I Almost Hate It When It’s Worth It.
When a recipe turns out to be much more complicated and time-consuming than I thought it would be, I’m torn. Part of me wants it to be incredible and worth the effort. The other part of me wants it to be, in Bill’s words, very “meh” so I can justify not going through the steps again.
This dish has a story. I saw the Spinach, Pesto & Fontina Lasagna a while back in Bon Appetit; I love vegetarian lasagna, so I put it on our “menu” for the week. On Wednesday night, I started to make the herb pesto (which, by the way, is amazing by itself). After I made the pesto, I realized I didn’t have enough parm for the rest of the recipe. We put it aside and went to Five Guys, vowing to make the lasagna the next night. Thursday: I made the bechamel, but had a long day at work, so we ordered Thai takeout. Friday: resolved to actually finish this lasagna, I pulled out what looked like a huge container of baby spinach only to discover that I had twelve fewer ounces than I needed. We invited my brother and sister-in-law over for pizza. Saturday: I went to get the “remaining” ingredients to do it up right for a Saturday date night at home. Everything was ready except for the ricotta mixture. Alas, no eggs. Bill and I later figured out that I dreamed a conversation where he told me we had eggs. No joke. So Bill runs to the grocery to get eggs. I said, probably five times, this lasagna had better be kick-you-in-the-face amazing.
Aaaaaand it was awesome. The flavors were more layered than other vegetarian lasagnas. Each of the (overly, in my case) drawn-out steps lent a subtle intrigue to the dish: the bechamel with the wine, the pesto with a bunch of herbs, the creamy fontina… all melded together to make a delectable dish.
Still, as happy as our palates were, I almost wish the lasagna was terrible so I never have the urge to go through four days’ worth of trouble again. Although, I do like a good excuse for Thai takeout…
