Growing up as a child in a low to middle income Italian household, pasta was a staple part of the diet. We had it two times a week with homemade sauce as my mother would have jumped off a building before opening a jar of Ragu! I don't know if any of you remember the Ragu spaghetti sauce commercials from those days, but they had an obviously stereotyped Italian guy taking a taste of pasta with Ragu on it and loudly proclaiming "That's Italian!". My mom said he was a traitor to all Italians because the sauce tasted nothing like her homemade version!
Speaking of 'The Sauce', my mom would make the sauce early Sunday morning, we'd have pasta promptly at 1 PM and the remaining sauce would go in the fridge until Thursday evening. More pasta would be made and the sauce remaining from Sunday heated up. There was always salad with oil and vinegar dressing, and Italian bread and butter as accompaniments.
The sauce was always flavored with some kind of meat, anything from sausage, pepperoni, pork, beef, meatballs, whatever, and each type of meat or combination of meats gave each batch of sauce a unique flavor.
Sometimes we had pasta three or four times in a week as leftovers if too much pasta was made Sunday or Thursday. That leftover pasta, which was put away coated with whatever leftover sauce there was, was then placed into a frying pan with hot olive oil and some spices and fried. As soon as it was taken out of the pan it was served with freshly grated cheese on top of it. Delicious! If you have never tried fried pasta like this, you really should.
So, today I wondered if leftover lasagna could be treated this way, and the answer is a resounding Yes. YES!! For those of you who do not make their own lasagna, I see no reason that you couldn't do this with some store bought frozen lasagna which would certainly improve its taste tenfold at least, in my humble opinion.
Ingredients:
Leftover or heated frozen lasagna, two to three servings
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup shredded four cheese blend (I use Asiago, Fontina, Parmesan, & Provolone)
4 tbs Olive Oil
Preparation:
Heat leftover lasagna in microwave until warm, for frozen lasagna heat according package directions. Heat oil in frying pan over medium heat. Slice the lasagna in 1 inch wide pieces and add on side to frying pan after oil is hot. Sprinkle with garlic, basil, and oregano. Cook covered three minutes, turn pieces over, and cook and additional three minutes. Turn off heat and top with shredded cheese blend and let sit covered until cheese is melted.
Serve and enjoy!
Speaking of 'The Sauce', my mom would make the sauce early Sunday morning, we'd have pasta promptly at 1 PM and the remaining sauce would go in the fridge until Thursday evening. More pasta would be made and the sauce remaining from Sunday heated up. There was always salad with oil and vinegar dressing, and Italian bread and butter as accompaniments.
The sauce was always flavored with some kind of meat, anything from sausage, pepperoni, pork, beef, meatballs, whatever, and each type of meat or combination of meats gave each batch of sauce a unique flavor.
Sometimes we had pasta three or four times in a week as leftovers if too much pasta was made Sunday or Thursday. That leftover pasta, which was put away coated with whatever leftover sauce there was, was then placed into a frying pan with hot olive oil and some spices and fried. As soon as it was taken out of the pan it was served with freshly grated cheese on top of it. Delicious! If you have never tried fried pasta like this, you really should.
So, today I wondered if leftover lasagna could be treated this way, and the answer is a resounding Yes. YES!! For those of you who do not make their own lasagna, I see no reason that you couldn't do this with some store bought frozen lasagna which would certainly improve its taste tenfold at least, in my humble opinion.
Ingredients:
Leftover or heated frozen lasagna, two to three servings
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup shredded four cheese blend (I use Asiago, Fontina, Parmesan, & Provolone)
4 tbs Olive Oil
Preparation:
Heat leftover lasagna in microwave until warm, for frozen lasagna heat according package directions. Heat oil in frying pan over medium heat. Slice the lasagna in 1 inch wide pieces and add on side to frying pan after oil is hot. Sprinkle with garlic, basil, and oregano. Cook covered three minutes, turn pieces over, and cook and additional three minutes. Turn off heat and top with shredded cheese blend and let sit covered until cheese is melted.
Serve and enjoy!
4 comments:
Chris,
The photograph is excellent, and your description has my salivary glands working overtime!
- David
It sounds like I have never really had true Lasagna, although mine in exciting on its own.
David - As you know the original size photo is even better and the fried lasagna was excellent!
Sometime in the near future I am going to try it with some frozen lasagna, and I suggest you try the same.
ym - Don't get me wrong, I would never do this with lasagna I just made, that is best served in the traditional manner, out of the pan and covered with home made sauce! Frying it though is an excellent way to deal with the leftovers.
Feel free to tell me about your lasagna and what makes it exciting!
Post a Comment