I grew up with an Italian grandma. Garlic, basil and tomatoes are in my very DNA. That said, traditional lasagna is a lot of work. Delicious, yes, but also heavy and time consuming to make. Traditional lasagna is the sort of thing I crave when the leaves start to turn and the low spots bear frost in the morning. Fortunately for me, I have a wonderful friend who is also a wonderful cook. Molly Belle was my high school best friend's aunt and she would have the two of us over to her apartment in Cambridge (Massachusetts, y'all), take us to art-house movies and feed us artisan bread and spectacular dinners. This recipe is one she made us back in 2000 and it's been since then that I've had it. I'm making it tonight.
This morning I woke up and had to have this. We ran out to the smaller (better?) Hilldale farmer's market and grabbed an enormous bunch of basil, several plum tomatoes ($1.50/lb.!), some scallions and a huge number of patty pan squash for just over six dollars.
Mid-summer is a time for fresh vegetables and allowing them to show off their myriad wonders of flavor. Fresh tomatoes and basil cook down into a spectacular sauce that must be sopped up with a fresh loaf of Italian bread. Better yet, there is no fussing with pre-cooking lasagna noodles (though, I admit I gave that up the day Barilla introduced their no-cook noodles anyway).
Fresh Tomato Lasagna
(400* 1 hour)
(400* 1 hour)
6 large tomatoes, sliced 1/4" thick
4 oz. fresh mozzarella, sliced
4 oz. fontina cheese, grated
1/4 cup fresh basil, chiffonade
1/4 cup Romano cheese, grated
lasagna noodles, as many as it takes
salt
fresh ground black pepper
olive oil
In the bottom of the dish (I am using an oblong 2 qt. Corningware) place a layer of tomatoes and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place a layer of noodles on top, followed by another layer of tomatoes and salt and pepper. Next, layer all of the fontina, more noodles, all the mozzarella, 1/2 the Romano, further noodles and the remaining tomatoes, basil and Romano. Drizzle the top with olive oil and bake.
As I said before, it's soupy. Serve it in bowls with the aforementioned bread, buttered. This is a summer meal that cannot be beat and the ease of preparation makes it all the more alluring.
(As a side note, I had half a tomato left over, along with basil and mozzarella. I must confess to being a lifelong raw tomato disliker and know it is more a textural issue than a flavor one, but I have been teaching myself to eat them. I made a tiny Caprese salad with the remaining bits and enjoyed it thoroughly. So, to the raw tomato haters, give it a shot by taking slices of tomato, slices of fresh mozzarella and basil leaves, layering them, sprinkling with s+p and drizzling with olive oil before eating. You may be surprised. Alternately, you can take those very same things plus some Italian or French bread, turn on the broiler and have a nice little pizza.)
4 oz. fresh mozzarella, sliced
4 oz. fontina cheese, grated
1/4 cup fresh basil, chiffonade
1/4 cup Romano cheese, grated
lasagna noodles, as many as it takes
salt
fresh ground black pepper
olive oil
In the bottom of the dish (I am using an oblong 2 qt. Corningware) place a layer of tomatoes and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place a layer of noodles on top, followed by another layer of tomatoes and salt and pepper. Next, layer all of the fontina, more noodles, all the mozzarella, 1/2 the Romano, further noodles and the remaining tomatoes, basil and Romano. Drizzle the top with olive oil and bake.
As I said before, it's soupy. Serve it in bowls with the aforementioned bread, buttered. This is a summer meal that cannot be beat and the ease of preparation makes it all the more alluring.
(As a side note, I had half a tomato left over, along with basil and mozzarella. I must confess to being a lifelong raw tomato disliker and know it is more a textural issue than a flavor one, but I have been teaching myself to eat them. I made a tiny Caprese salad with the remaining bits and enjoyed it thoroughly. So, to the raw tomato haters, give it a shot by taking slices of tomato, slices of fresh mozzarella and basil leaves, layering them, sprinkling with s+p and drizzling with olive oil before eating. You may be surprised. Alternately, you can take those very same things plus some Italian or French bread, turn on the broiler and have a nice little pizza.)
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