As if my love of bacon wasn’t more obvious. If I were a poet like Duckie, I would write an Ode to Bacon. Sadly I am bereft of the ability to rhyme (except in cases where obscene and nonsensical limericks are concerned) so I shall profess my love for this salted, cured meat by tinkering with the pink stuff and finding new ways to stuff it into my waiting, hungry mouth. One item that I thought would be an interesting idea was bacon lasagne.
This became an obsession of sorts. I tried this twice before and whilst it was nice, it wasn’t extraordinary. I wanted something that was going to knock people’s socks off. I wanted dieting friends to ask for seconds. I didn’t want non-plussed or faint praise, I wanted a standing ovation. So I mulled on it and considered my options while sitting in a big overstuffed leather chair pressing my fingertips together thoughtfully like a scheming billionaire*. I’d have to come back to the recipe at a later stage. Fast forward a month or two and the fabulous Faith from An Edible Mosaic had sent me my prize for her All Through the Year Cheer Event. She told me that she would be sending me a huge box and asked me if I wanted to try anything else from the United States.
There was one thing that I was dying to try and that was Baconnaise and grits. I know Americans may laugh as they’re both easy to find in America, particularly grits and certainly nothing exotic but I hadn’t tried either and after reading about both I was curious. After Faith searched for the baconnaise (her shop was out) she sent me the package and as Australian customs likes to do, they confiscated my baconnaise and replaced it with one of their pamphlets-humph! It wasn’t quite a fair deal. It seemed baconnaise would remain something that I would get to try if I visited the US.
Then a lovely reader of both of our blogs Jonathan contacted Faith. He was in Australia and he was in possession of baconnaise! Not only baconnaise but bacon salt and bacon lip balm! He asked me if I would like him to send me some but I didn’t want to deplete his supply. He wouldn’t hear of it and said rather sweetly “No problem, a small way to thank you for the joy your posts have given me.” I have mentioned that I do have the most darling readers ever haven’t I? Soon after I received a package of goodies: baconnaise, bacon lip balm and bacon salt. Thankyou SO much Jonathan and Faith!
I tried the baconnaise and as Jonathan said, it was nothing like bacon as we know it. It was smokey, most certainly but it didn’t hold that umami flavour that bacon has and it wasn’t really moreish like bacon is. It was … well peculiar. I looked at the ingredients and saw that there was no bacon in it at all but what I did see was garlic, onion and smoke. Liquid smoke! By George I think we have the secret to bacon lasagne! So a short while later I replenished my supply of liquid smoke (used up in my Bacon Jam) and set to work, joy renewed and a spring in my step.
I wanted to make a bacon lasagne that was smokey and a little bit sweet. Not overpoweringly sweet and there’s no real sugar to speak of in the recipe apart from a teaspoon with the caramelised onions but it had to have that balance of deep smokiness and sweetness as the bacon would already take care of the saltiness. I also used a variety of cured pork from bacon, speck and prosciutto. I realise that prosciutto is expensive so you can forego this and use more bacon if you would like or leave it out, it’s really there as a flourish at the end. And sitting in my fridge from an earlier food venture I had a knob of smoked mozzarella which would be the icing on the cake.
And how was this bacon lasagne? It was smokey, it was baconey and it was pretty damn good if I do say so myself. Don’t be too tempted to add too much BBQ sauce as BBQ sauce itself can be very sweet depending on the one that you use. But do enjoy it with as much or as little liquid smoke as you can handle. If you were a fan of my Bacon Jam, you may very well love this lasagne. So I give it with a warning, it’s for bacon lovers most certainly. Love it and love it well.
So tell me Dear Reader, what is the strangest food that you have tasted lately?
