Oven Lovin'

   Lasagna is a casserole. What I mean by that is, everything goes into one dish and bakes. The reason I have little interest in remaking the vegetable lasagna is not because I thought it was horrible, but because I rarely bake; I'll roast, I'll toast, I'll broil, but I much prefer the stovetop to the stove.
   Jes fills that void in our culinary repertoire. The first meal she made for me was tatertot casserole (recipe to follow), the second follows here, and yet another casserole debuted at the first Christmas party we shared. Now, not everything she makes is lumped into that dish, but she does have a trust for the oven which I do not; so, if I'm using the oven, it's because she is nearby.
   I'm very hands-on with my cooking style. I will watch a pot of water boil. I like to poke and stir and remove things from the heat. When you're baking, however, you can't do that. If that door opens, you're likely doing more harm than simply extending the time it takes to fully cook your meal. You could upset the delicate balance at the molecular level! Worlds could be destroyed because you thought you knew better! I think my biggest quandary with the oven is that the lightbulb inside really deals no justice toward the doneness of your food.
   The other extreme to coddling your creations is not paying enough attention. This could have horrific consequences particularly when you're baking, but I actually bring it up as a means of bringing us back to pasta. Jes and I have a friend who has admitted to burning spaghetti, because while boiling it, she returned to find that no more water was left in the pot. That is hilariously perplexing to many of us, but it just goes to show: we all make mistakes.

Stovetop Science

   Baking is its own science, but boiling has its moments as well, and there is some bad science out there needing to be addressed. This article immerses itself in the facts behind boiling the perfect pasta, debunking the myths many of us have heard by testing them to their true conclusion as real science is supposed to do. From the size of the pot to the amount of water and even the amount of heat, the author settles out the only things that really matter.
   What I gleaned from this read was how to keep pasta from sticking, which you may remember was a problem that I couldn't figure out. Gluten is the protein that helps the dough of pasta hold together; starch is the carbohydrate that makes cooked pieces of pasta stick to each other. Gluten softens pasta as it boils; starch releases from each piece of pasta and coats the surfaces, clinging to itself. If the pasta is agitated (stirred) when this initially happens (within the first couple minutes of boiling), the starchy residue disappears into the water for good, keeping each noodle separate.
   If that wasn't revolutionary enough, the best part was learning not to discard the water—or, at least not all of it. It's a happy ending for the starch after all.

Western Spaghetti

   With the second installment in our pasta series, we go out of the realm of "oven-ready" pasta and actually pre-cook it ourselves. Whether you're following tradition or the above-author's suggestions, I'll leave the process open-ended. Jes and I don't really follow the box (obviously, because I never used to stir), but it is helpful to know how long a particular shape of pasta requires. Most boxes tell us how long to cook for al dente—"to the tooth," or "with bite." If al dente is perfection, we like to overcook our pasta; so we go that extra minute or so. Or, if Jes is cooking, we test a piece until we think it's done.
   From the moment your water starts taking heat to the draining of your cooked pasta, there is enough time to fabricate a sauce. For this particular recipe, Jes uses a homemade-ish meat sauce. I say -ish because I'm used to giddo making it from scratch, while this recipe calls for some brand-name flavors. I'm not attacking the method; I'm simply noting the difference.
   This may seem the perfect set-up for a plate of spaghetti and meatballs, but there is one more layer of flavor to add that you should have guessed by now: Here lies the recipe for:

November 5, 2011 - Baked Spaghetti

   Baked spaghetti is simple, delicious, and simply delicious. But, on the off-chance that our kitchen does not have spaghetti stocked in it, it's nice to know that this recipe is open to interpretation. I mean, pasta is pasta is pasta; you could potentially use any shape available. Though, macaroni might not be the best choice, and lasagna has its own place.
   The most recent preparation of this dish utilized the fun shape of wheels—the baked-on residue of which made beautiful graffiti art to be admired afterward. But of course, since the sauce takes the longest to craft, it's best to address that early on, so that whatever pasta you choose to cook isn't sitting around waiting for it to be made.

April 19, 2016 - Baked Wheels

1 lb. ground beef
2 24-oz. jars spaghetti sauce [Roasted Garlic and Tomato & Basil]
1 1.37-oz. package McCormick Thick and Zesty Spaghetti Sauce Mix

Start out browning the beef in a large pot. Drain (and rinse if needed).
Add the Thick and Zesty to the beef and about ¼-jar of spaghetti sauce and stir until the meat is coated. Then add the rest of the sauce and mix well. Let it simmer about 15 minutes, stirring often on medium-low heat.

