Cooking From The Heart
Next
week, audiences across the country will be treated to a culinary delight when “The Hundred-Foot Journey” comes to life on the
silver screen and touches our hearts, souls and stirs our appetites in more
ways than one. In DreamWorks Pictures’ “The
Hundred-Foot Journey,” the opening of a new Indian restaurant in the south
of France next to a famous Michelin-starred eatery is nearly cause for a heated
battle between the two establishments, until Le Saule Pleureur’s icy
proprietress, Madame Mallory, recognizes her rival’s undeniable brilliance for
preparing masterful meals. 
“The
Hundred-Foot Journey” abounds with flavors that
burst across the tongue. A stimulating triumph over exile, blossoming with
passion and heart, it is a portrayal of two worlds colliding and one young
man’s drive to find the comfort of home, in every pot, wherever he may be. And like any great meal that leaves you
thinking about your next perfect bite, what is that perfect bite, that perfect
meal that says home to you?
Growing
up, my favorite part of school was lunch. It wasn’t because it meant that we
were free to play and the rigors of class were left behind, at least for 45
minutes, but because lunchtime meant going to grandma’s house where I would
find a heaping bowl of macaroni (it wasn’t called pasta back then) smothered in
butter with of course all of the gumdrops I could smuggle out of the candy jar
on my way back to school. I’m not sure
if it was the meal or the fact that I was spending time with her, but to this
day macaroni and butter is my go to meal when I’m in need of comfort. When I
posed this question to my own family, the answer I unanimously received from
all of them was my homemade lasagna and so today’s challenge will be to try to
recreate that family favorite here for you.
Some
things you must know ahead of time:
1)
My entire cooking reparatory can be summed up by saying “375, in a pan, 45
minutes”- if it can’t be created in those parameters, it’s just not happening
unless it happens to be “350, in a pan, 45 minutes”.
2)
I never measure anything when I cook-ever. It’s the same way I live my life-
throw it in, mix it together and hope for the best.
3)
In our house cooking is seldom a solitary activity but a family event. I truly
believe that fact was the real reason that lasagna was the dish that they picked
when I asked my children and grandchildren what was the one meal that every
bite “took them home”
With
those caveats out of the way, let’s get started:
Ingredients
1
pound ground beef or turkey
1
large jar Spaghetti sauce
1
Box lasagna noodles
2
large hard-boiled eggs
1
16 oz. container ricotta cheese
1
container Parmesan
1 bag shredded mozzarella
Seasoning salt
Seasoning salt
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
F.
2.
Bring
a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling
water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. Time saving tip- if you don’t have readily
available hard boiled eggs, throw them in with the lasagna noodles and cook
both together.
3. While noodles are cooking, in a large frying pan sauté meat is
browned, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon and lightly seasoning with
seasoning salt. Drain meat of excess fat.
4. Lightly spread a thin
layer of Spaghetti Sauce on the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish.
5. Lay half the noodles in
the bottom of the baking dish, overlapping the noodles
6. Spread half of the meat on
top of the noodles in the prepared pan. Tip:
As some of family does not eat meat, we make half of the pan with meat, and the
other half without.
7. Spoon ricotta cheese and a
crumbled hard-boiled egg on top of the meat.
8. Liberally sprinkle mozzarella
and Parmesan cheese over the meat and hard-boiled egg. My family loves cheese-the more cheese the
better.
9. Pour spaghetti sauce on
top of the ingredients and cover with another layer of lasagna noodles
10. Repeat layering in same
order.
11. Cover with the remaining
lasagna noodles and coat with the rest of the spaghetti sauce. Sprinkle
remaining Parmesan and mozzarella on top.
12. Cover
with foil. Bake in center of oven 45
minutes until sauce is bubbling around the edges.
Let
stand 10 minutes before serving.
Enjoy
with freshly sliced French Bread or Garlic Bread and you have yourself a meal
where every bite takes you home.
The
only thing better than fresh from the oven lasagna for dinner by the way is
cold lasagna for breakfast.
What
is your one meal where every bite takes you home? Stay tuned later in the week when other members of
our team share their favorites.
In
the meantime, don’t forget DreamWorks Pictures’ “The Hundred-Foot Journey,” opens in theaters everywhere August 8.
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social with “The Hundred Foot Journey”
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I gotta try this!
ReplyDeleteIt's says family to us for sure!
DeleteLasagna is a great "STAPLE" hearty meal, great choice by your family! Even without measuring*O*
ReplyDeleteIt's measured with love and smiles and lots of taste tests!
Delete