Clay Baked Lasagna

Submitted by Natalie Lochwin
 


A delicious and easy meal, clay baked lasagna takes a classic and adds new levels of flavour and moistness. This version comes from years of practice!
 
Put your clay baker to soak filled with cool water. For instructions on prepping a clay baker, see this previous blog post).

 

•  1 box oven ready lasagna noodles (whole wheat, spinach or white-your choice)
• 1 carton of ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup cottage cheese
• 1 mozzarella ball
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 jar spaghetti sauce (I used basil flavor)
• 1 lg diced clove of garlic
• 1 diced onion
• 1 lb ground beef
• 2 eggs
• 1medium eggplant. Thinly slice 1 half and dice the other half . (Salt the eggplant and allow to drain in a colander for 10-20 minutes, quickly rinse to remove excess salt. Squeeze and pat dry. This removes some bitterness and extra water)
• 1 shredded zucchini
• 7 sliced mushrooms
• 250 ml water
• Salt, white pepper, dry oregano, Worcestershire sauce, nutmeg

In a medium or large frying pan cook the ground beef until nicely browned. Drain extra fat. Add diced onion and garlic, zucchini, mushrooms and eggplant. Add a bit of red wine or water if your pan cooks dry. Add 1/4 cup tomato sauce. Stir occasionally until veggies are quite soft and cooked through, 10-15mins. Taste and season accordingly.

Start your sauce while the filling cooks to save some time. Add 1 minced clove of garlic and 1 tsp of  olive oil to a cold heavy bottomed saucepan. Turn on the heat and gently cook the garlic until you can smell its aroma. Add the oregano. Add the tomato sauce and pasta sauce, 1 tsp red wine vinegar, dash of sugar, 1/2 tsp  Worcestershire or Thai fish sauce.  Add 1/2 cup of water. Allow to bubble away. Add more water as needed if the sauce begins to thicken. This is meant to be a fairly loose sauce so as  to cook the oven ready  noodles. Keep the sauce fairly warm as you assemble the lasagna.
 

Mix 1/2 tub of ricotta cheese with the cottage cheese, and add a dash  of nutmeg & white pepper as well as the 2 eggs. Stir until mixed. Shred the mozzarella and add (placing it in the freezer for a few minutes prior to shredding makes this easier) reserving a good handful to top the lasagne. Salting the cheese filling is not necessary. It is a nice contrast to the seasoned sauce, meat & vegetables.

Drain your clay baker, and ladle about 1/4 of the sauce over its bottom. Cover with a layer of noodles, snapping them to fit. Add a layer of ricotta, top with noodles, then add a layer of ricotta and meat filling. Top with sauce, add another layer of noodles, repeat with ricotta and meat and sauce and noodles until the baker is near filled. Finish with a final layer of noodles and top these with sauce. Finally, top with with the reserved mozzarella. Cover the baker with its lid and place in a COLD OVEN (always remember to do this with clay bakers). Turn the oven to 400 degrees and bake for 1 hour. If you wish to, you may take the top off for the final ten minutes to further brown the cheese.

This makes enough for 5-6 people.

Serve with a salad and red wine. Great the next day, even cold. The kids loved it!

Romertopf Cooking is Fun with French Onion Soup, Brussels Sprouts and Lancashire Hot Pot

Vintage Cookbook: Romertopf Cooking is Fun, Wendy Philipson
Publication Details: Various editions, 1960's-1970's

Any follower of this blog knows that I am a big fan of clay baking as a cooking method. I have written posts on the basics of clay baking (please do read if you are a clay baking beginner as it includes some essential tips on cleaning and rules like NEVER placing a clay baker in a preheated oven) as well as on how to cook a deliciously moist whole chicken in one (in terms of moistness, clay baking a chicken is hard to beat).

Clay baking also has the virtue that it is relatively easy, even for total cooking novices, and produces great flavours out of "inferior" cuts of meat.

One of the best clay baker cookbooks, and the one that really got me rolling on clay baking, is the handy, pocket book sized "Romertopf Cooking is Fun" published in the 60's and 70's. Romertopf is the German brand name for a type of clay baker, that are still made, and that are among the best and easiest to buy new (although I have bought all my clay bakers used and, therefore, "pre-seasoned").

With over 350 recipes, from soups, to meats, to game to vegetarian, this largely un-illustrated book is a fantastic resource. I have made countless of its recipes and some are family favourites.

While usually we share two recipes, today we will share three from this classic volume, as always exactly as originally presented). They are all excellent, and the French Onion Soup is a standout.

