Nothing tastes quite as good as lasagna Bolognese, one of the very few meat dishes I used to eat when I actually did eat a little meat. Since I'm thoroughly grossed out by any form of allegedly 'edible' animal now, I've been looking for a lasagna that could compare to 'the real deal.' Recently, I found a delectable recipe over at epicurious.
The lasagna requires quite a bit of effort. Due to the different cheeses in it, the cost is also relatively high. I tried to make it both as easy as possible, and as cheap as possible.
Ingredients
- 200g black beans (usually available in any Asia shop.)
- 250g Ricotta (Italian cottage cheese. You can substitute it with pretty much any kind of cottage cheese that doesn't have too strong a taste.)
- 3 balls of mozzarella, around 250 to 300g; (it isn't worth it to buy good buffalo Mozzarella, but don't buy the cheapest stuff either.)
- Parmesan (or, if you want to save money, Grana Padano is equally good.)
- 1 egg
- 1 onion, some 3 cloves of garlic
- 150g of black olives
- olive oil
- some 2-2½ cans of tomatoes in various aggregate states: puréed, skinned and diced, or just cut up.
- 2-3 tsp. ground dried cilantro
- basil
- a bay leaf
- lasagna noodles
- jalapeños to taste
- oregano, thyme, ground dried basil
- salt, pepper, asafoetida, chili powder, sweet pepper powder, dried pomegranate powder
| preheat the oven to 180°C |
layer: (top to bottom)
bake for 30-35min |
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| oil in a lasagna dish | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 250 g ricotta | mix |
whisk until creamy |
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| 1 egg | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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25g grated Parmesan |
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2-3 tsp. cilantro powder |
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2 tbsp. olive oil |
mix and blend until creamy |
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250g black beans |
cook | separate 1 cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| rest of beans |
fold, cook until oil separates |
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| onion | dice | mix |
fry until onions are soft |
mix, fry 2-3 min | |||||||||||||||||||||
| salt, pepper | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| bay leaf | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| spices | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| chili powder to taste |
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| 3-4 cloves of garlic |
press | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 spoons olive oil |
heat in frying pan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| jalapeños (to taste) |
remove stems and seeds, dice |
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| 150g olives | remove kernels if necessary |
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| 2 cans of assorted tomatoes |
dice purée |
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| 3 balls of mozzarella | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| grated Parmesan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| lasagna noodles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
