How To Recreate Alvin Zhou's "100 Hour Lasagna" (sort of)

 

About a week before Thanksgiving I happened upon a video of Alvin Zhou making what he calls 100 Hour Lasagna. The video itself is gorgeous and quite calming. Alvin makes adorable little owl noises when he's happy with how something looks. The lasagna though! The lasagna is a jaw-dropping wonder. I immediately thought, 'I HAVE TO MAKE THIS!!'.

So, I grabbed pen and paper and sat down to watch the video again, and again, and again. See, Alvin doesn't tell you how many cups of mirepoix he dices, or how long to simmer the sauces, or what temperature to bake the whole thing at. I consulted with some books along the way. But here's what I think you need...

For the short rib sauce:

• 3 1/2 - 4 lbs. beef short ribs (Alvin used 7 ribs, I used 11)
• 2 cups diced onion
• 2 cups diced carrot
• 2 cups diced celery
• 2 - 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 generous cup diced pancetta
• 2 tbsp. tomato paste
• 2 cups good red wine
• 1 cup port* (optional)
• 2 (28oz) cans crushed tomatoes or 2 (25 oz.) jars Marinara sauce
• 1 tbsp. kosher salt (more or less, to taste. You do you.)
• 2-3 garlic gloves*

For the cheese sauce:

• 5 tbsp. butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour plus more as needed [edited 12/23/21]
• 1 tsp. dry mustard*
• 3 cups milk (probably should be warm)
• 1/2 tsp. fresh black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. fresh grated nutmeg*
• 3 - 4 cups freshly grated pecorino or parmesan ( I used a combo and threw in some fontina* too)

For the lasagna noodles:

1. 2 boxes oven ready lasagna sheets (or make your own like Alvin)
2. 2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Okay, here's how I think it goes:

THE MEAT SAUCE PART (Day One)

Preheat oven to 325 F

Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium heat. Season short ribs salt and pepper. When oil is shimmering and almost smoking, add short ribs (meat side down). Work in batches, if necessary, to avoid crowding the pot. 5-6 minutes.

Once browned (not blackened), remove ribs to a plate and set aside. Wipe out any excess fat with a paper towel. Add diced pancetta and cook until lightly brown and almost crisp.

Add mirepoix to pot and sweat until softened (about 12 minutes). Initially, I cut up 4 cups each of carrot, onion, and celery based and how large Alvin's piles looked, but that's way more than you need. Go with about 2 cups each.

Add 2 tbsp. tomato paste. Mix well (wooden spoon, kids). Deglaze with a red wine good enough to drink. Scrape up any stuck-on bits at the bottom. 

Add crushed tomatoes or marinara sauce (I used one of each). Bring almost to a boil, lower heat and simmer until reduced by a third. At this point, you could throw in a 2-3 whole peeled garlic cloves if ya wanted to. Alvin didn't, but I did.

Slowly bring to a light boil. Turn off heat. Season sauce to taste. Return ribs to pot, meat side down. Cover and place in oven. Cook until tender (about 2 - 2 1/2 hours).

Remove ribs from sauce. Remove bones with tongs. Discard bones (or keep for a bone broth or art project). Let ribs cool on plate. Once cool, shred beef. You might have to cut off some particularly clingy bits of fat. I did. Speaking of fat, spoon off any large pools of fat on surface of sauce. Return shredded beef to sauce. Stir in about 1 cup of cheese, more or less, whatever. Stir. Let cool. Cover and refrigerate for 3 days. Damn, I should of told you to make room in the fridge. You should do that now.

THE BECHAMEL CHEESE SAUCE PART (Day 2)

Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Whisk in flour (and a pinch of salt, pepper, dry mustard, and grated nutmeg*). Keep whisking until smooth and golden brown (2-3 mins.). Now ya got a roux!

Gradually (slower than Alvin does) add (warmed) milk. Bring heat to medium, stirring continuously until thick, smooth  and almost boiling. Extra arms would be nice here, what with all the constant whisking. Once almost at a boil, reduce heat and simmer 2 mins. Remove from heat and fold in about 2 cups grated pecorino and/or parm until incorporated. Let cool, then refrigerate.

I added way more than 2 cups cheese here. It was too much, so I ended up making a new Béchamel sauce and then I slowly incorporated part of the over-cheesed one. Just taste along the way. I also added a teaspoon of Dijon mustard because James Beard made me think it might be a good idea. Then I hit it with a couple dashes of hot sauce (Cholula regular).

THE NOODLES AND ASSEMBLY PART (Day 3)

Buy oven-ready lasagna sheets.* I don't know where my pasta attachment is. Sorry, Alvin.

Alternatively, if you really wanna make your own noodles, knock yourself out. Maybe this link would be of use.

Gently warm up both cheese and meat sauces in oven (325 F) or on stovetop. You just wanna warm it to a workable consistency.

Here's how Alvin assembles his masterpiece.

Into a buttered 15" 10" x 2" baking dish ladle even layers:

• meat sauce
• noodles 
• meat sauce
• cheese sauce
• noodles
• meat sauce
• cheese sauce
• noodles
• meat sauce
• cheese sauce
• noodles
• cheese sauce.

Top with grated cheese. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

THE COOK AND EAT PART (Day 4)

Take lasagna out of the fridge 90 minutes before baking.

Preheat oven to 375 F. Bake 40 minutes loosely covered then 15-20 minutes uncovered (Alvin puts it in uncovered) until browned and bubbly. Let rest 10 minutes. Top with chopped parsley. Cut into squares and devour responsibly. It's incredible!

Mirepoix is a fun word.

Mmmm, pancetta.

Use a good wine. It's 2020.

Saucy

If I had taken it out 4 minutes earlier, the picture may have been prettier. But those burnt edges were heavenly.

I mean???!!!

The next day I made a glorious short-rib pizza with the sauce that didn't make into the lasagna proper.

100 Hour Short Rib Pizza!

NOTE: Alvin used a ceramic baking dish in his broiler. I used a Pyrex baking dish that isn't suitable for broiler use. So, 'know your equipment' is always good rule of thumb, I suppose.

* indicates me riffing and that Alvin didn't do this (or use this) in his video.

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