cheese lasagna

sometimes, i make it with eggplant to replace the meat. pretty yummy.

With a red sauce or cream sauce? How do you prepare the eggplant? I love eggplant almost any way it can be prepared.

With a red sauce or cream sauce? How do you prepare the eggplant? I love eggplant almost any way it can be prepared.

I use the red sauce. I slice and bake the eggplant, but I imagine you could fry it as well. Then, just layer in the slices. I bet Toots could offer a suggestion here too.

I fry the eggplant (I know, I know, I'm terrible, but I do use olive oil.) Then put dollops of ricotta, then cover with sauce. Cover with foil, bake something like half an hour or so, uncover, put mozzarella, take it out when golden and bubbly.
I have not tried this recipe yet, but it intrigued me. You use ravioli instead of the traditional noodles.
Real Simple Lasagna

I'm into overload.

Chop and saute as much onions, garlic, peppers, sliced eggplant, zucchini, and squash as you can fit in your lasagna. If you have too much, use in something else later.

Use lots of fresh herbs too- mix in your sauce. Use several different cheeses.

Don't follow a recipe- just throw it together!

On special occassions, my mother has made meatless lasagna for us and mainly for my grandfather, born in Italy. He was given the recipe by his mother. The best red sauces in my opinion are the ones cooked with meat in them. We take crushed tomatoes, pork that has been seared on the frying pan, then put in the sauce and slow cooked for at least one hr.
Of course added garlic, basil, and oregano.
My mother has also made the lasagna with fresh ricotta cheese. Fortunately we have access to Italian shops here that make it fresh and sell it daily, but for those that don't, it is easily made fresh if you want to take the extra time for a special occasion.
I haven't made it fresh for a looooong time ( I buy it- or just use store bought for a quick meal) but here is the recipe for fresh ricotta.
Ricotta ( we pronounce it like riguth) can also be stored in a freezer for up to 6 months.

How to Make Ricotta Cheese

1 gallon of whole milk
1 quart of buttermilk
cheesecloth
a rubberband

- Fold rinsed cheesecloth into layers and use it to line a colander or sieve in the sink.
- Pour the milks into a large Stainless Steel, Glass, or Ceramic saucepan. Don't use aluminium or copper which will react to the acids in the milk.
- At this point I like to attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pan, it will come in handy later in the proceedings.
- Put the pan over high heat and stir with a rubber spatula, scraping the bottom of the pan to make sure the milk doesn't burn.
- Once is the milk is warm, stop stirring and continue to heat.
- You will start to see lumps forming in the milk - these are the curds. Once the temperature reaches between 175 and 180 F, the curds and whey will separate. At that point remove your pan from the heat.
- Using a large flat ladle with holes, very gently transfer the curds to the lined sieve and leave them to drain.
- Once the draining has slowed to a drip, carefully gather the edges of the cloth around the cheese and secure with a rubberband, into a bag shape which can be hung from your faucet or tap.
- Drain further until the cheese cools down and dripping completely comes to a halt.
- Remove from the cheese from the cloth and refrigerate. For absolute freshness, consume as quickly as possible.