whole wheat pesto pork and squash lasagna

whole wheat pesto pork and squash lasagna, originally uploaded by aarn! +21st May, 2009+.

started a quick sauce by sautéing a medium-sized vidalia onion in a splash of olive oil, then adding salt, pepper, bay leaf, and thyme. after that simmered for a bit, added three cloves or so of chopped garlic, then after the garlic was giving off a nice aroma, deglased the sauce pan with 1c. or so of red wine. when the wine was almost fully reduced, added a quart can (yes, a can, short notice meal here) of peeled plum tomatoes. after the sauce cooked for a bit, a potato masher was used to break down the tomato solids. reduced this sauce for about an hour while the rest of the meal was being prepared.

grated 3/4-lb of low-moisture whole milk mozzarella. mixed together 1-pint of whole milk ricotta cheese, 2 eggs, 1/2-lb of the grated mozzarella, salt and pepper. set aside the remaining 1/4-lb of grated cheese for topping the lasagna.

in a food processor, chopped 1-clove of garlic, 10-15 basil leaves, 2-3T. pine nuts, salt, and drizzled olive oil in until thick and pesto-ish.

grilled quartered zucchini and yellow squash which had been tossed in salt, pepper, and olive oil. also grilled 3/4-in strips of pork sirloin which had been tossed in salt, pepper and olive oil, until only about 50% cooked, then pulled them and tossed in the pesto.

mixed together 1-lb of white whole wheat flour and 5-eggs, adding a little olive oil and salt, and then a splash of water to get it to the desired consistency. tossed this in the refrigerator to firm up for a few minutes, then rolled out into sheets, cutting the sheets to size and layering the lasagna as it was rolled.

in the pans, put a layer of sauce followed by a layer of pasta, then a layer of the ricotta binder, a layer of pasta, a layer of red sauce, maybe a layer of red sauce or ricotta with squash, then a layer of pasta, a layer of pesto pork with the ricotta, a layer of pasta, some sauce, topped with the remaining shredded mozzarella. baked covered in a 350-degree oven for 30-minutes, then broiled until the mozzarella looked nice, and let rest for 15-minutes at room temperature before cutting a plating on some warmed
plates.


[notes: made one bread pan and a medium casserole dish of lasagna. this recipe is a spin on a recipe from gilman to caleb. hadn't made it in years. or any lasagna. it was like 80-degrees out yesterday, great day for a winterish baked pasta dinner. pulled off this entire meal, less the actual baking of the lasagna, in one hour. the only reason why this was made with white whole wheat flour was because it was the only flour in the house. whole wheat has its place, it's not in pasta. would have rather used semolina or white all purpose. thinner strips of the pork and squash would have made the overall texture of the dish a little better. but seriously, lasagna always turns into a mess, a really sharp knife helps.]