Lasagna, a beloved comfort food, is often associated with Italian cuisine, but its origins are a subject of debate. The term "lasagna" comes from the Greek word lasana (or Lasanon), meaning "trivet" or "stand for a pot," and was later adopted by the Romans as lasanum, meaning "cooking pot." This term was likely used to describe the dish, as the recipe evolved over time. While Italy is now renowned for lasagna, the first recorded recipe appeared in an English cookbook, leading to some disagreement about its true origin.

Recipe: Fresh Pasta

Ingredients:

250 grams flour

5 grams salt

10 ml olive oil (you may need more)

2 eggs

10 ml cold water

Instructions:

1. Prepare the Dough:

• Sift the flour onto a clean countertop. Whisk in the salt. Create a well in the center.
• Add olive oil, eggs, and water into the well. Using your fingers, gradually mix the wet ingredients while slowly incorporating the surrounding flour to form a paste.
• Once the mixture becomes crumbly, use a pastry scraper to gather and knead it into a smooth dough. Add extra olive oil or water if the dough feels dry.

2. Rest the Dough:

• Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. This step ensures elasticity and easier rolling.

3. Rolling the Dough:

• By Hand: Roll the dough to a 1–2 mm thickness with a rolling pin. Square the edges with a knife, then fold the dough into even layers (approximately 5 cm wide). Slice into fettuccine strips and dust with flour to prevent sticking.
• Using KitchenAid Attachment: Attach the pasta roller and start at the widest setting. Pass the dough through, folding it in half and repeating until smooth. Gradually reduce the roller thickness to the desired setting. Use the fettuccine cutter attachment for even strips.

4. Cooking the Pasta:

• Boil a large pot of salted water. Cook the pasta for 3–5 minutes, or until al dente. Drain and serve immediately with your favorite sauce.
  
  

Tasting Notes
Freshly made pasta offers a soft, silky texture that elevates any dish. Whether hand-rolled or made with a KitchenAid attachment, the difference in flavor and quality is unmistakable. Pair with a classic tomato sauce or creamy Alfredo for a satisfying meal.

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White Chocolate Toasted Pistachio with Ground Cherries and Passion Fruit Filling in Deep-Fried Pizza Dough

Try this unique dessert: deep-fried pizza dough filled with a creamy white chocolate, toasted pistachios, ground cherries, and passion fruit filling. A sweet twist on pizza!

Recipe: Basic Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

DAY ONE

1. Mix together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a big bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer).

2. Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon or with the paddle attachment, on low speed) in order to form a sticky ball of dough. On a clean surface, knead for about 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are homogeneously distributed. If it is too wet, add a little flour (not too much, though) and if it is too dry add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water.

Note: If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for the same amount of time. The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet, sprinkle in a little more flour, so that it clears the sides. If, on the contrary, it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a teaspoon or two of cold water.

The finished dough should be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50°-55° F/10°-13° C.

3. Flour a work surface or counter. Line a jelly pan with baking paper/parchment. Lightly oil the paper.

4. With the help of a metal or plastic dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you want to make larger pizzas).

Note: To avoid the dough from sticking to the scraper, dip the scraper into water between cuts.

5. Sprinkle some flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Gently round each piece into a ball.

Note: If the dough sticks to your hands, then dip your hands into the flour again.

6. Transfer the dough balls to the lined jelly pan and mist them generously with spray oil. Slip the pan into plastic bag or enclose in plastic food wrap.

7. Put the pan into the refrigerator and let the dough rest overnight or for up to three days.

Note: You can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag if you want to save some of the dough for any future baking. In that case, pour some oil (a few tablespoons only) in a medium bowl and dip each dough ball into the oil, so that it is completely covered in oil. Then put each ball into a separate bag. Store the bags in the freezer for no longer than 3 months. The day before you plan to make pizza, remember to transfer the dough balls from the freezer to the refrigerator.

DAY TWO

8. On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator. Dust the counter with flour and spray lightly with oil. Place the dough balls on a floured surface and sprinkle them with flour. Dust your hands with flour and delicately press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. Sprinkle with flour and mist with oil. Loosely cover the dough rounds with plastic wrap and then allow it to rest for 2 hours.

9. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven as hot as possible (500° F/260° C).

Note: If you do not have a baking stone, then use the back of a jelly pan. Do not preheat the pan.

10. Generously sprinkle the back of a jelly pan with semolina/durum flour or cornmeal. Flour your hands (palms, backs and knuckles). Take 1 piece of dough by lifting it with a pastry scraper. Lay the dough across your fists in a very delicate way and carefully stretch it by bouncing it in a circular motion on your hands, and by giving it a little stretch with each bounce. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss.

Note: Make only one pizza at a time. During the tossing process, if the dough tends to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and re-flour your hands, then continue the tossing and shaping. In case you would be having trouble tossing the dough or if the dough never wants to expand and always springs back, let it rest for approximately 5-20 minutes in order for the gluten to relax fully, then try again. You can also resort to using a rolling pin, although it isn’t as effective as the toss method.

