Style & Living:
From the Galley

This month in "From the Galley" we're in for a special treat. Captain Utena Tenjou (IPSFR) of the destroyer Valiant is unique among the commanders in the Space Force for a number of reasons, but one of the ones she's less famous for is this: She's the only command-level officer in the Space Force (maybe in the galaxy) to serve as chief galley officer as well. The small crew size of the Defiant-class destroyer makes it possible for Captain Tenjou to feed her crew on most days during the Valiant's summer tours - and to hear them tell it, they eat like kings! We persuaded the captain to share with us one of her, and her crew's, favorite recipes.

Lasagna Valiant
by Captain Utena Tenjou

1 pound sweet Italian sausage
1 pound ground beef (85% lean)
2 jars (1 pound 10 ounces each) Prego Flavored with Meat spaghetti sauce
12 uncooked lasagna noodles
1 pound ricotta cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon chopped oregano
1 pound shredded mozzarella cheese (4 cups)

Before we begin:

This recipe evolved out of one that's been in my family for a while. I've made modifications to it over the years to accommodate changes in where I lived, what kind of ingredients I had access to, and so forth. This version is reasonably stable; it can be made mostly with things that can be found in the standard galley supplies on an IPSF starship, and everything that isn't standard can be ordered through Quartermaster at any supply depot - or just bought at Tesco, which is what we usually end up doing when we get to Gamma Hydra and realize we're out of oregano.

Culinary purists might be surprised that bottled spaghetti sauce is one of the first things on this list. I was originally one of the homemade sauce brigade myself; I only started using the bottled kind with great reluctance, mainly because I just don't have time to keep an eye on a boiling pot of homemade sauce for most of a day aboard ship. I served the first batch of jar-sauce lasagna with sheepish apologies, and to my surprise, it was a huge hit. I'm not sure if that means Prego's better than my own homemade sauce or just that my crew has weird taste in red sauce. Either is entirely possible. Anyway, I've used it ever since, and never had a complaint.

Some other ingredient selection tips:

- It's not necessary to buy bulk sausage, but if it's available, get it. It saves you the step of getting the sausage filling out of the casing, which is an absolute must.
- Fresh grated Parmesan is better than the kind in cans. You'll want to use a bit more of the canned kind to make up for its relative lack of flavor if you have to use it.
- I don't cook the noodles first; it saves a step and makes building the lasagna easier. The noodles come out a bit al dente, but my crew and I like it that way. If you like softer noodles, I don't think it would hurt anything to boil them first, but I've never tried it, so you're on your own there.
- Don't skimp on the cheese. Get real ricotta, not that low-fat stuff, and real mozzarella. It's OK to use the pre-shredded mozzarella as long as you don't stoop to the all-skim kind. This is meat lasagna. It's not supposed to be good for you.

Preparation:

Brown sausage and ground beef in skillet over medium heat. Drain. Combine sausage, ground beef, and spaghetti sauce in large bowl.

Heat oven to 350°F.

Mix ricotta, half of the Parmesan, and the oregano in another bowl.

Cover the bottom of a 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish (I use a white Corningware dish I've had forever) with the sauce/meat mix. It should take about two cups.

Cover the sauce with four noodles, then slather that with the cheese mix. Cover that with the shredded mozzarella - a nice, even layer, as if you were topping a pizza. Now put on four more noodles, cover that with the rest of the ricotta mix, then another layer of sauce, then another layer of mozzarella. Add four more noodles, the rest of the sauce and then the rest of the mozzarella, then sprinkle on the leftover Parmesan.

I don't keep track of the exact amounts of the cheeses and sauce mix as I'm doing this - I just kind of eyeball it based on how much it takes to give each layer some solid coverage. And don't get too upset if you get the cheese and sauce layers in the wrong order. As long as the noodles end up separated by enough sauce and cheese to cook them properly, it'll all work out in the end.

Cover the dish with aluminum foil. Bake for 45 minutes. Take the foil off and bake for another 15-20 minutes. The top layer of cheese should be melted (and browned, if you like) but not burned, and the sauce should be bubbling all the way around.

Let the lasagna stand for 15-20 minutes before cutting, or it'll be too hot to serve in one piece, let alone eat. My crew refers to this as the torture phase, since if you've done it right the smell is filling the whole officers' mess (or wherever) and driving everybody crazy by now.

Closing notes:

This is a pretty forgiving recipe for the results it gives, and it makes a lot of food. If you're not feeding a large and ravenous group like I usually am, you can refrigerate or freeze the leftovers without difficulty. It keeps about 5 days in the fridge; frozen, it'll keep just about indefinitely if it's wrapped right.

We on the Valiant hope you enjoy our house lasagna as much as we do. Before I go, I have to acknowledge the debts I owe, since no recipe ever comes out of nowhere: Thanks to everybody's favorite aunt, Belldandy Morisato, for making clear the importance of cheese, and to the Chief, Ben Hutchins, for making the winning sauce recommendation when I cried to him about being forced to resort to store-bought sauce.

Enjoy,
- U. Tenjou

IPO Quarterly Review - Summer 2409

META: is this actually a family recipe that you're giving out? :)

-Z who is also part of the home-made red-sauce brigade

Rabid Crack Turtle 3.14159
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If G-d had wanted us to think for ourselves, He'd have given us brains.

Gracious! I'm gone for a while and the UF Forum becomes a cooking forum! ;)
I'll have to give that recipe a go myself, Gryph, 'cause as soon as things get settled here I'll be helping my mom feed five boys (my half-sibs) who're all gonna be much bigger than I when they reach my age.

-NeoRaven
...Who enjoys the tie-in idea very much so.