While we research, develop and test recipes for the blog and the main site, we’re constantly working on how best to describe the seasoning of a dish. Will our readers and users measure salt? Is it physically possible to measure fresh ground pepper? When is the best time to season?

Saturday night while I was cooking lasagna for two friends from Birmingham, the seasoning question emerged. Lasagna is made of component parts — like noodles, spinach, ground beef, tomato sauce and cheese — that each need to be seasoned before they’re put together and baked.

When cooking dishes with component parts, I’ve found that aiming to have the dish emerge perfectly seasoned at the end often makes for a too-salty dish. This is especially true when you’re using pre-salted ingredients like mozzarella, parmesan and a ham hock.

Instead, I like to hedge by seasoning very lightly (a light even sprinkling of kosher salt and pepper over whatever I’m sauteeing), and tasting where possible so that each component is a little under-seasoned. This way the dish gets the baseline, permeating seasoning that’s hard to add later. Then, when the dish is almost done I can taste, see how the salty ingredients have contributed, and add more salt and pepper (and grated cheese) if I need to.

Here’s how it worked out with the lasagna:

Ingredients:
For the tomato sauce:
1/2 large onion
1 medium carrot
1 rib celery
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon finely chopped thyme leaves
1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, pureed
salt and pepper
1/2 cup water
1 smoked ham hock

For the lasagna:
1 pound lasagna noodles
6 ounces fresh mozzarella
1 pound baby spinach, wilted, drained and chopped
1/2 large onion
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
salt and pepper

For the topping:
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 cup panko bread crumbs
2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions:
1. Peel the onion and carrot. Reserve 1/2 the onion to cook with the ground beef. Finely chop the other 1/2 onion, carrot and celery either by hand, or by cutting them into large pieces then pulsing them a few times in a food processor. Mince the garlic. Chop the thyme leaves. Puree the tomatoes in the food processor (or remove the tomatoes from the liquid, reserve the liquid, and chop the tomatoes by hand).

2. Heat the 1/4 cup olive oil over medium-high heat in a medium saucepan. When it’s hot and shimmering, add the garlic and thyme and stir. Cook just until the garlic smells good but isn’t brown, about 1 minute. Add the chopped carrot, celery, onion and garlic and stir. Season them with a sprinkling salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables lose most of their liquid and brown slightly, 10-15 minutes.

3. Add the tomatoes and their liquid, water and ham hock and stir. Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer. Cook, stirring often, until the sauce thickens, 30-40 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil to cook the lasagna noodles. Preheat the oven to 400F. Cut the mozarella into thin slices (put it in the freezer for 10 minutes to make this easier). Rinse and drain the spinach. Dice the remaining 1/2 onion.

5. Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium-high heat. When it’s hot and shimmering, add the onions and stir. Season them with a light sprinkling of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until they’re translucent, 4-6 minutes. Add the ground beef, season with a sprinkling of salt and pepper, and stir. Cook, stirring often, until much of the liquid evaporates, 10-15 minutes. Pour the beef onto a plate to cool some.

6. Add the spinach to the same pan along with a splash of water over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring often, until the spinach is wilted and most of the water evaporates, 8-10 minutes. Season lightly with salt and pepper, then pour the spinach into a colander. Press with the back of a spoon to remove as much liquid as possible. Finely chop the spinach.

7. When the pasta water boils, add 1 tablespoon salt and the lasagna noodles and stir. Cook, stirring often so they don’t stick together, until the noodles are very pliable but not done, 4-6 minutes. Remove them with tongs and put them on a kitchen towel to drain.

8. Assemble the lasagna. Spread a thin layer of the tomato sauce on the bottom of a casserole dish. Add 1 layer (4-6 noodles) of pasta, then all of the ground beef. Ladle over just enough tomato sauce to moisten the beef.

Add another layer of noodles, then the spinach, a little more sauce, and half the mozzarella. Add another ladle of noodles, the remaining sauce and cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake until hot, 30-40 minutes.

9. Take the lasagna out of the oven and remove the foil. Preheat the broiler to medium-high. Chop the parsley and grate the parmesan. In a bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, parsley, parmesan and 2 tablespoons olive oil until combined. Uncover the lasagna, sprinkle with the topping and broil until brown and bubbly, 3-5 minutes. Let the lasagna cool 10 minutes before serving. Add more salt, pepper and parmesan to taste.

Posted by brys in how to, recipes, techniques | | Subscribe to this feed