The Fornari Family Lasagna

The Story

Eddie's family is Italian and has a long-standing tradition of lasagna on Christmas. Over the past 15 years or so we've tried to maintain this tradition when time and circumstance allow--even to go so far as to make our own pasta. It's a time-consuming endeavor, but it gives us a group activity for the time between opening presents on Christmas morning and having the meal in the evening. Because the pasta making is the most time consuming task (and one best undertaken with 3-4 devoted cooks at a minimum), this year my sister and I have agreed on a compromise operation: we're going to purchase fresh pasta at the market, make the traditional family sauces, and assemble and bake the lasagna.

One of my favorite things about this recipe is the hand-written version I have of it. When they were in the U.S. one year for the holidays, we asked Gioia and Nonna--Eddie's mother and grandmother--to write down the recipe for us.  Here's the scanned version:

[Waiting for Eddie to help me scan the document.]

As you can see, translating the recipe from this original (narrated in Italian by Nonna to Gioia) is part of the fun and challenge involved. In part, we need to consider the equivalent of European measurements (What is 1/2 a bottle of milk, for instance?), and then there's the added ambiguity of punctuation and wording from Gioia, a non-native English speaker (realizing that "4 tbs of flour salt and pepper" don't mean 4 tablespoons of each of those things, for example).

For simplicity's sake, I'll provide the recipes for the two sauces used and general pasta preparing directions that can be used for store-bought, fresh, or homemade pasta.


Sauce 1: Meat sauce (We usually double this recipe for the holiday meal, to make a full-sized, thick lasagna)

What you'll need

1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
Fresh parsley, diced
1 carrot 1/12 lb. ground hamburger
1 cup olive oil (we often use 3/4 of a cup)
1 can tomatoes, crushed

Preparation

Heat oil in a large pot
Add all ingredients and brown at high temperature
Add salt and pepper
Keep alert (This is my favorite instruction from the original, so I had to include it!)
When meat is browned, add tomatoes and two cans of water
Reduce heat to medium
Cook covered until sauce is reduced and has very little liquid

Pasta 

What you'll need

Lasagna noodles

• The worst option (but still tasty because of the sauces) is to buy two boxes of lasagna noodles from the grocery store. It's generally really thick compared to the pasta we roll ourselves, though, so we prefer not to make the lasagna if this is our only option.
• A good option is to find a store or restaurant that makes fresh lasagna noodles. You'll need to cook and cool them, but it cuts out a lot of time otherwise spent mixing, rolling, and drying. For this year's lasagna we bought 6 whole sheets of pasta from Pastaworks in Portland, rolled it out a bit thinner, and cut it into thick strips; it was quite good and we're likely to repeat this process next year unless we're feeling ambitious.
• The best option, of course, is to make and roll out your own lasagna noodles; we've managed to roll them thin enough to get 10-12 layers in a single pan. It sounds like a lot, but when the pasta is fresh and thin, it melts in your mouth. In general, we take a standard pasta recipe from a reliable book and double or triple it. You can always lay out any uncooked noodles on wax paper, roll it, wrap it in foil, and keep it in the refrigerator for up to week of in the freezer for up to a month.

Preparation

Boil water in a large, deep pan
Undercook the pasta: if using fresh pasta, simply drop it in for a minute or so and pull it right back out with tongs (We just do 2-3 pieces at a time so they don't stick together.)
Dip the partially-cooked pasta in a bowl of ice-cold water to stop the cooking process
Spread pasta on towels and allow to dry (enough to eliminate excess liquid, but still remain pliable)


Sauce 2: Bechamel Sauce (This is "the glue" of the pasta, and we generally double or triple the recipe as well. Wait until the pasta is drying and you're close to lasagna assembly before making this.)

What you'll need

1/2 stick of butter
4 tbsp flour
salt and pepper
pint of whole milk

Preparation

Drop butter, flour, salt and pepper in a hot skillet or frying pan
Wuickly brown all together, being careful not to burn
When it is almost a paste, add milk
Stir for a long time, until creamy

Assembly

What you'll need

Meat sauce (above)
Bechamel sauce (above)
Cooked lasagna (above)
Parmesan cheese, grated

Preparation

• In large rectangular baking pan, spread a thin layer of meat sauce to coat bottom and avoid sticking
• Spread a layer of noodles on the bottom of pan, cutting pieces to fill any small areas
• Spread a layer of meat sauce to coat pasta
• Add a layer of bechamel sauce (drizzle it over existing sauce and smooth out slightly to distribute
• Sprinkle a layer of parmesan cheese over entire area
• Continue to layer pasta, meat sauce, bechamel sauce, and parmesan until pan is full or you run out of one or more ingredients
• Insert a small amount of remaining meat sauce between edges of pan and pasta to avoid sticking

Cooking and Serving

• You can prepare the lasagna a day in advance if desired, keeping it covered in foil in your refrigerator until a few hours before cooking and serving. 
• Bake at a high-temperature (425-450 degrees) loosely covered in foil until sauce is bubbling at edges--40-60 minutes, depending on size and number of layers
• Remove foil after 30 minutes or so to allow excess water to burn off and top/sides to brown. Loosely cover again to prevent burning if more time is needed after this occurs.
• Test center for done-ness by inserting a clean knife and pulling back to see if sauce if cooked and runny

This meal is a labor of love, but it is well worth it. One side effect, though, is that it will forever ruin you for restaurant lasagna. It simply cannot compare.