April 19, 2016 - Baked Wheels

1 lb. pasta

Meanwhile, boil water and cook pasta.
Drain pasta, then add it to a large baking dish and gently fold in sauce. Mix until the pasta is coated.
Put it in the oven at 350 deg. for 20-25 minutes.
Add shredded cheddar over the top and bake for 5 more minutes.

   Voilà! C'est bon!
   Personally, I wouldn't think to put cheddar on top, but it actually works. Not to mention, it's lactose-free—as long as it's not processed. That's a different story. Nevermind. Forget I said anything.
   Depending on your sauce preferences, you might possibly end up with unused meat sauce. No matter! Bulk cooking is nothing to be ashamed of, and is actually something I promote. Growing up, my family would create huge batches of sauces or dips and freeze them for another day's meal. As long as you label the date, who knows how far into the future you could provide for? We only recently broke into giddo's last braid of Syrian cheese.

Speaking of Cheese...

   We're not through with this post yet. If you were surprised to see that recipe formatting show up again, we're really gonna bake your noodle tonight.... Oh, that was almost too perfect.
   No plate of pasta is complete without a crispy, crusty piece of garlic bread. And with Jes, you can almost be certain it'll have cheddar cheese added in. Not that I'm complaining; when we thought she was lactose-intolerant, I almost cried to consider giving up such a world of flavor.
   Anyway, I've never made garlic bread, or even paid attention while my mom did, but this is definitely not your Italian grandmother's recipe.

April 19, 2016 - Cheesy Garlic Bread

½ stick butter
1 tablespoon fresh chopped garlic
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
generous pinch shredded cheddar

Set out butter on the counter with garlic, stirring every 5-10 minutes until room temperature and smooth, about 45 minutes.
Add mayonnaise, shredded cheddar and optional sliced green onion. Mix well.

April 19, 2016 - Cheesy Garlic Bread

½ loaf French bread

Cut bread in half lengthwise, then spread mixture evenly over each and place on foil-covered pan.
Put it on top-rack in the oven at 350 deg. for about 5-8 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and golden brown.
Let it cool for a couple minutes. Then cut and eat!

November 5, 2011 - Cheesy Garlic Bread

   Notably, the first time Jes prepared this for me was the best. It was much deeper than golden brown, dried to perfection, and it had the ideal balance of all of its flavors. It may be as simple as gas vs. electric, but that discovery awaits another day.

Pasta: Present & Future

   I think it is high time we start a series. There are plenty more stories to tell and several other dishes to discuss; there are still some failures worth highlighting, and eventually we'll even get into the original recipes. But now that the groundwork has been laid, I'd at least like to begin with some of the simpler things to prepare.

   Pasta must be the first thing I've felt confident cooking, and I'd like to believe I share that sentiment with most college students. Whether it's a package of ramen or a box of Kraft mac 'n' cheese, there is so much appeal to having a filling serving within 10 minutes—give or take. And while instant Cup Noodles are still a thing for me, instant mac 'n' cheese never caught on.
   Homestyle mac 'n' cheese gets my attention, but there is a hefty amount of nostalgia waiting beneath that ultra-delicious, likely-synthetic Kraft cheese sauce, such that no matter how many times I'm tempted to even order the over-priced, small-portion versions that so many restaurants offer, my heart always jumps to consider Kraft.

The Pasta Constitution

   For consistency's sake, "pasta," for me, includes everything Italian which comes to mind and everything Asian which usually doesn't. Shirley, other regions' variations also fall into this category (Middle-Eastern cuisine tends to combine pasta with rice; Polish cuisine includes pierogies; Turkey and Hungary make dumplings), but since the word itself originates in Italian, we don't often consider the others in the same light.

Somen Noodles

   "Pasta" comes from the Latin for "dough" (literally "paste"), and therein lies the connection; however, this is different from your typical bread dough because pasta does not traditionally contain a rising agent, such as yeast, etc. The preparation of ramen is unique in that it does rise in order to create a spongelike network, before being dried for packaging. What I see from this, though, is that each culture treated one meal component in vastly different ways, and it shows how versatile pasta truly is.
   Whatever its nationality, pasta is almost always made from wheat. Gluten is the operative factor in pasta, being responsible for the dough's initial elasticity. (Gluten is inherently found within wheat, barley, rye, spelt, and related grains.) Individual wheat pastas can vary greatly by their flour, affecting both their texture (00-grade to whole-wheat) and color (buckwheat in soba noodles).
   When it's not made from wheat, the starch can be obtained from rice, yams, beans, cassava (tapioca), etc. These are naturally gluten-free; however, if they are transported or processed alongside wheat products, they may become contaminated with gluten. Like the callout "may contain traces of peanuts," facilities which process wheat are also mentioned on packaging. Alternatives to gluten often use xanthan gum (bacteria-based) and/or guar gum (plant-based) to produce similar elasticity.
   The other half of pasta is egg, but this actually only comes into play when you're making your own. If gluten is the binding ingredient, egg is used for its moisture. But boxed pastas are dried, and so, most of them don't even contain egg; those are merely fortified flour. Many of them are, however, made in facilities which process eggs, so there is that to consider.

