-fed beef for the first time)
1 cup diced peppers of your choice (optional; I didn't use)
1 16-oz jar salsa (I used Pomì chopped tomatoes)
1 tsp salt (I used Lawry's Seasoning Salt)
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp chipotle pepper (I used 3 Tbsp homemade adobe chile sauce; recipe here)
1-2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano (I used 1-2 tsp Mexican Oregano)
4 oz cheddar cheese, divided (I used sharp)
4 oz monterey jack cheese, divided
2 cups frozen or fresh corn

In a skillet, melt butter and oil. Add onions and garlic, and cook until translucent. Add the beef, turkey, or beans and green peppers, and cook until brown (for beans, just move on to the next step).

Add salsa or chopped tomatoes, salt, pepper, chipotle pepper/adobe sauce, cumin, and oregano. Once the mixture is seasoned well, allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and prepare the cornbread batter.

Buttermilk aka Dixie Cornbread

greatly adapted by Southern Plate

1 3/4 cups enriched white cornmeal (I used yellow)
3 Tbsp AP flour
1 tsp salt (I used kosher)
1 tsp baking soda
1-3 Tbsp sugar (depends on how sweet you like your cornbread)
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (You could use milk + lemon juice, too)
1 egg
2-3 Tbsp melted butter
Stir together dry ingredients. Add buttermilk, egg, and add melted butter. Mix the ingredients until they are moistened; do not over-stir. Mix 3/4ths of the cheese to the cornbread batter.
Pour 1/4 of the mixture into the casserole pan.
Add 1/2-1 cup of the frozen or fresh corn on top of the batter.
Add all of the meat mixture. Then, add the rest of the corn (1/2-1 cup) (optional; I forgot to do this, so I had only one layer of corn, and it tasted more than fine.)
Add the rest of the cornbread batter.
Add additional cheese on top.
Bake uncovered in a preheated hot oven for 45-60 minutes. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Lasagne al Ragù

More than three years ago, I joined an online weight-loss group on xanga.com. I had lost a lot of weight, gained it back, lost it again, and then gained it back. Through all of those ups and downs, I also had gained a lot of online buddies. Once I began to stray away from this site, I lost all of those friends...except for one -- Laurian.

Laurian and I have met only once, but she knows me more than most of my friends who live close-by. We have much in common. She is an intelligent, graduate student studying Anthropology in Philadelphia, and I'm glad that we still stay in touch.

About a year ago we briefly had discussed the makings of true, authentic lasagne, and I told her that Italian lasagne usually have besciamella (beh-shyah-MEL-lah) or béchamel, instead of ricotta (ree-COAT-tah) or cottage cheese.
Well, last week, we were chatting with each other on MSN Messenger, and she told me that she was looking at my food blog as usual. I didn't know that she visits my blog regularly, but I was happy to know she does. She asked me why hadn't I made that lasagne for her. I told her that I didn't know that I'd promised to make lasagne for her, and she said, "Well, you didn't." She just wanted me to do it haha.

So, this post is entirely dedicated to my best, virtual friend in the world.
Questo è per la mia migliore amica. Ti voglio bene! I love you!

LASAGNE: Because I was making this dish for my friend, I put in a lot of effort and love into it. I bought fresh herbs and vegetables. Also, I purchased lasagne noodles, parmigiano reggiano, and '00' flour imported from Italy, etc.

I am thankful for knowing so many languages, such as Italian, because I was able to find a close-enough to authentic recipe given in the lovely Italian language. I found this video and recipe on Italianfoodnet. It is a fabulous website that contains a bunch of videos of popular, Italian recipes. There are English subtitles on most (but not all) of the recipes, and there are text versions of all the recipes in English. The video for this dish was in Italian, and I couldn't believe that I had understood about 90% of it! I was shocked!

Anyway, I stuck to the recipe pretty closely. I even made the ragù on the site instead of the one I usually make. I thought that this new version of lasagne wouldn't be seasoned well enough, so I added a bit more ingredients such as extra salt, cream, and Italian seasoning. Interestingly, even though the meat sauce or ragù wasn't seasoned as much as my other standby, its flavor matched perfectly with the other components of this dish. You don't want a meat sauce that overpowers the besciamella, parmigiano grattugiato (grated parmigiano), and lasagne noodles. Everything was perfectly balanced.
Surprisingly, I'm not crazy about lasagne. I've tried lasagne at various restaurants, and I'm never impressed by the taste. However, this particular recipe has changed my perspective completely. The besciamella really boosted up the flavor. The lasagne had a lot of oil on and in it, so I will reduce that the next time I make this, and there WILL be a next time. I also didn't add extra butter on top of the dish as the cook does because it just wasn't necessary. Nevertheless, everything was perfect. Please make this dish soon. You won't regret it.

