New month. New Daring Bakers challenge. Or was it? I have become quite accustomed to opening the new DB challenge in anticipation of chocolate, sugar, and everything else that accompanies sweet decadence. As a result, I was quite shocked to see that the challenge for March was lasagna. Hmmm. Don’t get me wrong, as an Italian, I love any kind of pasta you can throw at me, including lasagna, but it’s not really what I’ve come to expect from my Daring Bakers challenges. This seemed more in line with a challenge you might find coming out of the new Daring Cooks group. Ah well. Even though I was disappointed with the lack of sweet confections, I forged ahead and tackled the challenge.
The lasagna is comprised of spinach lasagna noodles layered with white bechamel sauce, a meaty red sauce, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. While I have made homemade pasta before, this was my first time making spinach pasta, as well as a bechamel sauce, and I thought both turned out really well.
All in all this was a pretty decent recipe, but I didn’t fall in love with it. I really enjoyed each of the individual elements: spinach pasta, bechamel sauce, meat ragu – I thought they were all fabulous, but baked together in the lasagna… I just felt, eh. It just didn’t do much for me. My mom and sister, on the other hand, absolutely loved this and claimed it was even better than traditional lasagna. So perhaps it’s just a matter of taste!
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.
The full recipe (which is 5 pages long) can be found on any of the hosts’ blogs.
A printer-friendly version of the recipe can be found here.
See more: Italian Cuisine, Main Dishes, Pasta
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wow your pictures are beautiful!!! the colors are enticing.
I’m sorry this challenge didn’t appeal to you but at least your mother and sister like it!
I’m sorry this was just “eh” for you. It sure looks delicious! And I’m so impressed with how wonderful your pasta looks!
Mmm, this looks soo good!! I love your photos =D.
I absolutely love your pictures! Your lasagne is beautiful. I know how disappointing it can be to spend a lot of time on something and not be thrilled about the end result, but it’s great that you liked the individual components. I’m sure you’ll come up with several great recipes incorporating them separately!
Your lasagna looks delicious! To the next challenge we go.
But you did a great job putting it all together. It was a little untraditional like we know it, but good. Great pics.
great vibrant colors! it looks yummy!
What beautiful colors!