Burst lasagna | The Press

It was after making an empty-fridge lasagna that Mitche Des Rosiers had a slightly crazy idea: to create a “lasagna version” of all the dishes in the world. This is the story of Lasagna not Lasagna.

Iris Gagnon Paradise
The Press

“The Italians are going to hate me! “Laughs Mitche Des Rosiers, talking about his Lasagne pas Lasagne project. Paella lasagna, dumpling lasagna, hot chicken lasagna, spanakopita or why not a Quebec with hot dog sausages and a ketchup-relish-mustard béchamel? There just seems to be no limit to the variations the former chef-owner of restaurants Le Chien Rose and Le Lucie can imagine. “I have 150 recipes on my list, and I’ve already made about 30 of them! »

Last summer, the chef, who left the restaurant business two years ago but still enjoys cooking, especially for others, started making lasagna for the weekends she spent at the her friend’s cabin. “The goal was to spend the most time outside, not to cook. Lasagna is the uncomplicated dish par excellence that you put in the oven, it’s good, it warms up well in the morning, you can freeze it…”, she lists.

Stuffing, sauce, pasta

Although she started out as a cook, Mitche Des Rosiers discovered that in the end, what she loves is creating — she is currently studying creative writing after having dabbled in ceramics. One fine day, when she began to make lasagna “at anything” by emptying her fridge, her constantly boiling mind had the idea of ​​creating lots of variations around the famous layered pasta dish. Italian.

And that’s how the adventure of Lasagne pas Lasagne began — the name was found by his friend, sommelier Isabelle Claveau.

It is above all for fun that the former chef opened the Instagram account @lasagnepaslasagne, but she also wants to launch a website where she will distribute, among other things, her many variations of lasagna in the form of video clips… and why not a cookbook one day?

A safe bet

In the meantime, you can admire his lasagna with various toppings on his Instagram page: fried onion rings and a coleslaw sit enthroned on the Nashville lasagna (pulled pork, BBQ sauce, corn béchamel), fried pickles on the smoked meat, Spanish mussels garnish the appetizing paella lasagna…

No doubt, a lot of nonnas Italian women must frown upon reading these lines. But Mitche Des Rosiers assures us that if she cooks these lasagna with all the sauces and all the flavors, it’s also because it’s “really good”. And that’s what counts, in the end, right?

Recipe: Dumpling

With this creation, Mitche Des Rosiers is far, very far from the traditional Italian lasagna: there is not even cheese! But the result, she assures, is delicious… and really tastes like dumpling.

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients for the fresh pasta*

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 C. salt
• 4 large eggs
• A drizzle of olive oil

* You can also take fresh pasta from the store.

Ingredients for the peanut sauce

• 1/3 cup butter, cubed
• 1/3 cup flour
• 2 tbsp. sesame oil
• 2 tbsp. yellow mustard
• 4 tbsp. peanut butter
• 3 cups broth, your choice
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 C. finely chopped ginger
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 C. salt
• Sambal oelek to taste (optional)

Ingredients for the pork stuffing

• 450g minced pork
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• Cilantro and chopped chives, to taste
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Ingredients for the shrimp stuffing

• 1 white leek, chopped
• 450g raw prawns
• Chopped cilantro, to taste
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Ingredients for the broccoli and mushroom salad, garlic and soy vinaigrette

• 1 broccoli
• 3 boxes of mushrooms of your choice
• Fresh cilantro and chopped green onions, to taste
• Salted peanuts and sesame seeds, to taste
• Garlic and soy vinaigrette
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 pinch of salt
• 30ml soy sauce
• 30ml rice vinegar
• 10ml brown sugar
• 15ml honey
• 15ml sesame oil
• 75ml vegetable oil

Preparation of fresh pasta

• 1. In a mixing bowl, mix the flour and salt, add the four eggs and the olive oil. Mix the dough well with your hands until a homogeneous and malleable consistency. Form a patty and reserve it in plastic wrap in the fridge for 4 hours, or overnight.
• 2. When you are ready to assemble your lasagna, flour the counter, quarter the dough lengthwise and roll the strips of dough with a rolling pin before passing them through the dough sheeter to level 4.

Preparing the peanut sauce

• 3. Heat the broth. Melt the butter in a cauldron, add the flour little by little, whisking to obtain a roux. Add the sesame oil, mustard and peanut butter, then the hot broth and the rest of the ingredients. Adjust the seasoning and whisk continuously until the sauce comes to a simmer. Continue cooking for 5 to 10 minutes, still stirring. Allow to cool before assembling the lasagna.

Preparation of stuffings

• 4. For the pork stuffing: mix all the ingredients and keep in the fridge.
• 5. For the prawn stuffing: fry the leek and leave to cool. Dice the prawns, add the rest of the ingredients and set aside in the fridge.

Preparing the lasagna

• 6. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
• 7. In a 9” x 9” baking dish, spread 1 cup of peanut sauce on the bottom, then a first layer of pasta. Form small pork patties with your hands and spread them over the dough; don’t rush too much, you have to be delicate. Spread 1/2 cup peanut sauce over the meat, then add a second layer of pasta. Spread the shrimp stuffing and add 1/2 cup peanut sauce. Cover with the last layer of pasta and add the rest of the peanut sauce on top.
• 8. Cover the dish with foil, then bake the lasagna for 45 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil, then continue cooking for 25 to 30 minutes.

* If you have leftover strips of pasta, you can let them dry completely and then store them in an airtight container for about 6 months.

Preparation of the broccoli and mushroom salad, garlic and soy vinaigrette

• 9. Mix all the dressing ingredients. Blanch the broccoli and sauté the mushrooms. Mix all the ingredients, but keep the peanuts and sesame seeds to decorate! Add, to taste, a soft-boiled egg. This delicious salad can be eaten both hot and cold.