In the course of winter, there are a number of dishes we like to dive into to conjure up heat.
French onion soup? Mac and cheese? Possibly beef stew or a casserole. NBC Chicago’s Meals Man Steve Dolinsky has a suggestion: lasagna. One old-school and one a bit extra fashionable; each scrumptious. Steve Dolinsky becoming a member of us tonight with the story.
To begin with, these pasta sheets need to be huge and skinny and do-it-yourself! Layered with a number of cheeses – for positive ricotta and mozzarella – generally meat however not at all times, and a zesty, vivid marinara that ties all of it collectively.
Moving into Freddy’s Pizza in Cicero is like strolling again in time. The impossibly small but well-stocked retailer has been round for the reason that Nineteen Fifties, however Joe Quercia began right here in ’68. 56 years later, he owns the joint together with his spouse, Ann Marie, presiding over a riot of pizza, gelato, Italian specialties, and naturally, lasagna.
“We use do-it-yourself noodles, it’s made recent each time we make a lasagna,” mentioned Joe Quercia, the co-owner of Freddy’s.
Quercia begins by lining an infinite pan with tomato sauce, then a pair sheets of freshly made pasta as massive as a newspaper. Extra sauce, then finely grated Parmesan, recent ricotta with parsley and black pepper and handfuls of floor beef – however not at all times; it is dependent upon the recipe.
“Good ricotta, actually good floor beef, not too fatty,” he mentioned.
Then shredded mozzarella to finish layer one. On goes extra pasta, sauce, cheese, etcetera for 2 extra layers. They’re both baked proper there and served in huge sq. blocks, or…
“We do it partially baked, they take it house, flip the oven on and bake it for an hour-and-a-half, and it’s good and sizzling,” mentioned Quercia.
The lasagna strategy is sort of totally different at Alla Vita within the West Loop. Their pans are lined with a creamy bechamel; a basis for verdant inexperienced sheets of spinach pasta that’s coated with a thicker tomato sauce in addition to extra bechamel. Amping up the richness: shredded mozzarella and Parmesan, then a brand new twist this season: thinly sliced and roasted eggplant.
“Historically, considering of traditional flavors – roasted tomato, bechamel, and I feel including a pleasant element for texture and taste is eggplant,” mentioned Chef Darren Underway.
“We bake it at about 325 for an hour-and-a-half, so that you permit all of the starch from the pasta, all of the cheese and all of these layers type of meld collectively. After which after that, we portion it after which fireplace it within the oven, get it good and sizzling,” he mentioned.
The beauty of each variations – you may simply re-heat them at house, however there’s nothing fairly like digging into all these layers, proper out of the oven. And few would argue with a contemporary chef’s inventive license.
“Taking the classics and never altering them by any means however placing a twist on them,” mentioned Underway.
Here is the place you may go:
1600 S. 61st Ave., Cicero
708-863-9289
564 W. Randolph St.
312-667-0104
Different locations for lasagna this winter:
La Scarola
721 W. Grand Ave.
Italian Do-it-yourself Firm
947 W. Fulton St.
Viaggio
1027 W. Madison St.
Piccolo Sogno
464 N. Halsted St.
Monteverde
1020 W. Madison St.
Segnatore
1001 N. California Ave.
