How To Defeat The Barbarians

Preparation. That's what you do. You prepare feasts to keep them happy so they don't go on looting sprees. This holiday season we have not one, not two, but THREE barbarian tribes descending on the glory that is de-Iholm. Visigoths from the East. Ostrogoths from the West. And Vandals from over the sea. Rumor has it they will descend in successive waves hoping to overwhelm the defenses and raid the wine keep!

So with this in mind, I've been cooking up a storm. Forget about music soothing the savage beast...FEED THEM!

Phase 1 calls for lasagna...lot's of belly filling, pillaging inhibiting lasagna. Since some of our attackers are non-meat eaters, this calls for two versions

Start by prepping the fillings - Swiss Chard

Parboiled

Drain, wash in cold water, squeeze water out, saute in garlic

Pull handy dandy slow cooked braised meat sauce and fortify with Italian sausage

Fortify ricotta cheese by whipping up a few eggs, and adding chopped parsley and garlic, then whip in the cheese. Not shown here is the process for making a Fontina Cheese sauce for the chard lasagna.

Cook the noodles. Drain and save in cold water (if you don't they stick...very nasty when that happens)

Put down a layer of olive oil

Put down a layer of sauce (non-meat sauce for the chard lasagna)

Put down a layer of noodles. Note how I put them up the sides. With the upper layer I will do the opposite to encase the whole thing.

Now another layer of sauce

In the case of the chard lasagna now add the chard

Ricotta mixture on the meat one

Fonina cheese sauce on the chard one

Layer with whole milk mozzarella - has to be whole milk or it doesn't have the stringy texture you love.

Another layer of noodles, sauce and covering of Pamesiano Reggiano or Pecarino Romano

These are 'half' lasagnas. When I really do it up I put another layer on. Usually the 'full' version is around 6 inches deep. Freeze these puppies. Defrost and cook for an hour at 350 to feed the hordes.