*may or may not be true
Smokey n’ Sweet Bacon Lasagne
An Original recipe by Not Quite Nigella
- 500grams/1 pound shortcut rindless bacon
- 100grams/3.5ozs. pancetta
- 1-2 tablespoons oil
- Some drops of liquid smoke
- 2 teaspoons oil
- 1 large onion, chopped (I put it in the food processor)
- 2 teaspoons oil
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped (I put these in the food processor)
- 250grams/1/2 pound uncooked lasagne sheets (no boiling required ones)
- 600ml/19 fl ozs. milk
- 50g/1.7 ozs butter
- 3 tablespoons plain flour
- a pinch of nutmeg
- 3/4 cup tomato passata
- 1/4 cup BBQ sauce
- 100g/3.5ozs prosciutto
- 150g/5ozs smoked mozzarella
- 100grams Wild rocket and a handful of black olives to serve
Buyer’s tip: Liquid Smoke can be found at David Jones Food Hall in the American foods section
I made this in a square 24x24cms springform tin, just so that I could lift it out without any trouble although a regular lasagne pan will work.
1. In a food processor, mince the bacon and pancetta. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large saucepan on medium-high heat and fry the bacon and pancetta mince until the bacon is cooked through and lightly browned. I did this in two lots and it took about 5 minutes to cook each lot. Place in a bowl and add some liquid smoke to the bacon (to taste preference) and set aside. Then using the same pan heat up the 2 teaspoons of oil and cook the onion and garlic on a low heat until the onion has caramelised which will take about 15 minutes-but it’s all about being sweet and smokey here you understand 
Add in the teaspoon of sugar and cook for another 5 minutes.
2. In another medium sized saucepan pan make the bechamel sauce by melting the butter on medium heat. Add the flour and with a flat bottomed wooden spoon stir constantly and cook the flour for 1-2 minutes. Switch to a whisk and then add the milk, a little at a time, whisking constantly to get rid of any lumps. Keep whisking until all of the milk is added and the sauce is thickened and smooth and cook on low. Stir in 100g/3.5 ozs of grated smoked mozzarella into the bechamel sauce.
This isn’t quite enough passata brushed on one side…
OK this is better
3. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Oil the lasagne pan lightly and empty passata into a bowl. With a pastry brush, brush some passata onto the bottom of the baking dish and then brush each side of the lasagne sheets with the passata (the watery passata will ensure that the lasagne sheets cook). Then brush the lasagne sheets with a little BBQ sauce.
OK I added a random layer of smoked mozzarella
4. Line the bottom with one layer of lasagne sheets, not overlapping. Then place some of the bechamel sauce, a layer of bacon, a little of the caramelised onion then a layer of the lasagne sheets. Repeat until the top of the lasagne pan is reached – I get a bit Swedish chef when it comes to lasagnes and just put some cheese on a layer if I feel that it needs it or I forget something in another layer. It usually ends up being quite fine.
5. Add a final layer or prosciutto on top and then some bechamel sauce and then sprinkle the smoked mozzarella cheese over the top and bake for 30 minutes. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before unmolding.
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80 Comments | Add your own
Hahah you’re so funny Lorraine! I can’t believe there’s bacon lip balm?? My gosh… I can’t say I’ve had anything ‘strange’ recently, but I think others may find reindeer blood pancakes ‘strange’ (or just plain disgusting), but they’re my all time favourite!
Those lasagne look amazing! I really love liquid smoke and bacon. Drool drool….
Cheers,
Rosa
This is insane and I will make it for my next brunch. I wonder if a little hard cooked egg would be a worthwile addition.
Hmmm.
Love you dearly.
Hehe…bacon lasagne? Bacon jam? A true obsession indeed. What I’d like to know is how you found the bacon lip balm?
I adore good bacon and this looks delish. What a wonderful story, except of course the customs bit. Bacon Lipgloss I could not imagine…. Not recent but a couple of years ago at the Brisbane Hilton Masterclass they served up pigeon liver pate topped with a whole grilled pigeon heart. Although others probably wouldn’t find it weird at all.
Oh mercy, Lorraine! I love that you did this! What splendid readers you have to supply you with such things.
OMG!! so making this
Hoooray. At last!
Looks pretty scrummy, and when you think about it, not too difficult! Congratulations!
