This is a blog post about spinach lasagna.

So I made lasagna on Saturday night. (Spinach lasagna from the Moosehead Cookbook, if you're wondering.) People often seem impressed when I tell them I can make lasagna, though it's really not that complicated a meal to prepare. I suppose because no one ever really talks about making lasagna, the dish has built up some crazy mystique. Which is strange, because folks have been making lasagna for centuries now. It's just a casserole, dudes.

The thing with lasagna is that it's a simple combination of ingredients and effort. And the fundamental ingredients are, let's be clear, delicious. You take cheese and pasta and cheese and sauce and spinach and more cheese and more pasta, and you layer them up, and then you put some more cheese on top. All of these things are excellent, and really just the act of putting them in the same pan is victory enough.

But when you're making lasagna, you're not thinking that way. You're thinking, oh, gotta make sure not to burn it, oh, gotta make sure it's cooked through, what if I left a spinach stem in there, what if I screwed up the noodles and they're overcooked or not cooked enough? You let the pressure and expectations build up in your head, and you forget what's important: cheese and pasta and cheese, all in the same pan.

I've never made a perfect lasagna, but I've made some very good ones, because I remember in the end what matters. Preparation and presentation are definitely important in cooking, but ingredients are what make my favorite recipes good. At the heart of any dish is what you put into it.

So I made lasagna the other night, and it turned out really well. Cheese and pasta and yet more cheese. At the end of the day, you can't really lose.

Labels: in which our heroine, iron chef liz

posted by Liz  # 10:16 AM

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