My FIRST Daring Baker Challenge!!!

My first challenge! I don't cook - I bake, so this was really a challenge. I have never made pasta before so I decided to go ahead with the recipe even though I usually stay off the gluten. Figured it would be best to start with the normal way of making it before I get all modification-y on it.


The beginning of the pasta mixing is a mess.



Finally the dough is in a ball and resting

Rolling it out was very very tough. I was concerned that it did not get silky and the gluten was building it up and I was making something more like kindergarten paste but I kept at it!




Here's the pasta rolled out and cut. I'm pretty sure I'm not doing this right but.... Onward!

So I'm veggie and chose to use an onion ragu for this dish rather than the meat one and because of the bechamel and the parmesan I thought choosing a "white" ragu could be kinda cool.

Here's the recipe found online:

Onion Ragu
(adapted from Scopa)

1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 TB finely chopped garlic
4 Lbs Spanish onions, peeled & thinly sliced
5 to 6 scallions, sliced to make 1 cup
2 leeks, white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1/2 cup fnely chopped pickled cherry peppers
1/2 cup liquid from pickled cherry peppers
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley


1. In a large heavy-bottomed pot over low heat, warm olive oil and add garlic. Slowly saute garlic just until light golden brown. Add onions, scallions and leeks, and mix well. Cover and simmer until onions are very soft and beginning to caramelize, about 1 1/2 hours.

2. Add cherry peppers and pickling liquid, and mix well. Cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

4. Season ragu with salt and pepper to taste, and mix in the parsley.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings.





Lots of onions to chop! The house smelled pretty good though I must say.



Dried pasta ready to go. It was too thick. I rolled and rolled and I think it was too thick.

So I had the ragu ready, had the bechamel ready and followed the pasta directions for boiling, dipping in cool water, then draining on paper towels. I began the assembly. But then ---



Bechemel a la floor. I got about half of the lasagna put together with the bechemel. Oh well. No counter space in the kitchen. Grrrr. The dog enjoyed it.



Okay so here we are assembled and ready to bake. The pickled peppers seem like a strange addition to an onion ragu but it does add color.

So 40 minutes covered at 350 degrees, then another 10 minutes without the foil, then 10 minutes of resting and voila!


It looks pretty good and smells good too.




It does slip and slide a little but it is actually really good. Hubby went back twice. I had thought about adding a small can of tomato paste to the ragu but since I hadn't made it before I thought I'd just try it per the recipe this time. I think next time I will add the paste. And I might buy the pasta or buy a roller machine if I'm going to this often. Plus you can always use the roller for fondant and gum paste. This is how I'm trying to, in my mind, justify getting the roller thingy.

All in all pretty fun. I look forward to making sweets on the next one. This was definitely outside any kind of baking comfort zone I have. Thanks!!