daring bakers: lasagne of emilia romagna

 

as you know, it’s daring bakers time again! the march 2009 challenge is hosted by mary of beans and caviar, melinda of melbourne larder and enza of io da grande. they have chosen lasagne of emilia-romagna from the splendid table by lynne rossetto kasper as the challenge.

i was thrilled to see another savoury challenge and very happy to have the opportunity to try a different ragu as well as use homemade spinach pasta in my lasagne.

so, how did i get on?

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ageing vegetables

my trip to borough market at the weekend, combined with a busy week, has resulted in lots of slightly past-their-best vegetables that need using up. roasted vegetables are always a great solution and the flavours can be varied enormously, depending what you fancy eating.

harissa and spices such as cumin, coriander and cinnamon are great if you want to have the vegetables with a north-african inspired couscous dish (add orange/lemon zest and juice to the couscous and serve with some mint yoghurt or the side).

today i decided to use more mediterranean flavours and make a lasagne. most of my vegetables roast well but i’m not keen on the flavour of roasted leeks so i decided to cook these on top of the cooker with the fennel.

you’ll see that i use crème fraiche instead of a white/cheese sauce – i find this makes the dish less rich, which is definitely a good thing when the weather is hot. i also like the slightly tangy flavour it gives. try it and see what you think.

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