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.
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
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
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