Today I'm going to make an Italian recipe for you,
This is a Chicken Lasagna, and I'm going to make it without an Oven.
So stay tuned to see how this comes together.
So the first thing that I'm going to do, is to make what I like to call a Flavour bomb.
Now this flavour bomb is the base for the red sauce,
For the chicken mints to cook in.
For that, I'm going to use 1/2 a Carrot, which I've just roughly chopped up,
And a small onion that I've chopped up finely.
Even if you don't really chop it up finely, it's fine.
We're going to blend this all together in the Mixi anyways.
And the ingredient that gives the maximum flavour, some Celery.
So I've taken 2 celery stalks, which I've again just cut up finely.
In it goes into the blender.
Now what this does is, it adds so much flavour to the sauce.
You'll know once you make it.
And you'll know why I call it a flavour bomb.
That's beautiful.
Some of it you'll see is a little bit chunky, that's fine.
It'll cook down really well in the sauce,
So it's fine as long as you get it to this sort of a consistency,
We're good to go.
Pan on low flame, and I'm going to add some Olive Oil.
Remember we're cooking Italian food.
So good quality olive oil will make all the difference here.
The first thing I'm going to add to the pan, is some finely minced Garlic.
I'm going to use about 3/4 of a tablespoon.
Oil doesn't have to be sizzling hot at this stage.
Here.
Just saute that in.
When you can no longer smell the raw aroma of the garlic,
That's when you know it's time to add this flavour bomb.
Now, the reason why I call this a flavour bomb is because...
...by the time you're done cooking this sauce,
This would have melted completely in the sauce,
So, you'll never be able to see it,
But, you'll be able to get all the wonderful flavours...
...of the onion, carrot, and celery.
And that makes you sort of an expert cook.
You know, people will wonder what it is that makes your cooking different.
Well, itís this flavour bomb.
I'm going to look to cook this for a couple of minutes.
And to kind of give it a little bit of flavour at this stage,
I'm just going to add tiny pinch, very tiny pinch of salt.
And just saute this for a couple of minutes.
And now while this flavour bomb cooks for a couple of minutes,
I'm going to make the Tomato Puree.
Now I like to use a bit of a shortcut, I do not,
do not blanch the tomatoes in hot water.
I just use them as is and I'll show you a trick how to use Indian tomatoes.
So they give a little bit of sweetness in these kinds of sauces.
I'm just going to roughly cut these,
Because we're going to puree them anyways, right.
So you don't really need to work very hard,
To get beautifully chopped tomatoes.
You just need fresh tomatoes.
I'm using about 4 medium sized tomatoes.
Last one in, and then it's time to blend.
Beautiful.
Just add this.
Mix it really well with our flavour bomb.
Okay, so now the next step is to add a bunch of flavourings.
Now the thing with Indian tomatoes is...
...that they tend to be a little bit more on the sour or acidic side.
So you must add a tiny pinch of regular Sugar.
This will just take away that sourness of the tomatoes,
And will really give you a very good, Italian quality sauce at home.
Just mix that in.
Now it's time to add all the seasoning,
because we know that a good sauce needs a lot of flavour.
I'm going to add about 2 tbsp, yes don't be alarmed 2 tbsp of some Paprika powder.
If you don't have Paprika powder, just feel free to use Red Chili Powder.
Yes I know I said that, don't kill me!
But I just want you to make this at home,
And I can tell you, that it'll taste just as good.
Stir that in.
Just that beautiful vibrant red that it's got,
As soon as I've added it into the pan.
Now I'm going to add some Chilli Flakes.
I'm adding about a 1/4 tsp, but if you want this slightly spicier...
Be my guest and add more!
Now the other thing that gives it a little bit of heat and a little bit of kick...
..is some Black Pepper Powder.
Don't skip this.
Just about a 1/4 tsp again.
Mix that in.
And again at this stage, I'm going to add again a very tiny pinch of salt.
The great thing is, when you add it in such small increments,
You don't end up over-salting the dish.
Mix that in.
Now what I'm looking for, is for this sauce to reduce by almost half.
What happens when you do that, is that the flavour intensifies.
So I'm just going to move it to a smaller burner on a low flame.
So now we're going to make the cheese layer,
Which is going to comprise about 2 layers in the Lasagna.
I'm going to use about 100 grams of cottage cheese or Paneer,
As we call it at home.
You actually should use Ricotta in this recipe,
But cottage cheese works just as well.
Remember this is slightly salted already.
So just crumble that in.
Now I'm going to grate up some Mozzarella, this is the hard Mozzarella.
Because this will melt really well, when we're going to fake bake,
Not use an oven to make this Lasagna.
Beautiful, that's all done.
Now I'm going to use most of this, and mix it with the cottage cheese.
I'm reserving about 2 tbsp here.
You'll see what I do there.
Now to this, I'm going to add about a 1/4 tsp of Garlic Powder.
This is going to give a lot of flavour to this cheese mix.
I'm going to add some Pepper Powder.
Use about 1/8 of a tsp, not too much.
And about a 1/4 tsp of some Dried Oregano.