Ragù alla Bolognese

adapted from Italian Food Net (video)

1 lb 3 oz (600 gr) (21 oz) Ground Beef
2 Litres Tomato Sauce (I used about 52 ounces of Pomì crushed tomatoes; it was more than enough)
1 Tomato Paste Tube (4.5 oz)
1 Big Carrot (½ cup) chopped
1 Celery Rib (½ cup) chopped
1 White Onion (½ cup) chopped
3 Glasses of Red Wine (I used about 8 oz of Fre Red Wine, a non-alcoholic wine!! Yeaa!!)
1/4-1/2 cups heavy cream (optional)
1-2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce (optional)
1-2 Tbsp Fresh Sage
1-2 Tbsp Fresh Rosemary
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Black Pepper

Heat a large saucepan. Pour in olive oil. Add celery, carrot, onion, and let them brown over medium heat. Then add sage, rosemary, and cook the mixture for 1-2 minutes.

Add the ground beef, divide it well, and cook until the liquid has evaporated (about 5-10 minutes), then season with salt and black pepper.

After 10 minutes of cooking pour in the red wine, and let it evaporate. Add tomato paste, stir well, and add tomato sauce, cover and let it simmer for 1 ½ hour on a low heat. Make sure you season this sauce well before assembling the lasagne.

La Besciamella
adapted from Italian Food Net (video)

4.2 cups (1 Litre) (33.8 fl oz) Whole Milk
about 1 stick (100 gr) (3.52 oz) Butter
about 1 cup (100 gr) (3.52 oz) 00 Flour (I used '00' flour, but you could use AP flour)
A Pinch of Salt (I used more than a pinch of salt. Season to taste)
Fresh, grated nutmeg

Pour the milk into a large saucepan, add salt, some grated nutmeg, and place the pan on medium heat.

Put the butter into a medium saucepan, and place the pan on medium heat. As soon as the butter melts, add the flour, and let the mixture cook for about 3-4 minutes over medium-low heat whisking constantly. When the mixture is ready, remove the pan from heat and let it rest.

As soon as the milk reaches the boiling point, pour it into the mixture little by little, whisking briskly to avoid lumps from forming. When the milk is incorporated, return the pan over a medium-low heat, and let it cook for 15 minutes whisking continuously.

When your béchamel is ready, remove from heat. If not using the mixture immediately, transfer it to a large bowl. We suggest you let the béchamel cool to room temperature, and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the béchamel, to prevent a skin from forming while the sauce cools.

Le Lasagne al Ragù

adapted from Italian Food Net (video in Italian)

20-25 fresh Lasagna pasta sheets (Soak your lasagna sheets in a pot of hot water if they are hard)
about 8 cups (1½ Litres) besciamella (use the sauce you made; you will have more than enough)
8 cups (2 Litres) Ragù (sauce from above; you'll have more than enough)
2-3 cups (250 gr.) (8.81 oz.) Grated parmesan
80 gr (2.82 oz.) Butter (I only used the butter to butter the pan. I didn't add more on top; it was oily enough from the olive oil)
Extra virgin olive oil

Butter the baking tin, spread ragù along the bottom (I forgot to take a photo of that!) , lay lasagna sheets over ragù and press along the rims of the baking tin.

Spread ragù, add besciamella, sprinkle with grated parmesan and extra virgin olive oil.

Repeat layers: Lasagna sheets, ragù, besciamella, parmesan, olive oil until you got to the rim of the pan. Fold Lasagna sheet sides so that they will not burn.

Top with ragù, which must cover all Lasagne. Add a little more besciamella. Sprinkle the top with grated parmesan. Add some knobs of butter (optional) and a little extra virgin olive oil.

Preheat oven to 250 C (482 F). Once you place the dish in the oven, lower the temperature to 180 C (356 F), and bake lasagne for about 20 minutes. Remove lasagne from oven, and let it rest for about 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!