This may seem like a mundane topic for my travel blog, but for those of you who know me personally, it might make some sense. Yesterday, after Thursday’s weekly market in our market square, I decided I wanted to use some of that delicious produce to make sauce. One thing led to another, and after a few hours of work, I had made lasagna with homemade sauce and a loaf of fresh garlic bread from scratch. The only thing that would have made it better is if we had also made the lasagna noodles, which we could have done, as we do have a pasta maker. We usually reserve fresh pasta projects for when the weather sucks or there’s a lockdown order because of a pandemic. 😉
I know I have a few readers who have met me offline and know there was a time when I really enjoyed cooking and baking. I don’t do it so much anymore, as Bill kind of took over that chore some time ago. But there was a time when I was a pretty damned good cook. I even got paid to do it. So, as Bill was finishing up his Friday work day at home, opting to use a few comp hours to take the afternoon off, I ventured into the kitchen and started a pot of water to blanch the beautiful vine ripened tomatoes we bought on Thursday.
“What are you doing?” Bill asked.
“I feel like making sauce.” I said.
“Great! I’ll get the peppers!” He was genuinely excited, as one of the reasons he decided I might be worth marrying is because I cooked a mean pot roast and made homemade cloverleaf rolls when he visited me at the apartment I lived in during graduate school. Like any good moonchild, he is easily seduced through his stomach.
Bill laid out the beautiful fruits and vegetables from the market. I started chopping them as the tomatoes blanched in the hot water. I was going to remove the skins, but decided not to bother trying to take out the seeds. I peeled the tomatoes and boiled the skins to render out even more of the flesh, then threw three kinds of sweet peppers, onion, garlic, fresh basil, and salt and pepper into a pot, where it simmered for most of the afternoon. I also used up the last of our oregano.
When I mentioned wanting to make bread, Bill said, “We already have bread from the bakery.” But it was the chewy kind that I don’t like that much. Besides, I enjoy baking bread. The kneading process is a great stress reliever. So I made a perfect loaf of garlic bread. Then, it came time to mix up the cheeses (mozzarella and Parmesan) and make Bechamel sauce for the lasagna. Although it started out a vegetarian dish, I decided to add a little Black Forest ham from the market. Just a little bit, mind you, as the ham was a bit smokey and strong, and a little was really all it needed. I wouldn’t usually put ham in lasagna, but Hell, I’ve see people put boiled eggs in them here, so why not? The ham was very good, by the way.
Below are some photos from yesterday’s project, courtesy of the market. Bill did have to go pick up some spinach for the cheese layers, and I added a little tomato paste from Parma to move the sauce a little bit. We still had enough sauce left to make a pizza later today. He also picked up a couple of slices of our local bakery’s version of a Sacher Torte… which wasn’t really a Sacher Torte, since it wasn’t made with apricot jam. There was also plenty of wine and good music, and the kitchen smelled fabulous!
I’m really pleased with how it turned out. Bill quipped, having tasted the lasagna, “That’s a fucking good lasagna.” He was channeling The Kids in the Hall, which probably ages us a bit. But I agree, it is a fucking good lasagna. I’m glad I “still got it” in the kitchen.
Arran was happy to hang around and help us clean up, too. That’s good, because while I might be a good cook, I’m not the best at cleaning. But I make a fucking good lasagna… and an even better loaf of bread.
