As a child I was fed pretty well. I got to eat quite a few of the treats I wanted and we had frequent Chinese and Indian takeaways (which I'm sure had a huge effect on my tastes now) but of a normal every day meal everything was cooked from scratch and there was always plenty of vegetables to be eaten. My mum did have a bit of a mince obsession though and so whilst I had plenty of home cooked food, the leaning towards - and by leaning I mean weekly occurrence of - chili, spag bol and lasagna has left me with a bit of dislike of the three of them. Whilst chili con carne and spag bol are never craved I do have the occasional desire for a lasagna still, although it is never the usual bolognaise and bechamel version, and one such occasion was last week.
The Italian sausage (or what Americans call Italian sausage anyway) is a wonderful thing, loaded with fennel seed and garlic, sweet with sugar and hot from chili, it transforms tomatoes into an instant meat-filled sauce, or crumbles into a near-perfect pizza topping, where I like to pair the sausages' fennel seeds with thin slices of the bulb, briefly sauteed in butter and garlic. Whilst you can buy them from Italian delis not everyone has them nearby but luckily the sausage's lack of filler, and propensity to be used removed of their skins, lend themselves to making at home. If you're using them for pasta sauces and pizza too a little goes a long way, so I like to make a batch and freeze in small portions, wrapped in clingfilm and bagged together.
Whilst I didn't have any of the sausage made I did have pork mince and the required herbs and spices, savoy cabbage and some gorgonzola and the idea for this sprang to mind. I'm glad it did as it was gorgeous. The meat sauce was sweet and heavily seasoned - the pork loving the savoury balance of its green bedfellow -and the gorgonzola added richness in spades.
Italian Sausage
Simply mix it all together
500gr minced pork
1 ts fennel seeds
1/3 ts black peppercorns
1/2 ts chili flakes
1 - 2 cloves garlic
1 ts salt
1 ts sugar
Italian Sausage, Savoy Cabbage and Gorgonzola Lasagna
500 gr of Italian sausage
1 tin tomatoes, liquidised
1/2 a savoy cabbage
1 small onion
125ml red wine
12 sheets of lasagna
500 ml of milk
25 gr butter
25 gr flour
100gr gorgonzola
Nutmeg
2 bay leaves
Handful or two of pecorino or parmesan
Method
Finely chop the onion then fry in a little oil till soft. Add the sausage meat and brown, breaking up with a spoon as you go.
Add the wine, the tomatoes and half a tin of water, bring to the boil then turn down the heat and simmer for 40 minutes. topping up with water if it dries out.
Add the savoy cabbage and cook for a few more minutes until wilted. You may want to add some water here too, remember the pasta will soak up quite a bit when baking.
For the white sauce melt the butter, add the flour then cook for a couple of minutes to get rid of the raw flour taste. Add the milk, whisking constantly to get rid of lumps. Chuck in the bay leaves and give it a good grating of nutmeg then simmer for a few minutes till thick. Add the gorgonzola and whisk till smooth.
Now to construct. You're going to do three layers of each so make sure you split accordingly. First off layer one third of the meat mixture then top with four sheets of lasagna then a third of the white sauce. Repeat another two times.
Finish with a handful or two of whatever cheese you chose then bake at 180 for 35 minutes.
Remove and allow to rest for ten minutes before serving. I like to serve with a salad, which is good for cleansing the palate afterwards.
That looks far more delicious than the usual bog standard mince affair. Takes half the time too.
Posted by: Lizzie | April 12, 2011 at 04:08 PM
You catching up on old posts? Definitely more tasty and didn't take long.
Posted by: Joshua Armstrong | April 12, 2011 at 04:14 PM