People often ask me, “what’s the best Italian restaurant in Los Angeles?” My typical answer is, “That depends. What region of Italy do you like? Do you want fresh pasta? Are you a fan of Calabrian chili? Do you prefer pizza Napoletana or Romana?” And the list goes on and on. But if you forced me to pick a singular restaurant for Italian food supremacy in the giant city of Los Angeles, I would probably tell you to go to Angelini Osteria.
Helmed by legendary chef, Gino Angelini, Angelini Osteria is a California-inspired Italian restaurant that has been serving the most delicate pastas, wood-fired pizzas, succulent sides, and sizzling secondi since 2001. Angelini, along with his wife Elizabeth, also runs the next door a classic Italian bar that has an all-day menu of pastries, sandwiches, and perfect coffee. In addition to their sit-down spots, the husband and wife team bottle their own olive oil and sauces that are perfect complements to at-home Italian chefs trying to recreate the magic of this spectacular Fairfax district hotspot.
And for those at-home chefs looking for a little assistance from the Emilia Romagna master, we interviewed Gino about cooking at home, and more importantly, tips on how to perfect the chef’s luxurious lasagna (which is my go-to order every time I dine at the Osteria).
Let’s talk about lasagna. When you’re making it at home, do you recommend doing everything from scratch? The pasta, the sauce, etc.
It’s obviously better to make everything from scratch, but if you buy the pasta sheets in the store it will take less time. But if you start from scratch and you make the ragù, the Bolognese, it takes a lot of time, but it’s worth the effort.
Everyone loves your Lasagna Verde, but how do you achieve the green color in your pasta sheets?
It depends on how green you want it, but when I’m making the dough for the pasta, I can do one kilogram (2.2 lbs) of flour with 100 (3.5 oz) of spinach and three eggs. So, I put the eggs and the spinach in a blender, and I blend that together. But one of the most important keys is to get the water out of the spinach. Squeeze out the water before you do this. [Lasagna Verde recipe]
If you’re using a pasta machine at home, how thin do you want your pasta sheets to be?
You want it to be thin, but not the thinnest setting on the machine. The pasta still needs to hold, so not the thinnest setting.
How long do you cook your pasta before using it for lasagna?
One minute only and then I put it into an ice bath to stop the cooking process. After that, I put the pasta sheets on a towel to dry them off.
For your ragù, how much time are you letting it cook?
I don’t let it go for three days, it’s already a long process. I let it cook for maybe two and a half hours.
When you’re layering the lasagna, do you want your ingredients to be wetter or drier?
You want it to be drier. When you’re making the lasagna, you’ll want to heat up the ragù so it reduces the sauce down even more. Especially because we’re still going to add the béchamel and the parmigiana and you don’t want it to be runny.
When you begin layering your lasagna, what you do start with?
I put a layer of butter on the bottom of the tray first and then place down the first layer of pasta. Then I put a layer of bechamel and then the ragù. I do about five layers of pasta and then the last layer, it’s only a thin layer of bechamel with some parmigiana and a little bit of butter.
How long do you cook your lasagna for and at what temperature?
I cook it at about 350 degrees for around 25 minutes or when it’s golden brown on the top. After that I let it rest for about 20 minutes.
Why do you let the lasagna rest after you take it out of the oven?
Because if you don’t let it sit, the bechamel and the ragù will be too runny and not congeal with the rest of the pasta.