Found in almost every restaurant and café today, lasagna is the most cherished and probably the oldest form of pasta. This Italian traditional delicacy finds its roots in the city of Naples in the Middle Ages. This gourmet delicacy is prepared with flat pasta sheets, stuffed with vegetables or meat filling, tossed in tomato sauce and perfectly baked with cheese.
Lasagna includes the correct amount of fillings and is just saucy and cheesy enough to reminisce about its taste for long after. However fancy it may sound and look, it can be easily prepared at home from scratch.
Knead The Dough, Toss The Filling, Add Some Mozzarella And Bake The Perfect Lasagna At Home
Also read: This Indian Celebrity Chef Just Made Papad Lasagna & We’re Confused About This Creation
- To prepare the dough, mix a cup of wheat flour along with 1/8 tbsp of salt. In another bowl, whisk two eggs and then add the mixed flour in it and knead it all together for a few minutes. You may add 2-3 tbsp of oil if you feel the dough drying up or if eggs are not enough. Once done, let it sit for an hour.
- An hour later, divide the prepared dough into four to five small balls. Dust the kitchen slab with flour and roll the balls into the thinnest slices possible. To make them look perfect sliced, you may cut the slices into squares or rectangles.
- The next step ahead is preparing the meat/vegetable filling. Heat olive oil in a pan and add finely chopped garlic. Once your kitchen starts smelling like garlic too, add chopped onions and cook on low heat.
- What goes in next is the star of the filling- bell peppers. Stir it constantly and then add two grated tomatoes. Add chilli flakes, salt to taste, paprika powder and other herbs of your choice. You may also add many other vegetables like mushrooms, sweet corn, broccoli, and zucchini as you like.
- Cook the dish for 20-30 minutes on low flame until it is dried. Before switching off the stove, add chopped basil leaves and let the filling cool.
- The final step is to bake the lasagna. Take a large baking tray and drizzle it with olive oil. Spread enough cooked filling as the bottom layer. Next, add the pasta sheet or two to make another layer. Now again goes a few more spoons of filling, spread the filling evenly with the help of a butter knife. Repeat the process with another pasta sheet and some more filling. Once done, sprinkle as much mozzarella cheese as you like. Now again place another pasta sheet and spread some more filling. Likewise, keep repeating the process until the brim of the baking tray or as much as you desire.
- To make the oven ready for baking, preheat it to 180°C or 350 F. Place the baking tray in the preheated oven and bake it for 20 to 30 minutes. Let it cool for 10 to 15 minutes to as not to burn your tongue.
Ta-Da, your home-baked lasagna is ready to feast upon, dig right into the cheesiness!
How To Prepare The Chicken-Filling?
- You can replace the vegetable filling with chicken as well. For this, mix 300 gms of boneless chicken with 1 tbsp black pepper, 1 tbsp lime juice, salt to taste, and 1/2 tbsp paprika powder. Cover the bowl and let it marinate for an hour or two.
- Heat olive oil in a pan and cook the marinated chicken on medium flame for 15 minutes.
- For baking the chicken lasagna, preheat the oven to 170°C or 338 F. Grease a baking tray with butter and sprinkle some mozzarella cheese on it. Add some tomato pasta sauce which is easily available at any grocery store and then the cooked chicken. Repeat the process till the top of the baking tray or the quantity desired.
- Bake the lasagna for 7 to 10 minutes or till the cheese turns golden brown. let it sit for 10 minutes. To serve, cut the lasagna into squares and garnish it with basil leaves.
Your juicy chicken lasagna is ready!
Make Lasagna At Home Without Oven
The process of baking might make you want to avoid making lasagna at home completely. Don’t worry, you can enjoy a home-baked lasagna even without an oven. Follow the video and try it out!
By now you would’ve definitely started craving lasagna. Don’t order out anymore, try your hands and you’d bake the perfect lasagna ever!
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