11. When the dough has the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter - for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough), place it on the back of the jelly pan, making sure there is enough semolina/durum flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide and not stick to the pan.

12. Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.

Note: Remember that the best pizzas are topped not too generously. No more than 3 or 4 toppings (including sauce and cheese) are sufficient.

13. Slide the garnished pizza onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly pan. Close the door and bake for about 5-8 minutes.

Note: After 2 minutes baking, take a peek. For an even baking, rotate 180°.

If the top gets done before the bottom, you will need to move the stone or jelly pane to a lower shelf before the next round. On the contrary, if the bottom crisps before the cheese caramelizes, then you will need to raise the stone or jelly.

14. Take the pizza out of the oven and transfer it to a cutting board or your plate. In order to allow the cheese to set a little, wait 3-5 minutes before slicing or serving.

Chicken Fajita Pizza

Recipe: Deep Fried Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

Oil
Confectioners' sugar

Instructions:

Prepare the pizza dough up to step 11 above.

In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan or fryer, heat the oil to 350˚F. Don't fill the pan more than one-third full. Carefully lower one piece of dough into the fryer. Cook on both sides until golden brown. Remove and press gently into a bowl to shape. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.

Note: You can find out more about deep frying at my post on Deep-Fried Whiting.

Recipe: White Chocolate Toasted Pistachio with Ground Cherries and Passion Fruit Filling

Makes: 4 tarts

Ingredients:

2½ ounce shelled, unsalted pistachios, toasted
3 ounces ground cherries (or you could use fresh cranberries)
1 ounce passion fruit
1/3 cup heavy cream
8 ounces white chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoon unsalted butter

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Place the nuts on a baking sheet and toast for about 10 minutes or until golden.

Prepare a bowl with ice water. In a pot of boiling water, blanch the ground cherries for a couple of minutes until they soften slightly but do not burst. Plunge them into the ice water and let cool. Dry on a paper-towel-lined baking sheet.

Bring the cream to a boil. Pour over the white chocolate. Stir until smooth. (If the chocolate isn't completely melted, use the microwave to finish melting, but do it slowly so that the mixture doesn't separate.) Add passion fruit and butter, then stir to combine.

Scatter nuts and ground cherries in the deep-fried pizza dough, and then top with white chocolate mixture. Repeat until the deep-fried pizza dough is filled. Chill for 3 hours. Serve the same day since the fried pizza dough will not taste fresh the next day.

Note: Instead of deep-fried pizza dough, this filling is nice in a pastry tart shell or even on its own as a parfait.

Here are my other Daring Bakers challenges:

• Lavash Crackers and Honeydew-Peach Salsa (September 2008)
• Chocolate Éclairs…Kransekage (August 2008)
• Danish Braid (June 2008)
• Opéra Cake (May 2008)

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"Tomato sauce isn't red, it's orange."

Watch a Pro
Here's a video of Giada de Laurentiis making tomato sauce.

Recipe: Sauce tomate (Tomato sauce)

Serves: 4

Prepare the tomatoes concassée (score, core, blanch, peel, de-seed, and chop).

Prepare a Bouquet Garni. Mince the shallots and garlic.

Melt the butter and sauté that shallots for a minute or two. Add the minced garlic and cook for about 1 minute making sure it doesn’t burn. Add the diced tomatoes and the Bouquet Garni. Cook down for a bit. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with pasta.

Tasting Notes
This tomato sauce is delicious, and only gets better with time. We had it with pasta, and everyone enjoyed it. It tastes fresh and garlicy. Definitely a keeper recipe.

. . . . . . . . . .

Running total: $403.81 + $4.42 = $408.23

Butter used so far: 4 pounds, 30 tablespoons

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Fettuccini Alfredo is a rich pasta dish said to be created by restaurateur Alfredo di Lello in Rome in the 1920s, and the recipe was kept secret until recently. As the story goes, when his wife became pregnant and lost her appetite, he created this recipe out of love and his need to nourish her and his baby. There is also a story that Signore Alfredo was given a golden spoon and fork by Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford because they thought his pasta was so delicious and that tossing the fettuccini with those forks was the "secret" to the recipe.

The original recipe does not contain cream, pepper, parsley, or chives. It only contains butter and Parmesan (specifically Parmigiano-Reggiano) and maybe a pinch of salt.


The fettuccini noodles must be made fresh, or “fatte in casa” (made in the house). Fresh pasta is the key since it holds onto the sauce. The noodles should be 1/5-inch wide (5 mm). Traditionally, pasta is made with semolina flour, a coarse-textured flour that is high in gluten and makes a firmer noodle. Noodles must be cooked al dente, the Italian phrase meaning “to the tooth”, which means pasta that is slightly resistant to bite.

Fettuccini Alfredo is typically served as a first course, not a main course.

Did you know that there is a National Fettuccini Alfredo Day on February 7? 

Recipe: Pâte Fraîches (fresh noodles) 

Makes 1 pound

2 cups all-purpose flour (You could use ½ cup semolina and 1½ cups all-purpose.)
3 egg yolks
3 tablespoons vegetable oil (or olive oil)
¼ teaspoons salt
5-6 tablespoons cold water
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) unsalted butter

You can find the recipe in Le Cordon Bleu at Home (affiliate link).

