What is climbing? This is a traditional Italian dish. Recently, it has taken root in the menu of our hostesses. The combination of products interested in its unusual and rich taste. Given the love of our people for puff salads, lasagna has become a favorite dish of many.
Mistresses are increasingly improving cooking recipes and trying to ease their work in the kitchen. So, many dishes are adapted for cooking in a slow cooker. Now this household appliance is available in almost every home and is actively used by the owners.
History of occurrence
Initially, this dish had a slightly different shape. The Greeks baked a round wheat cake and shipped products that were available. Later, the inhabitants of Rome also began to make such pastries, but only cut it into thin slices. They called this dish "lasanium." Gradually similar bread began to appear in other countries.
In the XIV century, the first mention of it appeared in Italian cookbooks. Thin sheets of dough were boiled for lasagna and smeared in several layers with cheese and spices. This recipe is as similar as possible to a modern dish, which is why it was ranked among Italian cuisine.
Over time, other ingredients began to be added to the dish. The filling became more varied and tasty. People began to notice that the dish turns out to be somewhat dry, and decided to pour sauce over it. Bechamel was perfect because it consisted of simple and cheap products.
What products are needed?
To prepare lasagna in a slow cooker, you need to purchase 500 g of meat in advance. Better use chicken. Then the hostess will be sure that the dish has time to fully prepare. It can be done independently.
In order not to suffer with kneading dough and the formation of the necessary shape of the sheets, it is better to buy ready-made in the store. For the dish you need 7-8 pieces. The remaining products are always in the kitchen of any hostess:
- onions and carrots - 1 pc.;
- 2-3 cloves of garlic;
- tomato paste - 2 tbsp. l .;
- vegetable oil - 2 tbsp. l .;
- hard cheese - 200 g;
- spice.
A full and tasty lasagna in a slow cooker does not work out without a good sauce. This dish uses the famous bechamel sauce. It requires some culinary skills for cooking, but they can be quickly learned. It will require:
- 0.5 liters of milk;
- butter - 50 g;
- flour - 2 tbsp. l .;
- salt.
It is advisable to use cheeses with a salty taste for cooking lasagna in a slow cooker. Then the dish will be more saturated and satisfying.
Blanks
First, the vegetables are peeled and washed well. Onions and carrots must be cut into small cubes and fry in vegetable oil until golden brown.
Minced meat spills out here and kneads well with a fork so that there are no large lumps. The mass is fried until the meat is ready. Then pasta or any red sauce is added here.
Spices and crushed garlic are added. The whole mass mixes well and simmer on low heat for another 5 minutes.
Sauce making
Climbing at home in a slow cooker will turn out to be excellent provided that good impregnation is used. Bechamel sauce requires attention and patience during cooking.
First you need to put butter in a small stewpan and melt it over a small fire. Flour is gradually added here, actively stirring the contents with a whisk.
Now you can pour cold milk in a very thin stream. During this process, be sure to mix the contents. Otherwise, lumps will form, and the dish will not work.
Spices are added gradually. All the time the sauce is prepared, the activity of stirring it with a whisk does not decrease. The quality of the sauce will depend on this action. It is necessary to remove the stewpan from the fire when the mass thickens well and becomes consistency like thick sour cream.
Shaping and baking
Lasagna, cooked in a slow cooker, should not differ in structure from the classic baked in the oven. The bowl should be greased with any oil, so that after cooking the dish was easy to get out.
Lasagna sheets are laid out at the bottom of the bowl. They should cover it completely. Then the filling is placed on top and sprinkled with enough grated cheese.
Thus, the layers are shifted until the ingredients run out. Top should be the last cheese. The lid of the multicooker closes, and in the "Baking" mode, the dish is cooked for an hour.
Variations of simple recipes for Lasagna in a slow cooker
Our housewives love to improve the dishes or add ingredients to them that have a preference in the family. Thus, other products can be added to the lasagna filling in the multicooker.
The main thing is that the ingredients are combined with each other and not have too pronounced taste. Otherwise, this product will "eclipse" others. Lasagna with mushrooms in a slow cooker is prepared according to the same principle.
For her, you can use oyster mushrooms or champignons. Mushrooms, cut into large cubes, are added during the frying of the filling. If the hostess can not find special wheat sheets for this dish, then you can use ordinary pita bread. This option is often called lazy lasagna in a slow cooker.
In this case, you only have to cut the pita into rectangles of the required shape.
Secrets of cooking lasagna with chicken in a slow cooker
There are some simple rules that will help you get the right and rich taste of the dish:
- To prevent the lasagna from sticking to the bowl, it is necessary to lay parchment paper on the bottom, and lubricate the sides well with any oil.
- In a slow cooker, it’s not possible to make a well-fried crust on top, because the dish is cooked almost steamed. Therefore, the top layer must be cheese. It will slightly turn yellow when melted, and the dish will look appetizing.
- Lasagna is prepared in several stages. If each of them is done in a slow cooker, you will have to constantly wash the bowl. Therefore, it is better to cook the filling and sauce on the stove, and bake the formed dish in it.
- Wheat leaves should first be boiled in boiling water for 3-5 minutes. Then the dish can be made in the correct form and the hostess will be 100% sure that she will have time to cook on the "baking" mode.
- It is not necessary to overexpose the filling when roasting over a fire. Otherwise, the dish will turn out to be too dry.
- As spices, it is advisable to use only salt and a little black pepper, which is ground in a special mortar. This is due to the fact that climbing and so many ingredients and mixing many tastes will lead to excessive cloying.
This dish is served as the main one and does not require an additional side dish. Together with lasagna you can put only fresh vegetables on the table. The dish is perfectly stored in the refrigerator and soaked the next day even better. Lasagna is easy to heat in the microwave.