Edited by Xu Aiying and Lee Jihae
Recipe and photos = World Institute of Kimchi

Lasagna is an Italian pasta dish that can be eaten with a spoon. It is made by rolling and making the dough thin, cutting the dough into large rectangles, putting ingredients on top of each layer of the dough and baking it in the oven. This family dish in Italy is traditionally prepared Saturdays and eaten for lunch Sundays.

This week's installment features the addition of kimchi sauce to lasagna.

Required ingredients:


Baechu (fermented cabbage) kimchi 300 g; minced pork 300 g; minced beef 200 g; gochujang (red pepper paste) 30 g; onions 100 g; minced garlic 10 g; olive oil 25 ml; tofu (for frying) 300 g; fresh cream 300 ml; 8 lasagna sheet slices; Parmesan cheese powder 50 g; mozzarella cheese (for pizza) 100 g; and bits of butter, salt and pepper.

Directions:

1. Making kimchi sauce #1
Put 20 ml of olive oil in a fry pan and fry the minced garlic and onions under light heat until slightly brown. Then raise heat to mid-level and add and fry the minced pork and beef until well done. Add salt and pepper to season.

2. Making kimchi sauce #2
Add baechu kimchi and gochujang to the mixture made in #1. Fry for five minutes and reduce heat to slowly boil it down. Once almost all the water has evaporated, turn off the heat. Move the mixture to a mixing bowl and let it cool.

3. Making tofu cream sauce
Put 300 ml of fresh cream in the pot and cook over light heat. Put in one mashed piece of tofu, let it cook, and season with salt and pepper. Put the mixture in a mixing bowl and grind with a hand mixer.

4. Boiling lasagna sheets
Pour water in the pot and cook the lasagna sheets while sprinkling a bit of salt. After the sheets are cooked, spread them widely while they cool to prevent them from sticking together.

5. Putting it on dish #1
Evenly spread butter inside the oven baking dish and place the lasagna sheets on it. Evenly smear the kimchi sauce and tofu cream sauce on top of each sheet. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese powder and mozzarella cheese on the sauce.

6. Putting it on dish #2
Repeat the process in No. 5. Stack the lasagna sheets, sauce and cheese. Finally, pour the tofu cream sauce on the very top and sprinkle 10 g of Parmesan cheese powder.

7. Baking in oven
Bake the lasagna in the oven for eight minutes at 180C. Heat it in a microwave for household use (700 watts) for 15 minutes. 

8. Completing
Take the kimchi lasagna out of the oven after baking is complete. Pour in 5 ml of olive oil and sprinkle 5 g of Parmesan cheese power on top.

Chef's inside tip: Adding cheese can make this dish taste greasy. Consuming a soft drink or red wine while eating can alleviate this. Sprinkling parsley power on the finished kimchi lasagna dish also enhances the appeal of both the dish's appearance and taste.

xuaiy@korea.kr