Recipe:  Original Fettuccini Alfredo 

from Link

Alfredo di Lelio

Serves 4

1 lb of fresh, fettuccini noodles
6 oz unsalted butter
6 oz Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (aged 24 months), grated

Cook the fettuccini noodles in 1 gallon (16 cups) of salted boiling water for three minutes.

Soak the serving dish in a bowl or sink of boiling or very hot water. Dry off the bowl and put the butter in the bowl to melt.

Strain the pasta leaving just a small amount of water (about 3 tablespoons) and toss the noodles with the butter and the grated cheese. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper.

Serve in a warm bowl so that the pasta doesn’t congeal.

Variations:

To make it a main-course pasta dish, add chicken or salmon. You can also add mushrooms, garlic, and of course, heavy cream. Sprinkle with parsley and fresh ground nutmeg, if desired.

Tasting Notes

I enjoyed the fresh fettuccini noodles, but I found the Fettuccini Alfredo greasy and bland. I added some freshly ground pepper, but I think I prefer the Americanized version with garlic and cream. My kids enjoyed it though.

. . . . . . . . . .

Running total: $170.88 + $1.54 (pâte fraîches) + $7.08 (Fettuccini Alfredo) = $ 179.50

Butter used so far: 3 pounds, 30.5 tablespoons

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1 cup milk
½ stick unsalted butter (4 tablespoons or ¼ cup or 2 ounces)
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated
⅛ teaspoon grated nutmeg
3 large eggs

Mornay Sauce:

1 to 1½ cups whole milk
2 tablespoons (25 grams) butter
2 tablespoons (25 grams) all-purpose flour
freshly ground nutmeg
salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons (25 grams) Parmesan cheese, grated
1 tablespoon butter, chilled, diced

For the pâte à choux:

Combine the milk and butter in a saucepan and heat until the butter melts and the milk boils.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the flour all at once. Beat until a thick mixture forms. Stir over low heat until the mixture pulls away from the pan and the mixture dries a bit. Cool slightly. (If you don’t cool the mixture, the eggs will scramble when you add them.)

Add the salt, Parmesan cheese, and nutmeg. Then beat in the first 2 eggs, one at a time, beating until thoroughly blended after each addition. Then lightly beat the third egg in a small bowl and add it little by little. Add just enough beaten egg for the mixture to become smooth and shiny and fall slowly from the spoon in a point.

For the gnocchi:

Bring a pot of salted water to almost a boil (180°F). Prepare an ice water bath.

Using a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip, fill the bag with the gnocchi dough. Press the dough out and cut it off at the tip using a paring knife, making small rectangular gnocchi.

Poach the gnocchi in the water for about 3 minutes. When they are cooked, they will float to the surface. Carefully lift the gnocchi out with a slotted spoon (they will not be completely cooked inside) and gently drop them in a bowl of iced water to cool. They will sink to the bottom of the bowl when cool. Drain and use right away, or refrigerate for later use.

Note: You can freeze the gnocchi on a sheet pan and then store in a freezer bag for up to six weeks.

For the Mornay sauce:

Bring the milk to a simmer over medium heat. In a separate saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the flour. Cook the flour for a few minutes without allowing it to color. Whisk in the milk and continue whisking until thickened. Season the sauce with nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Off heat, add the Parmesan cheese.

If you add the cheese while it is still on the heat, it will become stringy. If the sauce has lumps, pass it through a fine strainer and reheat in a clean saucepan.

Thin as desired with scalded cream. Taste and adjust seasonings. Keep warm (over a saucepan of hot water) until needed.

To finish the gnocchi:

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Spread a little of the Mornay sauce over the bottom of the gratin dish. Spoon the gnocchi on top of the sauce. Top with more sauce. Dot with butter and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Bake until the surface is browned, about 15-20 minutes. Broil to finish browning the top. Sprinkle with parsley.

Variations:

You can use different cheeses, such as Gruyère, Comté, or Emmentaler. You can also add herbs, such as chervil, chives, parsley, tarragon, or basil or a combination.

Tasting Notes

Gnocchi à la parisienne has a clean, tender yet chewy, eggy taste. Although the gnocchi taste light, they are full of calories and definitely not on the diet list. Next time, I'll add more salt since it tasted very bland.

. . . . . . . . . .

Running total: $167.53 + $3.35 = $170.88

Butter used so far: 3 pounds, 16.5 tablespoons

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Pissaladière is France’s version of pizza. It uses olive oil instead of butter, and there are no tomatoes or cheese. Instead, it contains slowly sautéed onions, anchovies, olives, and sometimes garlic to make a sweet and salty combination. Hmmn. Once again, my conservative, Scandinavian taste buds are being pushed to enjoy anchovies and olives.

This dish, which is a common street or snack food, comes from the Provence region in the southern part of France.

map from Wikipedia

Recipe: Crust from Link

Recipe: Portugaise (Tomatoes, crushed and cooked)