French Onion Soup

1 lb. onions
2 tbs. butter
2 pints stock
4 slices white bread
2 cups grated cheese
pinch sugar
pinch curry powder

Chop the onions finely and fry until golden brown. Pour the stock into the soaked Romertopf and add the onions. Sprinkle with curry powder and sugar. Cover and cook in a hot oven (400F - Gas mark 6) for at least 1 1/4 hours. Then remove the lid carefully, place the bread in the soup and sprinkle with the grated cheese. Put back into the oven without the lid and cook for a few more minutes, until golden brown on top.
The bread will be delightfully crisp on top if toasted before being put into the soup.[Editor's Note: DO pre-toast the bread!]
As an alternative seasoning add a few drops of vinegar and a crushed clove of garlic. [Editor's note: DO THIS!]
And one especially fine alternative: use 1 1/2 pints stock and 1/2 pint white wine [Editor's note: Again DO THIS!]

Brussels Sprouts

1 lb. sprouts
2 small onions
3/4 cup stock
1 tbs. butter
grated nutmeg
2 tomatoes
2 tbs. sour cream
1 tbs. flour
salt and pepper

Put the cleaned sprouts, the skinned and quartered tomatoes and the sliced onions into the soaked Romertopf. Grate on lots of nutmeg. pour on the stock and add the butter in small pieces. Cook in a hot oven (400F - Gas mark 6) for 1/2 hour. Stir the flour into the cream and blend into the liquid in the pot.

Lancashire Hot Pot

For six good helpings

2 lb. lamb
1 1/2 lb. potatoes
1 cup stock
2 onions
1 tbs. butter
salt and pepper

Dice the meat, wash and slice the vegetables. Arrange the meat. Place in the soaked Romertopf in layers, first potatoes, then meat and onions, sprinkling each with a little salt and pepper. Finish with potatoes. Pour on the stock. Cover and cook in a hot oven (400F - Gas mark 6) for 2 1/2 hours. Remove the lid during the final ten minutes to allow to brown on top.

Clay Baked Spicy Curried Goat

Though its popularity and use in North America is much less prevalent,  goat meat is the most widely consumed red meat in the world and features prominently in many cuisines. While it is making some inroads on major food retailer's shelves in Canada, it is still often only found in specialty stores or in markets.



This is a real shame, as goat is a delicious, tender meat with a distinctive flavour that has a nice hint of gaminess.

I have tried goat cooked a variety of ways, but I find that I both order it and cook it curried or West Indian style most often. It lends itself to these flavours perfectly.

Today I will share a basic recipe for Spicy Curried Goat done in a clay baker. I am using the clay baker as it is a cooking method that will produce very moist, fall-off-the-bone goat in a relatively short time, as well as making a thick and flavourful gravy as the goat cooks.

If you are not familiar with the ancient and very accessible technique of clay baking, we did an introduction to clay baking that you can take a look at on The Simple Art of Clay Baking. 

For this dish you need 2-3 lb. cubed goat meat, preferably bone-in. As always with a clay baker fill both sides with water and let stand for 15 minutes. After emptying the water out, take the goat meat and place it in the clay baker and sprinkle curry powder over it so that it covers the meat. Pour in one full bottle (350 ml.) of a Caribbean style curry cooking sauce (Grace makes one) or, if not available, the same amount of water and a tablespoon of curry paste. Add an equivalent amount of beef or chicken stock (or water and a bouillon cube as it will dissolve during cooking).

Add either 1 or 2 crushed scotch bonnet peppers (simply push on them with a spoon and then toss them in) or 1-2 tablespoons of your favourite Caribbean style hot sauce.  You can, of course, omit this, but that does change the flavour, and not for the better!

Add a small piece of crushed ginger, a half a teaspoon of browning liquid, a teaspoon of dry mustard, and a teaspoon of salt.

Again, as you always must with a clay baker, cover and place in a COLD oven. Set the heat to 400 degrees.

Cook for two hours. After the first hour, remove the baker, stir the goat and put back in.

After two hours, remove from the oven, skim off any fat, remove any undissolved ginger, add one tablespoon of flour to the liquid and stir it in gently until it is all dissolved. This will thicken the gravy. Let it sit for about 5-10 minutes and then serve!

This dish goes wonderfully with rice or rice and peas, with roti or naan style bread or with a french style bread, and with red wine.

Enjoy!






 

Clay Baked Chicken Revisited: Clay baking a whole chicken..."Roman" style

Recently I wrote about the simple art of Clay Baking, the ancient cooking method that makes moist and delicious dishes out of even the most "inferior" and often dry meats.

As promised, I am returning to give an example of how to make a whole chicken. This dish is known as Roman Chicken and its name connects back to the clay baker's distant past.

Roman chicken could not be easier and is an impressive dish to serve the family or company as it is flavourful, makes its own sauce, and is moist even in the breast meat. 

As always with a clay baker, you need to fill both halves with cool water and let it moisten for 15 minutes or more. You also always absolutely must start it in a cold oven. The clay baker will break otherwise.

For Roman Chicken you take a whole 3-4 pound chicken. Season it with seasoning of your choosing. For this dish I used paprika, salt, black pepper, Italian seasoning and Keen's Dry Mustard. But you can use any number of variations...or just salt and pepper. 

Empty the water from the baker and line the bottom with three celery stalks. Place the chicken on top of the celery. Stuff the cavity of the chicken with two onions, both quartered. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the chicken.

