It was mid-December and I was in the mood to cook something new and unconventional (for now) in the Hadland Household. I was performing some pantry review, looking at jars, spices, sauces, seasonings, oils, vinegars, and the like, and I noticed that I had several cans of tomato products, procured some time ago, well-intentioned to use in some dish, however, these poor tomatoes and peppers and other random, unused items sat lonely, unused, like unwanted toys the from the Land of Misfit Toys in Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer. I had not made a lasagne in nearly 15 years and thought I could cull all the random items from my pantry into a rich and complex dish. Note that I have made this dish three times now and will provide updates and refinements on future preparations that were more thought out and curated. Here goes…

Ingredients

1 – can whole peeled tomatoes

1 – can of crushed tomatoes

1 – tube of tomato paste

1 – jar of balsamic Sugo sauce

1 – jar of roasted red peppers

1 – jar of sundried tomatoes packed in oil (this is a key super ingredient)

2 – lbs of Italian sausage – homemade from my good friend Nick Haddow.

1 – celery stalk (4-6 ribs)

6 – carrots

1 – yellow onion

6 – garlic cloves

1 – bunch of Italian parsley

1/2 – lb pancetta

1 – lb shredded and grated parmesan cheese

4 – mozzarella balls

16 – oz ricotta cheese

10 – leaves of fresh basil

10 – sheets of fresh lasagne pasta

Preparation and Execuction

Now if one is going to go through all the trouble of making a great meal from scratch, which involves many ingredients, lots of prep work, chopping, grating, shredding, multiple stages of cooking, please source the best ingredients you can. On average it takes me about 3 hours start to finish to prepare and serve this dish.

Some of my random pantry items…

To begin I start by making more of a ragu style sauce – very tomato centric – however I omitted the red wine – perhaps I should start adding it in the future. I begin by making a mirepoix or soffrito by dicing the onion, carrots, celery, parsley and sauteeing it in olive oil until it begins to break down, and the vegetables become translucent – in this prep, I somehow had some pancetta so decided to add it to the mix in this step.

In the final picture, you can see the desired degree of doneness for the mix. It appears I may have actually used some ghee or clarified butter to cook the mix.

I combined the peppers and sundried tomatoes and sauteed them separately for a bit to break down the structure of their respective fibers.

In parallel to making the mirepoix and pepper tomato mix, I cook the sausage and break it down into small chunks, then add it to the reduced mirepoix.

Now the real fun begins, adding all the random items together in one pan to make the ragu. I add all of the canned items, sauces, tomatoes, and peppers choosing to retain most of the juices from the canned tomatoes as long as it fits into the pan – I use a large and deep 14-inch skillet.

I cook the sauce down allowing it to reduce.

Since I use fresh pasta sheets, I opt not to boil them, as the liquid in my ragu will be more than adequate to get the desired consistency of the pasta.

In this version I started with a sauce layer, however, I don’t think it really matters. I lay down a pasta sheet, then cover it with the ragu sauce, using a spoon to completely cover the sheets. I alternate by adding in some parm on top of the ragu, and sometimes just use a layer of ricotta. I have made several variations, and in the future would start with a pasta sheet, layer on ragu and some cheese, then a new pasta sheet and either use ragu only, cheese only, or both. It’s fun to experiment with several variations and see how it turns out. I topped the lasagne off with a final layer of ricotta, chunks of mozzarella, and some fresh basil leaves.

I baked the dish at 325 for about 30 minutes, then let it set on the counter for about 10 minutes prior to serving.

Look for future versions of this dish where I update my ingredients and techniques. I’m quite popular with some of my friends and neighbors who I invite to partake with me. Thanks for CookCookEatEating with #thehad.