OMG that sounds too too good and fabulously sinful. We have a vietnamese bakery nearby that does bacon and cheese rolls with sweet onions on them.. sooooo good and my husband will always eat at least three – for $1.50 each, it’s a bargain brekky!!
This looks really delicious. I didnt know there was such a thing as baconnaise, bacon salt or bacon lip balm! Will definitely be on the lookout nex time I go to USA.
This looks fabulous! And the obscene thing is that it is 8.30am, I have had breakfast, and yet I still would love to eat a piece of it now.
No strange foods for me lately – although on Sunday I did have a pork bun that squirted juice everywhere when I bit into it just at the moment when our waitress put my Diet Coke on the table.
Thank you so much for your kind words, Lorraine! (And thanks to Jonathan too, for his generosity!) I’m glad you got to try Baconnaise in the end.
This is a gorgeous lasagna, and probably the most unique one I’ve ever seen.
WOW – bacon overload!!!! What an interesting dish though! I have NEVER heard of baconnaise!!
You know, that even looks enticing to a non-bacon-fan like me. So well done – your scheming billionaire tactics have paid off!
By the by, where do you get your liquid smoke from? I’ve been wanting some of that for aaaages
This Lasagne in front of me with bacon I’m pretty sure that has my name on it!
Smoky, hearty and simply outstanding
All the best,
Gera
Decadent much? Yum!
Lorraine, FYI USA Foods in Melbourne stock these items and can post out to you. http://www.usafoods.com.au all the fun American products are available there……. xo
Oh my goodness! Three of my favourite things – bacon, lasagne and cheese!!! Divine
BuBbles
x.
Bacon Lasagna = genius. Fantastic idea, even better than the bacon cup cakes!
OH. EMM. GEEE. That looks amazing! Layers of mozzarella?! Brilliance! Can’t wait to try it!
I’ll write an ode to bacon for you. I love bacon.
where do you buy Liquid Smoke (never heard of it) but the recipe sounds delicious.
bacon lipbalm.. lolz
I have tasted Baconaise and it wasnt what I expected. What an interesting way of using bacon. This lasagna would certainly win over a man who loves his meat. ehehehe. I’m off to get some bacon. ehehehehe
Oh Lorraine, this is inspiring!
I’m still trying to get my head around baconnaise (I haven’t even started to comprehend bacon lip balm as yet…!), but once I recover I think I might need to do a little bacon experimentation based on this post!
Ummmm…. Amazing! I also love all things cured! So this is right up my alley. I can only imagine that it is a taste explosion. I will have to make this immediately, but where do I buy ‘liquid smoke’ from NQN?
I will make this, the day after I make your polenta + baked sausage recipe. To make up for forcing the boy to eat polenta, and then he will love me again and the polenta incident will be forgiven, and we will die a bacony, sausagey, death from overdose on processed meat products.
mmmmm…bacony goodness! A word of warning, once I dropped and smashed a bottle of liquid smoke onto my carpet. The smell NEVER left, ever! It was quite a while before I could face smokiness again. Fortunately we moved.
My local butcher will smoke anything I want. He smoked me some beautiful racks of lamb that I cooked with a pomegranate glaze and a dusting of sumac.Mmmmm…..
I LOVE Baconaisse! In fact I have a secret (not any more) plan to make some and put it up on my blog…you have spurred me on and I shall do it tonight!
Love the concept of the bacon lasagne – I’m definitely going to have to try it. I am devoted to all things from the pig so will no doubt adore it.
Baconnaise is probably a bit like perinaise (from Nandos) – very sweet. I was disappointed because I was expecting a spicy eggy condiment and ended up with sweet goo…
Cannot show my boyfriend this.. he is the baconator..