Now, this is already got plenty of salt,
So you don't need anymore, just give that a good mix.
We're going to come back to using this later.
And the 2 tbsp of mozzarella that I had reserved,
I'm just going to add it to this smaller bowl.
And also add about 2 tbsp of grated Parmesan.
Just mix the Parmesan and the Mozzarella together.
Because this is the layer that's going to go right on top of the Lasagna,
When it goes in to cook. Now, while we were making that cheese mix...
..you can see just how beautifully this has reduced,
It's become really nice and thick.
Now to this, I'm going to add about 1/2 a cup of water.
Just mix that in.
Beautiful.
Now I said that this was a Chicken Lasagna,
But you know me, I always like to add some vegetables.
So I'm adding about 1/4 of Corn.
And a 1/4 cup of Peas.
Just mix that in.
And here I've got about 220 grams of Chicken mince,
Which I'm just going to add straight into the pan here.
Okay, once the chicken mince is mixed really well into this.
I'm just going to shift it back to this flame.
Give it a good mix here.
And now I'm going to season this some more. So I'm going to add some more Pepper here.
And a dash more Chili Flakes.
Not too much, just very little.
And some more Salt.
Give this a good mix.
Now you don't want this to be a very runny sauce,
You can see that it's slightly thick.
Once you've mixed the seasoning in really well,
You're just going to cover this and let it cook.
Everything here is bubbling away.
The water has come to a boil.
And now at this stage, I'm just going to add 2 tsp of Salt.
Before I add the Lasagna Sheets.
I've got about 6 sheets of lasagna, because I'm using a 7/7 inch square Pan.
So accordingly I've calculated that for 3 layers of lasagna,
I need about 6 sheets.
Now I'm going to cook these, till they are what Italians called Al Dente.
Which means that it's not cooked at the same level right throughout,
Because this is also going to bake later.
So you'll see that the colour will change from the sides,
And it'll still be slightly, not fully cooked from the center.
Because it will finish cooking when we bake it.
Or actually fake bake it on the stovetop.
Just drop that in into the boiling water.
And now it's time to check on the sauce which is bubbling away,
Ooh, beautiful!
That's lovely.
So now at this stage to add a little bit more flavour to it,
I'm going to add a tbsp of finely grated Parmesan.
This adds not just saltiness, but like a flavour kick of its own.
And the last thing to add at this stage, is about 1/2 a tsp of Dried Oregano.
Now the chicken mince is absolutely cooked through,
So I'm just going to take it off the heat and let it cool down a bit.
Before we start layering up our lasagna.
While the lasagna sheets are boiling,
I'm going to show you how to create a fake oven, right here on this stovetop.
So I've got this really large pan here,
Which I'm just going to keep on a high flame.
And cover it.
And this is going to be my fake oven,
That I'm going to let preheat on a high flame for about 10 minutes.
The pasta is done boiling, it was boiling for about 5 minutes.
I've turned off the heat and I'm just going to take out the Pasta Sheets,
The lasagna sheets.
And dunk them into this bowl of room temperature water.
What that does is, that it stops the cooking process completely.
The first layer is going to be the Meat sauce.
Just spread that out right at the bottom of the pan.
Spread that out evenly.
Now I'm going to add 2 of the lasagna sheets.
You'll see that they're slightly big for my baking pan.
But that's not a problem, you can either just fold it over like this.
Or just cut it out and also layer it on top.
Either way.
I'm just going to fold it over on this side.
And now for another layer, of the meat sauce.
And now I'm going to add half of this Cheese mix,
Which is the cottage cheese mixed with mozzarella.
The third layer of the meat sauce.
Second layer of the Cheese mix.
Now it's time for the final layer of the lasagna sheets.
Now what happens when the lasagna is done cooking...
...is that these edges become nice and crisp.
Yes, even in this fake bake situation that we've got going on here.
Now you'll see I've got very little final layer now on top.
And now the final layer of the cheese is the one that we mixed,
The Mozzarella with the Parmesan.
Here, I'm just going to layer that on.
Now make sure you get your gloves on...
...because this whole fake oven here is really hot.
So, Whoa!
I'm just going to drop this stand in here,
On which I'm going to place this Lasagna pan.
So that it doesn't touch the bottom of the pan, which can be really hot.
And now, I'm just going to cover this.
Take the flame up to a medium high.
And let this fake bake for about 20 to 25 minutes,
And you'll be able to see the cheese melt from here from this glass top here.
It's been about 25 minutes, you can see I'm putting my gloves on...
...because I can see that the cheese has melted,
The lasagna has crisped up from the edges.
Uff and it's smelling divine.
So, I've turned off the heat.
Very carefully, make sure you have your gloves on.
And very carefully pull this out.
Now this is the toughest part of this recipe,
You have to let this cool for another 20-25 minutes...
...before you can cut into it and eat it.
When I was in college, I was a huge fan of the show 'Friends'.
And if you know Joey and his love for food,
He used to eat lasagna all the time.
Monica of course used to make it.
And it was my dream to make a really good lasagna at home.
And this time I've shared a recipe which you can make,
Even if you don't have an Oven.