Recipes

Chef Allison Robicelli's Lasagna

Lauren Gordon|

Chef Allison Robicelli's Lasagna
4 (6 ratings)
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From the author of Robicelli's: A Love Story with Cupcakes. "Nothing says Christmas to me quite like lasagna. I know it doesn't sound super traditional to most people, but for Italians from Brooklyn, every meal starts with pasta, and every major holiday starts with one that normally too much of a pain in the butt to make every Sunday. For us, lasagna started two days ahead when my grandmother would start the gravy — a tomato sauce full of pork shoulder, braciole, sausage, and meatballs that simmers for a minimum of eight hours.  The next day, the lasagna would be assembled, baked, and then chilled, as with lasagna a 24-hour rest period is essential so the flavors and textures meld. Then finally, the day of, we'd finish cooking in a hot oven, preferably burning the corners just enough to my liking. No one would ever eat the ham, or turkey, or whatever — we were always too full from the lasagna."
Servings
12
Ingredients
  • olive oil
  • 1 pound italian sausage, hot or sweet (i prefer hot)
  • 2 beef or pork braciole
  • 2 pound pork neck bones, or country-style ribs
  • 2 medium onions, diced
  • 8 garlic cloves, sliced thin
  • ½ teaspoon dried chile flakes
  • ½ cup good red wine
  • ½ cup tomato paste
  • three 28-ounce cans whole san marzano tomatoes
  • 1 pound dried lasagna noodles
  • one 15-ounce container whole-milk ricotta
  • 1 lb fresh mozzarella, sliced as thin as possible
  • 1 cup grated pecorino romano
  • gravy and reserved meats
Directions
  1. Coat the bottom of a heavy-bottomed stockpot with olive oil, and place
  2. over medium-high heat. Add sausage to pan, brown on all sides, then
  3. remove. Add braciole and pork neck or ribs, brown well on all sides,
  4. remove.
  5. Turn heat to medium-low, then add onion and a hefty pinch of salt. Cook
  6. onions low and slow, stirring occasionally, until golden — about 10
  7. minutes.
  9. While the onions are cooking, set up a wire strainer over a large bowl.
  10. Opening 1 can at a time, drain tomatoes, then using your hands, remove
  11. the stems and seeds and discard them. Mush the tomato flesh up with
  12. your hands and place in bowl with strained juice. Continue process with
  13. all 3 cans.
  14. Once onions are ready, add chile flake and garlic, continue to cook
  15. until garlic is fragrant — another 5 minutes. Add tomato paste and
  16. red wine, turn heat to medium-high, and continue to cook until mixture
  17. begins to bubble. Add tomatoes, stir well, and immediately reduce heat
  18. to low.
  19. Slice browned sausage into 1/4-inch pieces. Add sausage, braciole, and
  20. pork to the sauce, and simmer uncovered for a minimum of 4 hours,
  21. stirring every 10 minutes and tasting for seasoning. Add salt and pepper
  22. to taste.
  23. Remove meats from pot. Allow to cool for at least 1 hour, then begin
  24. to prep lasagna.
  25. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  26. In a large stockpot or pasta pot, bring at least 1 gallon of water to
  27. a boil with about 2 tablespoons of salt. Set aside a large bowl of
  28. cold water. Cook lasagna noodles 3 at a time until soft, but still
  29. quite underdone. Remove noodle with a slotted spoon or tongs, then place
  30. in cold water to stop the cooking process. Continue until all the
  31. noodles are cooked. Drain, then place on paper towels to dry.
  32. Remove the string from the braciole, then slice thin into 1/4-inch pieces.
  33. Shred any pork away from the neck bones or ribs, reserving the meat and
  34. discarding the bones.
  35. Coat the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch lasagna pan with a thin layer of the tomato
  36. gravy. Place a few noodles into the pan, overlapping them slightly. Cover with a thin layer of sauce, cover with sausage and shredded pork, and then layer with slices of mozzarella. Add another layer of noodles, spread a layer of ricotta cheese, sprinkle with pecorino and slices of braciole. Continue alternating layers of meat, cheese, sauce and noodles until you reach the top of the pan. After the final layer of noodles, top with a thin layer of sauce and mozzarella. Bake for 45 minutes, then allow to cool. Wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
  37. The next day, remove lasagna from refrigerator 2 hours before you
  38. intend to serve it. And hour before, preheat oven to 350, remove plastic
  39. from lasagna and tent with aluminum foil. Bake for an additional 45
  40. minutes, then remove foil and turn oven up to 425. Cook for an
  41. additional 15 minutes, then serve with extra gravy and crusty bread on
  42. the side.
 
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