   I did mention that this is simple. As such, in this series of recipes, I'm not at all talking about fresh, homemade pasta—which I have no experience with either directly or through purchasing. If you're looking to make pasta from scratch, I recommend this full-fledged article lovingly explaining the dos and don'ts of the process. After reading that, I honestly look forward to trying it myself. But for all past creations of ours, and those for the foreseeable future, we are strictly talking stiff, mass-produced and pre-packaged pasta.

Layers of Love

   You know I love to address leftovers, so it makes sense that this recipe comes after the rat. I slaved over slicing those vegetables—rounds of tomato, yellow squash, zucchini, baby eggplant, and Anaheim pepper. I actually ended up with so much extra that the baking dish I photographed for the previous recipe was the smaller container. A lot of these were likewise layered in their rosette form within our 5-quart pot. And still, there were leftovers.

PrepaRATions

   So, what became of those remaining slices? Two days later, they made their debut in another dinner party for vegetable lasagna. I love the Stouffer's meal that ShopRite rewards you with during holidays, though I assure you that what follows doesn't stack up nearly as tall.

April 20, 2012 - Vegetable Lasagna

   If this weren't already an amateur attempt, the noodles were labeled "oven-ready." How appropriate for the first recipe in this series, to showcase the most convenient and cheap pasta. There's no shame associated in using it; I just wasn't comfortable with cooking giant noodles to al dente perfection—and so you know, I haven't made lasagna since.
   The first layer to go down is usually the sauce. If not, it's oil. Here, it was probably just puree, as I'd used for the ratatouille. After that went three oven-ready lasagna noodles, ricotta along two of them (explanation follows), and yellow squash and zucchini rounds over that. The order of vegetables doesn't really matter, and the selection can be replaced with broccoli, carrot, etc. One-third of this lasagna was made to be free-of-cheese, because when Jes and I first met, we suspected that she may have had lactose-intolerance or some other disability which was affected by dairy. (We're still waiting to discover the real issue, but that explains why some of our meals avoid cheese). And, I'm not one for using substitutes, so that third was nothing more than pasta primavera in the end.

April 20, 2012 - Vegetable Lasagna

   The sauce restarts the layering, followed by three more noodles, more ricotta, zucchini and eggplant rounds, and shredded mozzarella—again, along the two-thirds. By this point, the cheese-less side was starting to look rather shallow.

April 20, 2012 - Vegetable Lasagna

   The final layer (over sauce, noodles and ricotta) took the vegetable remainder: more zucchini, yellow squash, and the delicate tomatoes. More mozzarella was added before chopped basil, dried oregano and ground pepper topped the whole plate. You can tell I was skimping on some of these ingredients, which is one reason why I'm not including measurements: if you think it deserves more, go for it. The other reason, you might have guessed, is because I honestly don't know. But, if I could go back and change one thing, I'd probably layer this twice as high, at least. Which, of course, would call for more vegetables than I had ready.

April 20, 2012 - Vegetable Lasagna

   I do not believe I covered this. Ideally, lasagna should be covered with foil for the greater length of its cook-time, and uncovered for a short time following for that nice, browned-cheese effect. For specifics, 350 degrees for 30 minutes is about par, with 10 additional minutes uncovered. Temperature may vary to 375 or 400 degrees, and timing may vary from 25 to 45 minutes depending on the ingredients (cream sauce, meat, etc.). If these vegetables had been chunkier, that may have been reason enough to kick up the heat.
   For that additional time, I added our wonderfully lumpy grated parmesan to the top. I can't say that a plated slice was presentable. Then again, that's usual in my experience with lasagna. But it was worth the minimal effort it took to assemble, and that's about all it takes to please most people. Texture? sloppy. Taste? smooth. Room for improvement? definitely. Will you see it here? probably not.

Other Recipes in this Series:
Ruth's Pasta Salad
Baked Spaghetti with Cheesy Garlic Bread
Deconstructed Shrimp Alfredo
Shrimp Ramen