Place in a cold oven and set to 425 degrees. Cook for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hour. Let sit for around 15 minutes before serving.

It will come out with a "gravy, and the celery and onions will be both soft and infused with the flavour of the chicken juices and seasonings. 


Again, an easy, inexpensive and really excellent clay baked dish. Be sure not to tell your friends that it is as simple as it is...it is more fun that way!

I like to enjoy this with a very chilled Portuguese Vino Verdhe and rice. 

A clay baker cleaning tip:  Empty the clay baker, soak for a while in warm water, and do not use soap at all. As clay bakers absorb the flavour and essence, if you will, of whatever you cook in them, soap must never be used. After soaking use a clean wire or plastic scrub brush and scrub off the food remnants. If remnants are difficult to remove use some salt as an abrasive. When it is clean, there will still be some naturally occurring discoloration to the clay baker. This is good and expected. It means that your baker is becoming more seasoned. You may now put your clay baker in a cold oven and set to 200 degrees for 20 or so minutes to bring any oils to the surface which should be wiped away once it is cool enough to handle. Do not use cold water to do this! Again it may crack the baker.

The simple art of Clay Baking: Fast, easy & delicious (with a basic recipe for clay baked drumsticks)

Many people are intimidated by cooking. I was for many years, and this led me to spend much of my twenties eating a handful of very basic foods (sardines with toast was a classic example) and getting a lot of take out or pre-fab, stick in the oven for an hour and "cook", pizzas, lasagnas, etc., the vast bulk of which were, to be honest, not terribly good.

Many of us are also very busy, and, especially if we have kids, on fairly strict food budgets. I have three kids, aged from six to eleven, who eat more-and-more as each year passes. Sometimes the crappy No Name Family Size lasagna seems like an easy and cheap alternative to cooking, and sometimes I suppose it is.

But there are other alternatives, many in fact, that are also easy and cheap, taste far better and use better ingredients and that not only do not need any particular cooking skills but also are a great gateway to more complex dishes once the basics are mastered. In the case of Clay Baking, the basics are easily mastered indeed.

A standard size Clay Baker. This one has a great design!

Clay baking is an ancient form of cooking and can be found in many cultures around the world. Today, Clay Bakers, or Romertopfs as they are also known, can be purchased new in a standard size for as little as $20-30 and can often be found at yard sales for a few bucks. In fact it is at yard sales that I found all of the several I have owned over the years. These have the virtue that they are already "seasoned" as well, though one should ask if they used it for fish (more on why later). Small bakers for cooking garlic or onions can also be purchased. 

Clay baking, among other things, is a truly excellent way to cook seemingly "inferior" cuts of meat, such as beef shank, a great way to prepare fish and other meats, is eminently adaptable (I love cooking curried goat in a Clay Baker)  and one of the best ways to cook truly moist chicken. I have countless clay baking recipes, some more complex than others, many of which I will be sharing. 

Today, however, I will share one that could not be simpler, that uses very inexpensive ingredients, and that can be made in around the same time and at around the same price as that Family Size No Name lasagna.

Just before going through the recipe there are a few basic things that one needs to know about clay baking in general. Before cooking you need to soak  the clay baker by filling both halves with cold water and leaving it there for fifteen minutes. No matter the dish you must ALWAYS start cooking in a cold oven. Never preheat. It will cause the clay baker to break.  Also, if you want to cook both fish and other dishes in your clay baker, you should buy two, one for fish and one for chicken and other meats or vegetables. Clay bakers become seasoned with repeated uses and absorb flavour, so you want to keep them separate. Finally never wash a clay baker with soap. Put hot water in it to soak and scrub it to clean it. 

So, without further ado, here is a busy weeknight beginner recipe of Clay Baked Chicken Drumsticks in BBQ Sauce. 

First, soak your clay baker in cold water for 15 minutes. 
Take 8-15 chicken drumsticks and season (to taste) with salt and pepper, BBQ seasoning, jerk seasoning or any other seasoning of your choice.
Place the drumsticks in the bottom of the clay baker.
Pour in a 796 ml. can of diced tomatoes (I like to use the Herb & Spice variety) 
Pour in a bottle of BBQ sauce of your choosing.
Place in a COLD oven and turn to 425 degrees
Cook for 1 1/4 hours.
Remove from oven, gently stir chicken and sauce and let sit for 10 minutes.
Serve with its sauce, on rice or pasta!

That is all there is to it. Literally. And the chicken will be fall-off-the-bone moist and in a sauce. It is a big hit with my kids and family. There are any number of ways to change it up. Add a can of corn. Add mushrooms. Use Salsa instead of BBQ sauce. Make your own BBQ sauce (and yes I will share some BBQ sauce recipes). And on-and-on!

Next week I will share the recipe for Roman Chicken, an amazing and simple way to prepare a whole chicken that will be perfectly cooked every time.

And, you can look forward to some more complicated clay baker recipes in the near future, including that one for a perfect Curried Goat.