"lasagna" news and stories

Yesterday Andrew Cuomo was elected governor of New York State, which means, as Eater pointed out, that his girlfriend semi-scary, Semi-Homemade Food Network Star Sandra Lee is now Semi-First Lady-Elect of the grand state of New York.

A couple of weeks ago she told the AP she wasn't worried about becoming the state's first lady -- the only thing she wanted to be is "first lady of cookbooks right now." The 44-year-old Lee was promoting her new book, "The Complete Cookbook."

With Lee and Cuomo's busy schedules, Lee says the key to seeing each other is organization. Lee was also quoted as saying that she and Cuomo, "...just have fun. We're normal people. We're kind of boring, actually."

Happy National Lasagna Day!

For a dish that dates back to biblical times, lasagna has endured time well, continually maintaining the fickle embraces of popular culture (how could anyone forget that lasagna-loving feline, Garfield?). At its core, the meal typically requires the use of pasta layers, protein and sauce, but is in essence yet another edible blank canvas, with a world of possibilities.

Lasagna bolognese is undeniably delicious -- especially when following Italian cooking superstar Mario Batali's infallible recipe -- but venturing outside the box is equally rewarding. Take a look at some of our favorite lasagna recipes:

• Roasted eggplant lasagna
• Wild mushroom lasagna
• Roasted portobello and prosciutto lasagna
• Butternut squash and spinach lasagna
  
• Skillet lasagna with ricotta and basil
• Fennel and tomato lasagna
• Roasted butternut squash, garlic and rosemary lasagna

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It must be the year of the sandwich -- between the Double Down and the Grilled Cheese BurgerMelt, we thought the insane combinations would have been exhausted by now. We guessed wrong. This past Monday, Tesco introduced the Lasagna Sandwich in the UK.

According to a Tesco press release, "The sandwich is made up of two thick slices of bread, a filling of diced beef in a tangy tomato and herb sauce layered with cooked pasta sheets and finished with a creamy cheddar, ricotta and mayonnaise dressing."

Head over to Eater.com to read more about the LAS-andwich.

Del Posto restaurant in New York City serves a lasagna that's 100 layers. Nope, that's not a typo.

Mark Ladner, the chef at the high-end Italian restaurant (owned by Mario Batali and Lidia Bastianich), was inspired by the tortilla Espanola at Casa Mono. He admits that it takes a lot of people to construct the multi-layered dish.

"Three separate departments work on it," he told Slashfood. "One department makes the ragu, one makes the pasta sheets and another assembles it in giant square pans. We butter the inside of the pans and start building in them, alternating the layers of pasta and sauce, which are Bolognese, tomato marinara and a besciamella."

The only tricky part of the whole procedure is the setting process, which Ladner says can be "fickle." Skewers are used to stabilize it while it's hot and a special spatula is used to serve it.

With rich layers of warm flavor, this Butternut and Navy Bean Lasagna is blatant proof of comfort food's supreme ability to alleviate all winter weather ails.

In this seasonal alternative to the traditional red bolognese lasagna, the Delementals blogger used leftover roasted squash and a surplus of navy beans paired with a wintry blend of fresh herbs (thyme, rosemary and sage) to create this rich lasagna. Beneath the patterned layers of sauce, pasta and cheese, the cheerful yellow base is remarkably complex, with flavors ranging from cumin and cayenne to bold Manchego and tangy apple cider vinegar and ginger in this perfect cold-weather dish that's made to satisfy body and soul.

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