Homemade Lasagna

(Serves 6)

Ingredients

1 recipe	Pasta dough (see recipe)
1 recipe	Meat sauce (see recipe)
30 g (1 oz)	Butter
1	Yellow onion, julienne
20 mL (1 tbsp plus 1 tsp)	Flour
250 mL (1 cup)	Milk, cold
250 mL (1 cup)	35% cream, cold
To taste	Salt and pepper
300 g (10 oz)	Roasted red peppers, julienne
400 g (13 oz)	Mozzarella cheese, sliced or shredded
Garnish	Parmesan cheese, grated

Method

Preheat an electric skillet to 175ºC (350ºF)
To hot skillet, add butter and sliced onions. Sauté until onions are soft. Add flour and cook for 3 minutes continually stirring, making sure flour does not brown.
Add cold milk and whisk immediately. Continue whisking until sauce starts to thicken and begins to simmer. Add cold cream, still whisking until sauce comes to a simmer once again. Reduce heat and cook for 10 minutes stirring often.
Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside until ready to use.

To Assemble Lasagna

Preheat a toaster oven to 175ºC (350ºF).
Roll out pasta into thin lasagna sheets. Cut pasta sheets into the length of lasagna dish. Blanche pasta to ‘el dente’ and cool. Oil pasta sheets to prevent sticking to each other.
Line a large plate with paper towels and spread out sliced roasted red peppers to remove excess moisture.
Spread a thin layer of meat sauce on the bottom of a lasagna dish. Place a layer of pasta, add a generous layer of meat sauce and top with roasted peppers.
Spread a layer of onion cream sauce and top with mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers to fill the lasagna dish. Top lasagna with cheese.
To prevent lasagna from getting crusty, cover with two layers of plastic wrap, then to prevent the plastic from melting, top with aluminum foil. Place lasagna into toaster oven and bake for 40-50 minutes, depending on thickness.

Plate lasagna with a little béchamel and/or meat sauce, garnish with Parmesan cheese and chopped herbs.

Try a whole wheat pasta dough for a healthier lasagna (see Foodies Extras for a recipe).

The purpose of using plastic wrap is to prevent the foil from making contact with the surface of the food, which can cause a green chemical reaction on the surface. As well, it prevents the food from sticking to the foil.

It is possible for some plastic wraps to melt to a dish, however, I have never had a plastic wrap melt into the food. If the plastic wrap does not come off with the foil, it will peel off the dish very easily. Double wrapping can help prevent the wrap from melting. Make sure you use a high quality plastic wrap (microwave-safe wraps are meant to withstand high temperatures) or parchment paper can be used in place of plastic wrap.