In cold weather, although in competition with our friend @Ricardo's formidable slow cooker, there are all the reasons to eat comfort food cooked with our favorite barbecue.
Terrible weather is a great opportunity to cook on the BBQ, because these moments are even more appreciated by the family who bravely watch us from the other side of the patio door, with respect and admiration for this absolute proof of love. Freezing them while they are in the warm living room. But few happiness equals the aftermath when we eat as a family while watching the winter powder.
This weekend, with the depressing ice storm, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to make one of my favorite dishes: lasagna.
I am a big fan of pasta, it is a poorly kept secret. But lasagna is definitely top 2 in the family of tasty noodles and so appreciated by my son.
True to my "quick and easy" principle, I defrost a spaghetti sauce from the freezer, the said sauce having been made several weeks ago, simmering quietly in my beloved Campchef, the pellet BBQ being the modern oven par excellence for busy people who want to cook outside.
Cooking traditional pasta, I feel like grilling peppers, onions, mushrooms sprinkled Explorer spices to make a “healthy layer” in my storm lasagna.
Maybe it's our 2020 resolutions that are pulling me away from my traditional side?
Never mind.
There will be EXTRA vegetables in my Sunday lasagna.
After all, a good lasagna layered with tasty cheese, thick sauce, and topped with a mozzarella gratin always does the trick.
Confession? I am passionate enough to a-do-re chicken lasagna (whole chicken cooked slowly on a rotisserie in All-in-1 so tender and juicy coated rub Argentina accompanied by layers of mozzarella, ricotta or cottage cheese or with béchamel or grated parmesan.
Because let's face it: "where there is discomfort, there is no pleasure."
I even tried the tofu and tempeh lasagna before, which I found rather mushy.
To tell you, I tried a lasagna with sun-dried tomato pesto and eggplant slices to replace pasta, I tried 100% veggie lasagna, seafood lasagna, grilled vegetable lasagna, the popular extra-meat. (A fan, you know)
But I especially loved discovering the lasagnas where a huge layer of cheese was hidden, hidden layers of pepperoni or even a recipe from a gourmet aunt who always knew where to put a little sausage, bacon and love in a dish that was already so comforting.
Bacon and cheese go everywhere, that's for sure. But a layer of unexpected happiness in a lasagna: wow.
Sometimes you have to respect a classic, other times you have to reinvent yourself. Choose your side.
For me, if it's creamy, tasty, just warm enough, I always say yes to a lasagna because it reminds me of the Sundays of my childhood, when my mother would make a meal for 6, with spaghetti sauce straight from the freezer: a perfect rescue for the busy modern mother.
Lasagna facts
- Meat sauce, creamy pesto, béchamel, rosé sauce and delicate veggie sauce are timeless classics.
- Parmesan cheese, ricotta, cottage cheese, mozzarella, and cheese curds are all must-haves when making lasagna.
- Know that ground pork, chicken, vegetables, cold meats, 4 cheeses, grilled vegetables are great ideas to vary the classic lasagna.
- Fresh pasta, frozen pasta, boxed pasta, homemade pasta are all equally delicious.
There are so many different opinions, don't declare war, just make your favorite lasagna.
Weeknight tip: Prepare all your ingredients in advance, make your sauce, cook your own pasta and keep it in the fridge until assembly time, just before putting it on the grill to reheat. Melt the cheese on your back burner if your grill has one, rotating the pan to brown evenly. In indirect cooking, the lasagna will have the whole neighborhood salivating until June.
What can you do to make a lasagna a hit other than a golden cheese crust born from radiant heat?
My favorite foods?
I love goat cheese, my son loves grilled peppers, my best friend swears by grilled pine nut pesto. So? We put the best, we gratinate, we re-gratinate, and we don't apologize.
You can find gluten-free, lactose-free and pleasure-free.
Lasagna is the mother of all comfort foods, would you mind making it your way and not asking for permission?
