The Countertop Oven Class

Grant Crilly

Cutting board

Bench scraper

3/4 Sheet pan

9-inch by 13-inch Baking pan

Rolling pin

Imperia Restaurant pasta roller

Chef’s knife

12-quart Stockpot

Spider strainer

3-quart Saucepan

Breville Super Q™

The Control °Freak® induction cooking system

Meat grinder

Breville Joule® Oven Air Fryer Pro

Fresh spinach

Basil

Butter

All-purpose flour

Milk

Cream

Garlic

Fennel seeds

Kosher salt

Chile flakes

Olive oil

Tomato(es)

Mozzarella

Parmesan

We recommend making a double-batch of our pasta dough the night before and let it rest overnight –wrapped in the refrigerator – for optimal results. 

Short on time? You can also make this dough fresh, day-of (like Grant did in the video), and you will still have amazing results. 

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Fresh Sheet Pasta

Make pasta dough

There are so many flours in the baking aisles of grocery stores now that it might be confusing. Which one should you buy for pasta? Generally, the finer the flour and the higher the protein content in a flour, the better it is for pasta. In fact, you might find flours on the market that say Pasta Flour.

The chewier you want your final food to be, the more protein you want in the flour. Don’t use a high-protein flour for cakes, since you want those to be tender. Pasta? Go for high-protein. 

To make the pasta for this lasagna, Grant used <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VXKJIAO/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00VXKJIAO&linkCode=as2&tag=chefsteps02-20&linkId=6f3225bf0cb7675c38bc61c111060b7f">Caputo 00 pasta flour.</a>

Know your flour

Quarter the dough. Reserve three of the portions in plastic wrap to prevent a skin from developing.

Using a rolling pin, flatten one portion of the dough until it will fit in the pasta roller on the thickest setting (#1 on a scale from 1 to 8).

Pass the dough through the #1 setting, then one setting smaller, all the way down to #6.

Lay the dough on a flat surface to dry a bit.

Repeat the process with the remaining dough.

Make your pasta sheets

Use whatever pasta roller you have to make your pasta. 
You can find—online or in kitchen stores—<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001IXA0I/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0001IXA0I&linkCode=as2&tag=chefsteps02-20&linkId=e933a4b0c09a7391d0b69124b5ee7ec3">small stand-alone pasta rollers</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/KitchenAid-KSMPSA-Roller-Attachment-Silver/dp/B01ENK4W9M?tag=chefsteps02-20">attachments for your mixer</a> that will roll out fresh pasta, and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002G9BPOI/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B002G9BPOI&linkCode=as2&tag=chefsteps02-20&linkId=0e2aa95fbd745febeb74d2c033de7229">large ones that will make wide sheets</a>, like Grant did here.

Pasta roller

Set a stockpot of well-salted water on high heat. Bring the water to a boil. That water has to be rapidly boiling, like it’s in a rage.

Put 3 sheets of the pasta into the water to boil, briefly. Using a spider, bring each sheet of pasta out of the water after 60 seconds. Put the pasta into an ice bath to cook the rest of the pasta. After all the sheets are cooked, move them from the ice bath to a sheet tray. Set them aside.

Boil the pasta, briefly

Now, it’s time to blanch the spinach and basil. Blanching the greens will kill all the natural enzymes that want to eat up the aroma compounds and will also help keep the spinach and basil green. Plus, blanching the spinach compresses it, so you can get more greens in the lasagna. 

Bring the water in the stockpot back to a boil. Bring it to a rapid, full boil .

Put the cleaned spinach—stems removed and leaves washed—into the hot water in batches. Watch. When the spinach starts to flatten out in the water, it‘s time to pull the spinach. If the water is boiling really hard, that should only take about 15 seconds or so. Instead of setting the timer, pay attention. Use a spider to get the last of the spinach out of the water.

Immediately move the blanched spinach into an ice bath to stop the cooking. 

Repeat with the remaining spinach, then blanch the basil in the same way. 

Wring all the water out of the blanched spinach and basil. 

Tip: if you want to skip this step, buy packages of frozen spinach and let them thaw. Spinach is blanched before it is frozen.

Prep your greens

Get a spider

In the bottom of a heavy pot over high heat, melt the butter. Sprinkle in some flour to test the heat—once the flour sizzles and fries upon contact, whisk in the rest of the flour. As you whisk the mixture over the heat, the butter and flour will combine into crumbles, then become a smooth paste, Keep whisking. Then, add the milk and cream. 

Now, keep whisking until the liquids come to a boil. The mixture will start out thick and grow thicker. Remember that what is at the bottom of the saucepan will get thicker, since the starches will be hydrating faster than what is on the top. So, whisk and whisk and whisk to prevent burning. Don’t walk away. 

