Eric's Staff Lasagna - The French Laundry Restaurant

A hearty staff-meal lasagna from The French Laundry Cookbook, layered with a long-cooked fresh tomato sauce, creamy ricotta and parsley filling, and mozzarella. The tomato paste is cooked until deeply concentrated before fresh tomatoes are added, producing a rich, slightly chunky sauce.

Servings: About 9

Prep Time: About 45 minutes, plus 1 hour cooling time
Cook Time: 2½–3 hours using the stovetop sauce method, or about 4–5 hours using the oven method

Ingredients:
For the Sauce:

• ½ cup olive oil
• 1½ cups minced yellow onion
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• ½ cup tomato paste
• 8 cups peeled tomatoes, cut into rough 1-inch pieces (about 12–14 medium tomatoes)
• ¼ cup chopped fresh oregano or ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

For the Filling:

• 1½ pounds whole-milk ricotta
• 3 large eggs
• ½ cup chopped Italian parsley
• Kosher salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For Assembly:

• 1 pound lasagna noodles
• ½ pound mozzarella, grated
• Kosher salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy pot. Add the onion and garlic and cook gently for 4–5 minutes, or until translucent.
2. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. The tomato paste will begin to separate from the oil, and the oil will turn a vivid orange.
3. Add the tomatoes and stir to combine.
4. To finish the sauce on the stovetop, simmer gently for 1½–2 hours, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot about every 10 minutes to prevent scorching.
5. Alternatively, to finish the sauce in the oven, preheat the oven to 325°F. Bring the tomatoes to a simmer on the stovetop, cover the pot with a parchment lid and transfer to the oven for 3–4 hours.
6. When finished, the sauce should be thick, slightly chunky and reduced to approximately 1 quart.
7. Stir in the oregano or basil and allow the sauce to cool to room temperature, about 1 hour, before assembling the lasagna.
8. Meanwhile, prepare the filling. In a large bowl, whisk together the ricotta and eggs until completely blended.
9. Add the parsley and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix well and refrigerate until ready to assemble the lasagna.
10. Cook the lasagna noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water according to the package directions. Drain and allow them to cool slightly.
11. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
12. Spread a thin layer of sauce, about ¾–1 cup, over the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
13. Arrange a layer of lasagna noodles over the sauce, using no more than one-quarter of the noodles and overlapping them slightly.
14. Spread half of the ricotta mixture evenly over the noodles. Top with another layer of noodles.
15. Reserve 1 cup of the remaining tomato sauce. Spread the rest of the sauce over the noodles, covering them completely.
16. Arrange another layer of noodles over the sauce and spread with the remaining ricotta mixture.
17. Top with a final layer of noodles and spoon the reserved 1 cup tomato sauce over the top.
18. Toss the grated mozzarella with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste, then sprinkle it evenly over the lasagna.
19. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the mozzarella is spotted golden brown and the lasagna is hot throughout.

Tip: The sauce is deliberately cooked down until quite thick—about 1 quart from the original 8 cups of fresh tomatoes. This concentrated sauce helps keep the finished lasagna from becoming watery.
Source: Thomas Keller, The French Laundry Cookbook — Eric’s Staff Lasagna