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Kathryn's Lasagna with Smoked Pulled Beef and Pulled Pork

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    Kathryn's Lasagna with Smoked Pulled Beef and Pulled Pork

    So I've long been inspsired by Huskee 's post on his outta-sight wood-smoked lasagna recipe. Click here for that smoked lasagna recipe.

    The idea of a smokey-lasagna was too delicious to ignore. So tonight I made some, and it was really, really good. I used 1 lb of pulled beef (from smoking a chuckie) and 1/4 lb pulled pork (leftover from pulled pork nachos, which were made from leftovers from smoking a PB).

    So my approach differed from Huskee's in that I did not use the smoker for the dish; I did not smoke the tomato sauce and I did not cook the lasagna in the smoker. I cooked it in a 375 degree oven. What brought the smokiness to the table was the use of leftover smoked pulled beef and smoked pulled pork. And myohmy what a delicious smokey dish this was!

    Here's the recipe I made up:

    Kathryn's Smokey Lasagna
    Serves 10-12


    Tomato Meat Sauce:
    4 x 14.5 oz cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes
    2 x 8 oz cans tomato sauce
    2 Tbl Better Than Bouillon Chicken paste
    12 cloves garlic, minced
    1 Tbl Olive Oil
    3 Tbl dried basil (or 15-20 leaves fresh basil)
    Salt and Pepper to taste
    1 lb smoked beef chuck, pulled
    1/4 lb smoked pork, pulled

    Lasagna Noodles:
    16 lasagna noodles, par-boiled or use the no-boil type

    Cheese mixture:
    32 oz Ricotta Cheese
    1/2-1 cup Parmesan (depending on taste)
    1 lb shredded mozarella cheese
    3 eggs, lightly beaten
    2 Tbl dried parsley or 1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
    1 tsp salt
    1/4 tsp pepper

    Directions:
    1. Boil lasagna noodles in salted water; drain; set aside. If using the no-boil type of lasagna noodle, ignore this step.

    2. Make the tomato meat sauce by first lightly browning the garlic in the olive oil for 1 minute (until you smell the garlic fragrance) then adding all ingredients except the meat. Bring to a gentle boil. Add the smoked pulled meats. Bring sauce to 165 degrees (the liquid gently boils around the meat shreds at this point). Set aside.

    3. Make the cheese mixture by combining all ingredients and mixing well. Set aside.

    4. In a large, deep 9x13 inch lasagna pan (I use this one because it's deeper than my other 9x13 casserole pans and can hold 3 full layers of the noodle/sauce/cheese combo) spread a small amount of the meat sauce to cover the bottom of the casserole dish.
    • Add 4 noodles, overlapping the edges
    • Add 1/3 of the meat sauce. It's a generous amount.
    • Add 1/3 of the cheese mixture. It's a generous amount. Sort of break up the mixture by hand in small dollops all over the surface of the meat.
    • Repeat for 2 more (noodles-sauce-cheese) layers, ending with the cheese mixture on top.

    5. Put an aluminum foil-covered cookie sheet on the lowest rack of a 375 degree oven. Place the large casserole on the shelf directly above. Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour 10 minutes or until the center of the lasagna registers 165 deg F minimum. The edges will be closer to 180 deg F at this point, and the top of the lasagna will be lightly browned with darker brown at the edges.

    6. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes (minimum) before cutting into large squares and serving.

    Option: while the lasagna is in the oven, make another batch of the tomato sauce, but without the meat and perhaps with half the garlic depending on taste. Ladle some of the tomato sauce over each portion as you serve it. Delicious! This recipe is, after all, all about layers of flavors and the extra sauce is the icing on the cake.

    Serve with a nice Chianti, if that is your preference, but it tasted great with Cline's Ancient Vine Zin. Just sayin'. Garlic bread is a must, too, along with a crisp salad.

    I have to give a huge shout out to Huskee, whose fire-smoked lasagna inspired me to make this variation. Thanks, Huskee!

    Kathryn
    Last edited by fzxdoc; December 9, 2015, 11:34 AM.

    #2
    Wow! That's way more homemade than mine is. Sounds fantastic. Call me Garfield but I'm a sucker for lasagna. Kudos on Cline AV zin, haven't had in a long time but it's a big favorite. Currently working on a bottle of St Francis zin, but got distracted with rye whiskey today.

    Things for sharing and for the mention. 'Tis lasagna season!

    Comment


      #3
      Might have to do this for Christmas.

      Comment


        #4
        Here's another take on lasagna: use the same recipe for your filling and sauce, but make lasagna rolls.

        Here is an example: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/25075/lasagna-roll-ups/

        You still get the same amount of food, but it is much easier to serve and eat when made in rolls.

        Another idea which a restaurant here in Charleston does is to substitute zucchini for lasagna noodles.

        Just slice zucchini length-wise on a mandoline, fill, roll, put sauce on top and bake - they are one of my wife's favorites.

        Comment


          #5
          Nice! I like the home made sauce, three different typesof cheese, so much goodness!

          Comment


            #6
            The wife made a chili with our leftover pulled beef tonight. She adds small diced potatoes to make it more hardier but they could be omitted. Mmmm, is this stuff good. I only had one small bite when she asked me to taste-test, but I am taking the rest to work tonight for my meals.

            My point is that we didn't have all the supplies to make lasagna with it, but I told you we were going to do one or the other. If I can get her to write it down, I'll share the recipe. The chunks of pulled beef give it a greater chew than simply ground beef. I suppose it's more of a smokey chili-flavored stew.

            Comment


            • HC in SC
              HC in SC commented
              Editing a comment
              I agree. We did this same pulled chuck roast in lieu of ground beef in our usual chili mix. We also subbed Cabernet for the beer at a one-to-one. I was much richer and had the mouthfeel of a Brunswick stew.

              Potoates would be a good addition - hadn't thought of that.

              At our house "chili" is still made with ground beef, but making a "chili-beef stew" is definitely something we will do again - especially on those crappy wet and cold days.

            #7
            Huskee, making chili from leftover pulled beef chuckie is my very fav thing to do with that meat. That smoked beef with all of the chili ingredients/spices are a marriage made in heaven. Enjoy your meals tonight at work. What a sweet wife you have, sending you off to work with such a delicious treat. I'd say she's a keeper.

            As far as the lasagna recipe goes, I'll edit my recipe to show that I add some of the (meat-free) sauce on top of each portion for extra flavor.

            Kathryn

            Comment


              #8
              OK fzxdoc I am inspired. But my kids like penne or spaghetti type dishes....so I changed up your sauce just a little.
              Here is what I added:

              another 8 oz tomato sauce
              about 2 tbsp oregano
              one small diced onion

              Simmer it down to your desired thickness for a pasta sauce.

              My daughter said, "it's wonderful but missing something." She then put about 1/2 cup of our favorite bbq sauce in it and let it simmer some more.

              Man did it turn out awfully good served over some Ziti noodles.

              Thank you for the inspiration. The attached pic shows you how it turned out. Awesome.
              Click image for larger version

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              Attached Files

              Comment


                #9
                Wow, MartinNC , you've got a real hit there! It looks and sounds delicious. Thanks for the great write up and the recommendations.

                Kathryn

                Comment

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