Legit Lasagne

HARK! I've finally obtained the recipe to Elena's fantastic lasagne. It's even better than my Italian American Grandma's (love you grams) and the fact that i'm disgracing my dead grandma's food to declare my love for this lasagne should tell you just HOW GOOD IT IS! Food like this makes you believe in miracles. :)



Ingredients:
Pasta for lasagna(BARILLA or AGNESI are best)
500 / 600 g of minced beef
1L tomato sauce
150/200 white flour
150 g butter
500/600 ml milk
Parmesan cheese
Extra-virgin olive oil
a clove of garlic
Laurel' s leaf or a sprig of rosemary
Nutmeg
Salt

Beef sauce:
Pour into a big saucepan one or two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, a clove of garlic, laurel's leaf or a sprig of rosemary.
Heat the oil, pour the minced beef and sauté, stirring from time to time, when the beef is almost done, add salt (to taste) and then the tomato sauce, stirring carefully.
When the mixture is uniform cover with a lid and stir occasionally until the sauce has slightly thickened.

White sauce:
Pour into a medium/small pot the pads butter, cut into small pieces and allow it to melt.
When it has completely melted remove from heat, add the flour and stir with a metal whisk or spoon until the mixture has a smooth consistency. (This is a rue).
Now place the pot back on the stove and pour the milk, a little at a time, stirring constantly (with a whisk) to prevent lumps, when the white sauce thickens add the salt and nutmeg (to taste) and continue stirring until it begins to boil. (This is a bechamel).

Now pour the white sauce into the pan with the meat sauce and stir until the mixture is completely smooth, remove the garlic and the rosemary sprig and laurel' s leaf and start to prepare the pasta for lasagna.

On the box of pasta for lasagna is written if they are precooked or not.
If they are precooked (recommended), take a baking dish and with a ladle, pour a layer of sauce on the bottom of the pan and then add the pasta.
At this point pour the first layer of pasta add more sauce more or less uniformly and add the parmesan (the more the better), keep doing this until the pan is full. Bake the lasagna in the oven pre heated to 250C degrees for twenty minutes, checking that the top of the lasagna does not burn.

If the pasta for lasagna is not precooked put water to boil in a pot with a drop of oil, when the water is boiling put the pasta for lasagna a few minutes to boil (no more than 3 minutes) then place it neatly on the bottom of the baking dish. TADA!!

3 Step Carbonara? Yes Please!

Another DELICIOUS recipe as per my international potlucks
THANKS ELENA! We'll miss you!
This is the story of a girl named Elena, who could cook like no other. Moreover, she loved to cook. She loved to cook so much that she even cooked at her own goodbye party last night, and what pray tell did she concoct? --A DELICIOUS and simple Carbonara.


What you'll need:
Spaghetti
eggs (about 1 per person)
Parmesan cheese (2 packets finely shaved)
salt (2.5 tbs)
bacon chunks


As I mentioned earlier, there are three EASY steps:
1) Boil water for the pasta, add a huge palm full of salt as it's boiling right before you add the pasta.

2) Saute huge chunks of bacon. Once the pasta is cooked to aldente (soft to the tooth) add it to the bacon. Make sure to coat the pasta well in the grease so STIR WELL!



3) Beat eggs, salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese. After the pasta is coated in bacon fat add the eggs and continue stirring so the bottom doesn't make scrambled eggs :) Once the eggs are cooked it's done! Top with yet more Parm, clearly, and bon apetite!

Focaccia!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons olive oil (save 1 tbs for oiling the bowl)
3 cloves of garlic
Sprig of preferably fresh but dry is fine, Rosemary, Thyme, and Oregano.


Directions:
1-Mix yeast, warm water, and sugar in a bowl. Let sit until foamy, 7-8 minutes.
2-In another bowl, sift flour, salt, spices. Mix with the yeast.
3-Slowly add in 3 tbs of olive oil.
4-Ball the dough and coat the bowl with the additional oil oil tbs.
5-Cover with plastic wrap and store in a dry warm area for about an hour.
Microwaves are recommended.

6-Punch dough. Roll it to fit pan. Should be about a 1/4 in thick.
7-Using fingers make indents all over the dough and sprinkle olive generously atop.
8-Mince garlic and shove into crevices.
9-BAKE at 400F or 200C for 20-35 minutes or until golden brown.