Lasagna Al Forno

Well this pic could have looked better. I couldn't scoop out the lasagna from the dish properly, so had to break off the ends. But it tasted the same deliciousness!

• 1 large sized saucepan to blanch the pasta in
• 2 medium-sized saucepans to make the 2 sauces concurrently
• A deep, baking dish (i use pyrex glass type so i can see the layers bubbling)
• 6-8 sheets of pre-made lasagna
• 1.5 cup grated mozarella cheese
• Salt and pepper

Bechamel sauce:

• 2.5 cups milk
• 50g butter
• 1/3 up flour
• 1 bay leaf
• Grated nutmeg

Meat sauce:

• 350g minced beef
• 1/4 cup bacon bits, diced
• 1 onion, diced finely
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 150ml red wine
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 3 tbsp pure cream
• 300g (canned) chopped tomatoes
• 4 tbsp olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 190 C
2. Bring a large saucepan of water to boil. Blanch the pasta sheets a few at a time until they are half cooked. Dish them out and place them in cold water (to keep them separate).
3. (To make the Meat Sauce) Heat a clean medium-sized sauce pan with oil and fry the beef. When the beef is almost cooked, add in the bacon bits and fry for 3 minutes. Add the onions and garlic, cook for 5 minutes. Add in the wine and cook until the sauce is reduced. Stir in the tomato paste & chopped tomatoes. Bring to boil and lower the heat to simmer for 20 minutes. (Proceed to Step 4 while simmering) Once the meat sauce is nice and thick, pour in the cream. Give it a few quick stirs, season to taste and set it aside.
4. (To make the Bechamel Sauce) In another saucepan, pour in the milk & bay leaf, gently heat it until just below boiling point. Remove the pan from the heat to infuse for 10 minutes. Pour the milk into a jug, removing the bay leaf. Melt the butter in the same saucepan and then add in the flour, whisking it continually for about 1 minute (roux). Gradually whisk in the milk and let it come to boil. Once thicken, season and add in the nutmeg. Set it aside.
5. (Making the lasagna) Drain the blanched pasta sheets and pat dry. In the baking dish, spread a little meat sauce onto the base (to prevent the pasta from sticking to the bottom while cooking). Place 2 or 3 sheets side by side in the dish. Pour over some white sauce and sprinkle some of the cheese. Repeat the pasta layering, pour over some meat sauce. At every layer, try to push the pasta down to compress it. Repeat the layering of the pasta, 2 sauces and cheese. Finish with a layer of the 2 sauces and sprinkle lots of cheese. Bake for 30 minutes until it is golden brown. (Try not to bake it more than 30 minutes as the pasta sheet may harden slightly). Let it stand for 10 minutes and serve it with some side dishes!

Beef Stroganoff w/ Bacon Bits

I was craving pasta but didn't want another bolognese/carbonara/lasagna/aglio-olio. So this my 2nd attempt making Beef Stroganoff. I changed it up with wine, beef stock and best of all... crispy bacon bits! K didn't really fancy sour cream base (his brain keep thinking carbonara!) but he liked the mushroom & meat. His real complaint is not enough bacon bits. Sigh. Tough critic.

      Serves 2 pax

• Bacon bits or 2 bacon strips (never seems to be enough bacon!)
• Some olive oil
• 150g fillet of beef, cut into strips
• Some flour for dredging beef
• 100g white button mushrooms, stems removed & sliced
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 4 cloves garlic,  sliced (i love garlic)
• 150ml sour cream
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/4 beef stock cube, dissolved in 8 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp butter
• Handful of flat leaf parsley (i prefer this to thyme), roughly chopped
• Cooked linguine
• Salt and pepper to taste
• (Optional: Pinch of nutmeg)

1. Boil a pot of water. Once it comes to a rolling boil, add a lot of salt and linguine. Keep the heat med-low so it would slowly cook while you make the sauce. (Always check that your pasta is not overcooked, in between the steps below)
2. In a saucepan, fry the bacon bits with some olive oil until crispy. Dish out the bacon for garnishing later, and keep the bacon oil for the next step.
3. Dredge the beef strips with some flour and fry them in the bacon oil (dredging with flour absorbs any moisture in the beef so it doesn't splatter oil on you). Once it's cook, dish it out. 
4. In the same sauce pan, saute the onions until soft. Add garlic & saute for 1 minute (before it turns brown).
5. Add in the white wine and let it cook until the mixture thickens, stirring it from time to time.
6. Add in the beef stock and mushroom, give it a few quick stirs to submerge the mushroom in the stock. Once the mushrooms shrinks a little in size, season with salt and pepper.
7. Pour in the sour cream & butter (i read somewhere that adding butter makes the sauce a little bit glossy). Keep stirring until it just begins to simmer. 
8. Return the beef strips into the pan. Season with salt and pepper to taste. (If you find it too sourish to your taste, add some sugar. Or add a little more beef stock & thicken it with cornstarch mixture if too diluted)
9. Add half the parsley in and give it a few quick stirs. Turn off the heat.
10. Plate your pasta first, pour over the mushroom beef sauce. Garnish with the remaining parsley and bacon bits. Serve warm!

    Tip 1: Place your serving plates in an oven while cooking, so your meal is served warm.
    Tip 2: If you do not like sour cream base, switch it with heavy cream.
    Tip 3: Ensure your white wine has not been kept too long, or it would taste a bit sour.

    Tip 4: Most importantly, ensure your partner like sour cream. ;p