Lasagna a la Francaise
ANTI-CHEF · ♥ 17.2K likes · 470.6K views · 26 min video
Read about whole bird in the BrightCulinary Book
Timestamp
Ingredients
Method
Techniques
- 200 g double zero flour
- 3 whole eggs
Make a well in the flour, add the eggs and stir them in with a fork, keeping the flour wall up, then work the flour in.
Knead about eight minutes, adding a little extra flour if wet, until a thumb pressed in comes out clean.
Quarter the chicken and halve each quarter, then season with salt and pepper.
- salt
- pepper
- carrots
- 1 whole leek
- 4 whole celery
- ¼ tsp dried tarragon
- 1 whole bay leaf
Put a third of the julienned carrot, leek and celery in a dutch oven with salt, pepper, tarragon and bay leaf.
- 2 cup chicken broth
- dry white wine
Lay the chicken on the vegetables, cover with the rest of the vegetables, add the chicken broth and enough dry white wine to just barely cover.
Bring to a simmer, cover and simmer 20 to 30 minutes until the chicken is tender and the juices run clear.
- 3 whole large tomatoes
Pour boiling water over the fresh tomatoes and soak 10 seconds, peel, split crosswise and remove the seeds and juice.
- 1 can canned Italian plum tomatoes
Drain the canned tomatoes and sieve about a cup of the pulp.
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup minced onion
Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and cook a cup of minced onion over medium six to eight minutes until tender but not brown.
- garlic
Remove about half the onion and reserve it for the white sauce; add the fresh tomato pulp and the pressed garlic and cook a few minutes over medium low.
- ½ tsp Italian seasoning
- saffron threads
- ¼ tsp dried orange peel
Add the Italian seasoning, saffron, dried orange peel, the canned tomatoes, salt and pepper.
- tomato juice
Simmer slightly covered at least 30 minutes, loosening with tomato juice if it thickens too far.
Rolling and cutting the pasta sheets
Divide the pasta dough into six pieces, keep them covered, and roll each through the machine from the widest setting down to the thinnest.
Cut the sheets two by twelve inches, then split in half and in half again, trimming the uneven tips.
- 2 cup mushrooms
Dice the mushrooms to around two cups.
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp oil
Melt the butter with the oil in a frying pan; when the foam subsides add the mushrooms and toss four to five minutes until the fat reappears on the surface.
- 1 tbsp salt
Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil with a tablespoon or two of salt and parboil the pasta a few sheets at a time for 10 to 30 seconds.
- 8–10 cup raw spinach
Drop the sheets into cold water, wring them out gently, pat dry and hang them on a colander.
- 2 tbsp butter
- nutmeg
Melt two tablespoons of butter over medium high, cook the spinach down until the moisture has boiled off, then season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Cooking down the spinach
- 1 cup cheese
Chop the cooked spinach; two cups cooked are needed.
- 3 cup whole milk
- 1 cup chicken stock
Heat the whole milk with the chicken stock.
Making the white wine onion sauce
- 6 tbsp butter
- 60 g flour
Cook the reserved onions in six tablespoons of butter over moderate heat, then add the flour and cook two minutes.
- ⅓ cup dry white wine
Add a third of a cup of dry white wine or vermouth, return to moderate high heat and stir vigorously to a boil until it coats the back of a spoon; season with salt and white pepper.
Spread a few spoonfuls of the white sauce, half the spinach, three tablespoons of the cheese, half the diced meat and half the mushrooms.
Assembling the lasagna
Cover with more pasta, the rest of the spinach, more cheese, the rest of the meat and mushrooms, more white sauce and the cup of ricotta.
Top with a final layer of pasta, more white sauce, then spread the tomato sauce over the very top leaving nothing exposed, and sprinkle on the remaining cheese and Parmesan.
Bake at 400F in the upper third of the oven for around 30 minutes, with a baking dish underneath to catch drips.