I freeze the assembled lasagne and cook it from frozen...Just finished assembling three individual lasagnas (Luca Lazzari's recipe) for dinner tonight and the freezer. The oven is pre-heating now.
Question - freeze now and cook later or cook first then freeze?
Seems it would dry out less if it's cooked after defrosting rather than cooking/freezing/thawing/reheating.
A friend who is a chef recommended making the stock, putting in the meat, seasonings, and leaving the veggies out. Thawing the base in the fridge overnight, and then adding the potatoes, carrots, letting that cook for 20 minutes, add the tender veggies (chard, spinach) and fresh herbs 5-6 minutes before calling it done. Same with soup that you want to add noodles--don't put the noodles in, put them in when you are heating up the thawed soup at the same time as the raw veggies, or cook the veggies and noodles separate and add to the soup 5-6 minutes before serving to avoid mushy veggies. I've also set the meat aside and frozen that separately, thawed it at the same time as the stock, and added back to the stock base 5-6 minutes before serving just to heat through. My friend did a lot of "freezer" soups for cancer patients' families and others going through medical difficulties where cooking was not a priority. He was associated with several local restaurants that did this sort of thing and volunteers delivered the frozen stock + prepped veggies.Monday Night Football night, so Sunday I took my frozen beef stew out of the freezer and set it in the fridge to thaw. I'll add a little beef broth to it as it's a bit thick from freezing. I'll re-heat it in the oven and hopefully the veggies won't be mushy.
Some warmed unbuttered french bread on the side should do it.
Next time I make beef stew, I might cook the carrots and potatoes and peas a bit underdone so that when I reheat the frozen stew, the vegetables will be crisp and not mushy.
Made a fairly simple chicken risotto that was very tasty. (From fast roast chicken that I made Saturday, i.e. with all the lemon and garlic in it).
Right--I forgot to mention that I put the béchamel on after about 20 minutes when cooked from frozen. If you don't do béchamel, no worries. I cover mine for the first hour or so, uncovered for the last 15 minutes.I'm with CWS - freeze and cook. (Though I suppose it depends on the béchamel - if there is a lot of cream/milk it might not freeze well?)
Right--I forgot to mention that I put the béchamel on after about 20 minutes when cooked from frozen. If you don't do béchamel, no worries. I cover mine for the first hour or so, uncovered for the last 15 minutes.
Do you have to? The milk protein / fat will most likely separate (curdle). When I make creamed soups for the freezer, I use evap. milk (advice from my friend the chef)--doesn't separate. Since you can't do that with assembled lasagne, I'd look at making it without the béchamel added to the ragu before assembly...just a thought. And, only 1/2 cook the noodles. Or maybe use evap. milk? If you top with grated cheese, add that after it has cooked 15-20 minutes from frozen, not when you are ready to put it in the freezer.This recipe combines the Béchamel with the ragu before assembly.
I find RR's recipes are heavy on pasta and heavy on cheese. I have yet to make one of her recipes that works for me re: how I like to eat.I made a recipe from Rachael Ray called Baked Devil's Chicken. I made a few adjustments so I could use what I had on hand. It was good, not great. I think I will try the method again on pork chops and see how that goes.
Also finished up the last of the cabbage salad and made a small pot of split pea soup to use up the pigs bath water, left over from Saturday's boiled dinner.