Take This!

The word recipe comes to us from the imperative form of the Latin verb recipere, which meant to take or receive. Its original meaning in English was actually “prescription,” like directions for preparing and taking a medicine of some sort. From there it’s not much of a stretch to get to the sense that we commonly use today. Still, I find it kind of amusing that, at its root, the word means something like “take this!”

But I digress.

Here’s the recipe for Skillet Lasagna, as promised. The usual disclaimers apply: I claim no rights or authorship whatsoever; that all belongs to the America’s Test Kitchen/Cook’s Illustrated publishing entity and so forth. Check out your local newsstand, bookstore, and public television station.

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Skillet Lasagna
serves 4 to 6
Use a 12-inch nonstick skillet with a tight-fitting lid for this recipe.

• 1 can (28-ounce) diced tomatoes0
• Water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, minced
• Salt
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 pound meatloaf mix [I use ground turkey here, the 93/7 variety]
• 10 curly-edged lasagna noodles, broken into 2-inch lengths
• 1 can (8-ounce) tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• Pepper
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1. Pour the tomatoes with their juices into a 1-quart liquid measuring cup. Add water until the mixture measures 1 quart.
2. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt; cook until the onion begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the ground meat and cook, breaking apart the meat, until it’s no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
3. Scatter the pasta over the meat but do not stir. Pour the diced tomatoes, with their juices, and the tomato sauce over the pasta. Cover and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occassionally, until the pasta is tender, about 30 minutes.
4. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in 1/2 cup of the Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper. Dot with heaping tablespoons of ricotta, cover, and let it stand off heat for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with the basil and the remaining 2 tablespoons of Parmesan. Serve.

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Variation: Skillet Lasgana with Sausage and Peppers

Follow the recipe above, substituting 1 pound Italian sausage, removed from its casings, for the meatloaf mix. Add 1 chopped red bell pepper to the skillet with the onion in step 2.


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There you go! A few notes:

• Meatloaf mix is evidently a ground-up combo of beef, pork, and veal sold in some supermarkets. Me, I’ve never seen it — and I like using turkey because I really try to limit my intake of red meat. My guests don’t seem to notice the difference. I’m sure that using ground beef alone would work out fine, too.

• Don’t forget to add the tomato sauce in step 3. Go ahead and scoff — but twice I’ve had the pasta in for a good ten minutes, simmering, only to find a can of opened sauce still on the counter. Nothing like retracing your steps in the recipe, thinking, “When the heck does this go in?”

• I like to make sure that the pasta is completely submerged in step 3, at least for the first 5 minutes or so. So after the tomatoes go in, I'll add a skosh of extra water to the skillet if they're not quite covered up. Once I start stirring things up, I don't worry about it quite as much, what with the steam and all. (Then again, this could just be one of my many neuroses.)

• Chopping that much fresh basil can take a good measure of patience. But if you can stand to work the cutting board until you have the full three tablespoons, you’ll find that it’s well worth the trouble. Mmmmm.

If you try this out, let me know how it works for you. I’ve always wanted to make the variation, with Italian sausage, too. If you beat me to that, drop me a line as well.

Buon appetito!