Lasagna dough: recipe and ingredients

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

In recent years, lasagne has become an increasingly popular dish, gaining fame all over the world. Therefore, many housewives today dream of learning how to masterfully cook it.

Some people have enough semi-finished products as a basis for it, while others want to learn how to cook a dish completely with their own hands, without using the sheets sold in the store. And, of course, they will be interested to know the recipe for lasagna dough, as well as some tricks related to cooking and serving.

The history of lasagna

Lasagna came to us from Italy. Which is not surprising - where else do you love pasta, cheeses and sauces so much to combine these ingredients in one dish?

It's hard to say when the world's first lasagna was made. But the name itself comes from the term "lasana", which means "hot plates". And its recipe was first recorded in the XIV century. True, the authorship could not be established, but the manuscript itself, discovered in Naples, was called the "Cookbook".

Some experts saythat the very word "lasana" came to Italy from Ancient Greece. Others object that originally they were ordinary cakes, rubbed with cheese and spices to improve their taste. Therefore, the Greek dish is very far from modern lasagna. And therefore, only Italy is his homeland.

However, due to the amazing popularity of the dish, the British and even the Scandinavians are trying to attribute its invention to themselves. But the Italians unshakably believe: only in their amazing country could such an exquisite and delicious culinary masterpiece be prepared for the first time.

Which dough to use?

Experts have been arguing around this issue for years. Some believe that puff pastry lasagne is the most successful. Indeed, the taste of such a dish is simply incomparable. When cooking, the dough is divided into the thinnest layers, which are quickly soaked in sauce. Therefore, the taste is especially refined and refined. However, it is unlikely that Italian chefs used puff pastry half a thousand years ago. It would be very troublesome. Judging by all the evidence, they preferred cakes made from ordinary unleavened dough. They were made as thin as possible, thanks to which they were perfectly saturated.

Therefore, modern chefs have a certain scope for creativity here. Try different options to see if puff pastry lasagna or unleavened lasagna tastes better.

What ingredients are needed for the test

If you are not going to buy ready-made lasagna sheets that are soldin many stores, deciding to cook this Italian dish completely on your own, you need to find out exactly which products will come in handy. Fortunately, the list is not too long. The ingredients for the lasagna dough are:

• 600 grams of flour;
• 50ml olive oil;
• 3 chicken eggs;
• 100 ml boiled cooled water;
• s alt.

Probably most kitchens have everything you need to get a little bit of Italian food.

Choosing the right flour

However, there are simply no trifles in cooking lasagna. Therefore, if you want to master the classic lasagna dough recipe, you should try to find durum wheat flour. To some, this may seem like an insignificant trifle. But after all, it depends on this ingredient what properties the dough will have, and hence the finished dish.

An experienced cook can easily identify it by simply touching it. Why do we need flour made from durum wheat? Because it contains a lot of gluten. Such flour absorbs more water, but it is much easier to roll out the finished dough - it is less plastic and retains its shape better. And this is exactly what you need in the cooking process.

Cooking the dough with your own hands

If you want to make your own lasagna dough, get ready for the fact that this simple process will take at least 20 minutes of hard work:

• The flour is sifted through a fine sieve to make it more airy.
• The rest of the ingredients are added to it: eggs, s alt, oil and water. By the way, water should not be poured out all at once, but in parts.
• Knead the dough. If it turns out too hard, not plastic, add water. Pour it in little by little, constantly kneading. You have to adapt to a specific flour so that the dough is not too liquid and moderately hard.

• The kneading process takes up to 15 minutes. The result should be an elastic, soft and elastic dough. Leave it in the bowl for 30-40 minutes. And to make it less dry, it should be covered with a paper towel, towel or cling film.
• In half an hour the dough will infuse, the gluten will finally mix with moisture, resulting in an ideal structure.
• Now divide the resulting dough into six parts. Roll out each one carefully. Spare no effort here! Do not forget what kind of dough you need for lasagna - as thin as possible, preferably not thicker than 1.5-2 mm.
• It is advisable to cut the rolled out sheets to obtain a square or rectangular shape - the size of the baking sheet on which the lasagna will be prepared.

As mentioned above, the recipe requires the use of eggs. But some people like to make lean lasagna dough. Of course, you do not need to add eggs to it - slightly increase the amount of water to compensate for the lack of moisture. However, be prepared that the finished product will not be as elastic.

Now you can easily make your own lasagna dough. But that's only half the story. You also need to figure out the filling - it can be surprisingly diverse. Substituting a single ingredient, you get completely different dishes.

What toppings can I use

Of course, the classic recipe involves the use of real minced meat. Most often beef or slightly less pork. In the first case, the dish will turn out less fat, but in the second - more juicy.

But today, chicken is becoming more and more popular - it is much cheaper than beef and pork. Therefore, many housewives widely use it. You can use both minced chicken and finely chopped meat.

But some people, knowing how to make lasagne dough for lean, would like to know about the full recipe for preparing a dish that can be pampered with the family in the fast. In this case, the meat can be replaced with finely chopped and well-fried mushrooms with onions.

Let's do classic lasagna

Experts say classic lasagna is made with bolognese sauce and certain types of cheese. So, to prepare the sauce you will need:

• 500 grams of minced meat;
• 700 grams of tomatoes;
• s alt, black pepper.

Preparing the sauce is easy:

1. Dip the tomatoes in boiling water, remove the skin and pass through a blender to get a homogeneous mass.
2. Fry the minced meat in vegetable oil.
3. Add to itcrushed tomatoes.
4. S alt and pepper.
5. Simmer for 5-7 minutes.

It remains only to take 300 grams of cheese (parmesan, mozzarella or ricotta) and grate it on a fine grater. You already have everything you need to cook.

You can start assembling:

1. Place the first sheet of dough on a deep baking sheet.
2. Pour the sauce thickly.
3. Cover the top with a second sheet. Repeat until you run out of dough and sauce.
4. Place in the oven preheated to 200 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes.
5. Take out the lasagna and sprinkle with cheese - the more there is, the tastier the dish will be.
6. Return to oven for 10-15 minutes to melt the cheese.

Italian lasagna is ready!

Proper serving

But it is not enough to know the recipe for lasagna dough and how to prepare it. It is important to have an idea about the correct serving of the dish so that the guests get the maximum pleasure. There are a few tricks here:

• Serve it on hot plates (only not scalding!) so that the lasagna stays warm longer (cooled, it loses some of the flavor).
• The optimal size for serving is 10 x 10 centimeters. If you cut it smaller, the pieces will look too modest and cool quickly. And larger ones are inconvenient to eat.

Before serving, sprinkle the steaming treat with chopped herbs like parsley, basil or oregano

Well, here it isall! Now you not only know the recipe for lasagna dough, but you will also be able to properly prepare this Italian dish and serve it to the table.