Lasagna on the Fly!

"On the fly," is a term used in restaurant kitchens, when something needs to be cooked and delivered to a customer ASAP! That's exactly what happened last night! We got home a bit later than usual, and my husband needed to get to a softball game. He also needed to eat before he went, so I flew into the kitchen and whipped up a little something! This was the planned meal of the evening, but I thought I would have more time to prepare it, so I definitely pulled this out of somewhere!

Three things needed to happen before I could assemble the Sausage, Chard, and Lemon Lasagna. I had to simmer some lemon slices to soften them, cook the sausage until it was no longer pink, and create a delicious Bechamel sauce. I whizzed around the kitchen (well, as fast as my limping foot could take me) gathering my ingredients in my arms. I was able to do it one or two trips! I got three pots set on the stove and started preheating the oven too!

The first pot held a thinly sliced lemon, along with some water that I brought to a boil, and simmered for 7 minutes. This softened the lemons, bringing out the flavor and also making the entire thing (including the rind) edible and flavorful. Once the 7 minutes had passed, I took them out of the water and left them to dry on a paper towel. We'll be using those later!

Meanwhile, I also placed some sweet Italian sausages into a non-stick skillet, peeled of their casings. I used a wooden spoon to break up the sausages, letting them crumble and brown in the pan. I was able to let that sit and cook, while I worked on the Bechamel sauce, which required a lot of stirring and attention.

Now, for the Bechamel sauce, which I have to say, came out really well! I melted three tablespoons of butter in a pan, and added a quarter of a cup of flour. This combination creates a roux, which thickens liquids over heat. After cooking the butter and flour mixture for a minute or two, I added the three cups of whole milk and brought it all to a boil. As it began to boil, it began to thicken, which meant it was time to remove it from the heat, and add the Parmensan cheese. As the cheese melted into the roux and milk, the sauce became silky and thick, and delicious! I seasoned it with some salt and pepper, and stirred in my chopped Swiss Chard that I got at a local farmer's market this past weekend.

Now, it was time to assemble the lasagna and put it in the oven. Where are the noodles, you ask? Well, this recipe called for Barilla's No-Bake Lasagna Noodles, so I decided to go with that direction, rather than making my own this time around. I spread some sauce on the bottom of the pan, added two noodles, half of the sausage and a cup of sauce. I repeated the procedure and then finished it off with two noodles, the rest of the sauce and the lemon slices. I have to say that this is the first lasagna recipe that has made the perfect amount of sauce. I usually double the sauce portion of any recipe because I never seem to have enough, but this was perfect!

After 27 minutes in the oven, at 350 degrees, the lasagna was ready! And I was just under the gun, too! We finished eating and then, Matt was off to his softball game! Clean-up wasn't too bad either! Since there were so few ingredients, the majority of the clean-up were the three pots I used to prep everything. The lasagna pan went straight into the fridge - I'm looking forward to those leftovers!