When liquids have come to a boil, turn the heat down to low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has reduced a bit and becomes velvety smooth.

Cooking With the Control °Freak®?

Pan temp: [f 230]

Intensity: 🔥🔥

Bring béchamel sauce to boiling while whisking continually.

Make the béchamel sauce

Since you want the final lasagna to be silky smooth, we are going to make a smooth tomato sauce that takes about a minute to make. 

Put the garlic, fennel seeds, salt, and chiles into the blender. Run the blender until the garlic cloves are chopped. With the blender running, drizzle in the olive oil. When everything is blended, add the tomatoes. Blend until the sauce is entirely smooth. Sauce is ready.

Make tomato sauce

Cut the mozzarella and parmesan into small chunks. 

Turn on the grinder—the grinding attachment for your mixer or a meat grinder, if you have one—and push the chunks of mozzarella through the grinder into a bowl. Grind the Parmesan cheese after that.

Grind the cheese

If you don’t have a grinder, then freshly grated cheese will work well here too. 

Packaged grated cheeses generally have anti-caking agents, not cheese alone. They tend to melt differently and brown much more than freshly ground or grated cheese. So, if you can, grate the cheese yourself.

What if I don’t have a grinder for the cheese?

Drizzle some oil in the bottom of the lasagna pan, then move the pan around to coat entirely. 

Spoon some of the tomato sauce into the bottom of the pan. You don’t have to coat the bottom—watch the video to see how Grant does this. 

Lay down the first sheet of pasta—use the one that is largest to make sure the entire bottom of the pan is covered. 

Add another layer of tomato sauce, then another layer of pasta. 

Spoon on some béchamel onto the pasta layer, then gently spread it to the edges of the pasta. 

Another layer of pasta, then put about 1/3 of the blanched spinach and basil on top of it. 

After that, add a layer of your ground cheese mixture. 

Repeat with these layers in this order – tomato sauce, béchamel, greens, and cheese – until the pan is full and all the ingredients are gone (reserving your last layer of cheese for the very top).

Assemble it all

Yep. You have to burp the lasagna, baby.

Burp the lasagna

You have two options for baking the lasagna. Remember that all the elements of this dish are already cooked, so this is merely a matter of how closely you want to watch the lasagna. 

For a lasagna with crispy edges and crunchy melted cheese, bake at [f 450] until the top starts to brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Don’t let the top of the lasagna burn. Turn down the heat to [f 300] and bake until every part of the lasagna is hot, which will take another 20 minutes or so. 

For a lasagna with softness that lets you leave the kitchen, bake at [f 325] until the lasagna is completely hot, about one hour.

Bake the lasagna

If you want to try searing the lasagna, refrigerate the lasagna—or the leftovers of it—overnight. Cut slices of about one-inch wide, then cut each piece in half. 

Set a nonstick pan on high heat. While the pan is heating, you can add a little bit of cooking oil directly onto the side of slices, if desired. Sprinkle a bit of fennel seed into the dry pan, in the place where you want to lay down the slices. When the pan is hot, set a slice of lasagna—layer side down—onto the pan. Put in a few slices but do not crowd the pan. 

Sear the lasagna for one minute, then turn the heat down to medium. The high heat will get rid of a lot of moisture, right away. The lower heat will allow you to keep searing without burning. 

Watch a corner of a slice. When that corner shows color, it is probably time to flip the lasagna. Check the bottom of the lasagna slices. The seared side should be dark and shattery. Look for a little bit of bubbling coming through on the layer that has not been seared yet. 

Flip the lasagna slices and sear the other side. 

Wait for the look on people’s faces when they eat it.

Sear the lasagna

Recently, Grant shared a story about his favorite lasagna, which he makes with fresh pasta, béchamel, ground cheese, fresh tomato sauce, and a spinach-basil blend. Then, he sears slices of it for crunchy, oozy lasagna. (Sometimes he eats lasagna for breakfast this way.) After reading the email, you wanted us to make this lasagna recipe for you. We listened to you. Get ready to make lasagna. Grant focuses on two principles for making lasagna. Make fresh pasta to make sheets as fine as possible, for lots and lots of layers. (People forget that lasagna is a pasta dish. Make amazing pasta.) He also reduces the moisture in the lasagna, by blanching and squeezing dry the spinach and basil, and only uses enough tomato sauce and béchamel to make incredible lasagna, not a goopy mess with pounds of melted cheese. Want to take this lasagna to the next level? Bake the lasagna, refrigerate it overnight (or, let’s be honest, refrigerate the last bit of lasagna after eating well with your friends or family), then slice it up. Have you ever eaten seared slices of lasagna? You should. You really, really should. Make this and throw a lasagna party soon.

24-Layer Lasagna