# Lasagna!



## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

Thanks for the new thread it is motivating me again. I had a disaster first try with under cooked noodles and wimpy taste. I ended up putting it back in the oven for almost an hour and although the noodles softened up fine it drank all of the moisture. I salvaged it for my own consumption by slicing off 1" pieces and covering them with Prego. Edible but I don't need that much pasta so will toss the last half, that opens the door for trying again. These are for my daughters household not here.

I will review your list for all seasoning and probably cut everything in half.

Any suggestions to make sure the noodles come out as they should?

Bud


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## Timborooni (Apr 16, 2011)

Good call on the fennel seeds. Fennel seeds are what give sweet Italian sausage that sweet Italian sausage flavor. I always add some to any dish where I use Italian sausage, a little or a little more than a little. Just to give it a bump.


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## Drachenfire (Jun 6, 2017)

What time should we drop by...?


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## Mystriss (Dec 26, 2018)

Bud9051 said:


> Thanks for the new thread it is motivating me again. I had a disaster first try with under cooked noodles and wimpy taste. I ended up putting it back in the oven for almost an hour and although the noodles softened up fine it drank all of the moisture. I salvaged it for my own consumption by slicing off 1" pieces and covering them with Prego. Edible but I don't need that much pasta so will toss the last half, that opens the door for trying again. These are for my daughters household not here.
> 
> I will review your list for all seasoning and probably cut everything in half.
> 
> ...


I'd say the most important part is to use good quality pasta, it's only a few cents extra and it's worth every dime. (I only use Barilla personally.)

Second would be use enough water, the box'll recommend like say 6-8 quarts, but that's the minimum's. I ignore it, you really can't have /too/ much water since you'll be draining it anyway. Try using as much as you can fit in the pot, just means you have to watch it a little better for boil over. I get the water with a few shakes of salt boiling first, then put in the pasta. Get that back up to a boil and start timer. (Check the time for your particular pasta, they're all different. Better pasta tends to have a shorter boiling time.) 

As soon as that timer goes off drain them or lay em out flat so they don't stick to each other. I don't even drain the lasagna noodles, I pluck them out of the boiling water with tongs and lay them out. 

In the past I've drained them completely in a colander then put them on parchment/wax paper layers on cookie sheets (noodles, parchment/wax paper, noodles, parchment/wax paper, etc.) but I find I have more that stick and/or rip that way. You'll also get "impressions" of whatever you put them in/on, back then all my noodles were kind of hounds-tooth pattern on them from the strainer mesh heh

Well cooked pasta starts sticking to itself (and anything you throw it at) as soon as it leaves the water. I have heard that rinsing your pasta with cold water (like stir them in the strainer while spraying) helps with the stickies, but to me that just sounds like extra steps so I avoid it as much as possible.

I used to add a dash of veggy/coconut/olive oil to my water as that helps with the stickies, but it makes for a bit more greasy dish. With lasagna noodles probably not a big deal since the meat's greasy anyway, but for straight mac-n-cheese it wasn't so great so I got away from the practice.

When I make my hamburger mac-n-cheese I use two pots (or a pot and bowl, or whatever) That way I can have the melted Velveeta cheese/hamburger/corn all mixed together and ready for the pasta to go into as soon as I get the majority of the water through the strainer. Velveeta's a bit thicker than typical cheese when melted so the little bit of water isn't a big deal. (Same holds true for Kraft family mac cheese packages, just cut the milk by a tiny sip.)


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## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

The group I cook for are getting picky, all on some form of diet, but they will fail and love then pasta when they return to eating. How do I know ???

Anyway, I will work up a mini dish so I can eat it decide when I have it right. It really isn't that hard and with all of the help I will be sad if I fail. I love lasagna so having a one or two serving option will be great, probably this weekend, I'll post.

And another thanks to all.
Bud


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