My First Daring Bakers Challenge – Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna

I discover The Daring Bakers some months ago through blog hopping! I was very tempted to join then…but did not have the courage, and was afraid of commitment. Last month, I finally gave in and signed up to be a member.

I was surprised by the choice when the March challenge was revealed. I was expecting a dessert, rather than a savory dish. However, I am still happy with the idea. I have only eaten lasagna a couple of times, and have only made it ONCE, many, many years ago. I had used the store bought dried pasta.

The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.

I read and read through the recipe, and was excited as it calls for home made Spinach Egg Pasta (Pasta Verde). At the same time, I felt intimidated by the fact that I’ll be making fresh pasta from scratch! So, as a procrastinator, I drag and drag, until today! :P What a embarrassing way for me to start the challenge with the group! My family, on the other hand, was all excited, especially my “cheesy-pasta-lover” daughter.

All recipes are from The Splendid Table: Recipes from Emilia-Romagna, the Heartland of Northern Italian Food by Lynne Rossetto Kasper (published by William Morrow and Company Inc., 1992). You can find the recipe HERE.

The main challenge was to make hand-made pasta using rolling pin! Hrmp…I am very thankful that Nd (Lee) had given me a pasta attachment to my Kitchen Aid few Christmas back. I used my KA to begin mixing the ingredients for the pasta, but not all of the flour, since I would still like my KA to be working for other baking/mixing projects (my KA was “jumping” (with excitement maybe?) on the counter by the time half of the flour was incorporated). I hand knead the dough and slowly incorporate the rest of the flour, a little at the time. It was HARD WORK, but I know it’d be worth it at the end.

Since I started the process at 10:30pm, I did not wait for it to rest and roll out the dough. Instead, I wrapped the dough with double layer of cling wrap and store it in the fridge. The next morning, I took it out from the fridge and let it rest at room temperature for 30-45 minutes. I started rolling the dough with the pasta attachment with the setting on #1 for about 5-6 times, then the rest of the settings 2-3 times each. I did skip setting #5 though. I also realized that it helps to prevent the dough from tearing by slightly rolling down the dough with a rolling pin before you feed it through the attachment. I AM amazed how beautiful the color of the pasta turns out --- it is exactly the color Yesmin picked when painted her study table. ;)

On the right is the dough after going through the pasta machine 3 times on setting #1. The dough on the left is the dough that is ready. Look at the difference and the beautiful green!

Lucas was excited and thought it was funny when I hung the pasta on the back of our dining chairs to dry. (Note to husband: I need a pasta drying rack!!! ;P)

The process of making the pasta was definitely a little more work than what I’d usually do. However, the feeling of accomplishing “home-made pasta from scratch” is something else! :) And of course without a doubt, the TASTE is worth the effort. I do have to say that, if you plan on making this whole recipe, it is best to NOT do what I did – attempting to make EVERYTHING in just one day. I definitely have poor time management and planning. However, like stated in the recipe, the Ragu sauce and the Béchamel sauce can be made ahead of time, and the pasta can be made a day ahead.

I did make some changes on the recipe with what I have, and what I could not find in the store. These are some changes to the original recipe I made:

• I used 3 large eggs, instead of 2 jumbo eggs
• I did use the whole 10oz package of frozen chopped spinach - after squeezing out the water, there is only about 6 oz left! :P
• I couldn't find veal in 3 different grocery store here, so, I substitute the 4 oz veal for 2 oz of ground beef and 2 oz of ground lamb! ;P
• I used one can (14.5oz) of whole peeled tomatoes
  

Does it taste good? The pictures below says it all! :)

Yesmin who drags eating spinach, was amazed that the pasta was made WITH spinach! :)

Would I make it again? Yes, but with better planning...and maybe use ground turkey for most part of the Ragu sauce (for a less meaty, fatty taste). I would probably try to make the Spinach Egg pasta more often THAN the lasagna, since it taste wonderful, and I get to squeeze in spinach to our meal! :)