I’ve spotted Baconnaise in the DJs food hall (in Sydney) as well, in case it helps. And have also been intrigued by the trough-load of bacon products appearing (this one particularly struck my fancy, but seems to be a US-only one… boo! http://penguinsandparentheses.blogspot.com/2010/05/one-pig-so-many-options.html)
I feel my hips expanding already! Bacon lasagna — good gawd. When my husband sees this, he may divorce me and marry THIS instead.;)
Bacon lip balm??? oh my…. Haha not a huge fan of bacon, don’t mind the bacon and eggs once in a while but this lasagne looks like something out of this world!
so coincidence, I made my 1st lagsana yesterday, but turned out the sheet still quite hard. Yours look so yummy!
Love the “I want people on a diet to ask for seconds.” Bacon lasagna? Why not. It makes sense to me.Italians have been pairing pig and pasta together for centuries.This is just one more unique way.
I made sweet potato lasagna with buckwheat flour, and it was awesome.
Baconaise range is fully available in David Jones food store in Perth city….if Perth has it, the rest of your cities must have it
Happy eating
NQN, I assume you have found the bacon bits hiding in the ‘spices’ section of your local Woolies. A wonderful addition to any salad, soup, baked potato, pasta, omelette….(jeez can you tell I’m American or what!). Thanks for another delicious recipe!
Mmmm bacony goodness. Is it possible to have too much? I loved your bacon candies last year and this is another great addition to the family.
Very nice recipe! I will like to have try these.
Pasta. Cheese. Bacon. You’ve got it all, baby!! I’m a huge bacon fan too….and I think all vegans/vegetarians secretly dream of bacon in their sleep! ;-p
You can also go to http://www.mistygully.com.au for lovely mountain ash liquid smoke. It goes so well in the BBQ sauce that I make for my BBQ ribs.
OMG!! I am such a bacon lover and just received my package from US too and guess what – liquid smoke…. ** claps hands ***
You’ve officially just made me hungry! I’ve made a ham, prociutto, pancetta and roasted butternut lasagne before (using sundried tomato paste in the passata for a sweetness to counteract all the salty meat overload and it was heaven), but i’m definitely trying this. Have never heard of liquid smoke, but love the sound of it – will definitely try and hunt it down over here.
Also i’m going to the US towards the end of the year and then Australia a month later – if there’s anything you’d like it would be a pleasure to bring it back for you! Just let me know.
Briony xx
P.S. I love that you want dieters to dream of second helpings (exactly the kind of reaction I hope for when I cook too! Oh god, i’m subconciously trying to make my boyfriend fat…). And just had an image of you pulling bacon lipbalm from your gorgeous handbag, haha!
Yummo!! I can’t wait to try this recipe out.
Btw, I’ve sent you an email re: baconnaise and grits
OF COURSE it was delicious! this is an inspired creation, lorraine. i especially love the sneaky little dash of nutmeg–great touch to a phenomenal dish of food.
I’ve made my share of various lasagnas…however, admittedly, never quite like yours.
You do like bacon…a lot ;o)
I found a few very interesting ingredients that I’ll surely integrate in my next lasagna creation. Thanks for the ‘baconspiration’.
I loved your enthusiasm throughout this post!
Flavourful wishes, Claudia
Good golly ms Lorraine… you can’t keep an Aussie chef down when she has a dish to perfect. Good for you… what a great idea and follow-through. I can’t imagine how good it must be… bookmark for sure!
Woah, there’s a lot of bacon happening here! But, of course, all in a good way =)
have you really worn bacon lip gloss – the idea makes my toes curl – once upon a time I loved bacon and then I became vegetarian and started to find it overpowering but I am quite fascinated by all the bacon in the post and the lasagne – in another life where I didn’t become veg, who knows – but these days the closest I might come is a little facon in my lasagna. Though if I get to the American food shop in Melbourne out the burbs I must look our for baconnaise
Ohhh wow this lasagne looks so amazingly good!! I havent had a lasagne in so long.
You are hilarious! I must confess that I can’t go past bacon the way God intended – crispy fried with breakfast goodies.
With an obsession like bacon, how HOW do you stay so svelte?
The lasagna looks absolutely delicious and moist. Fantastic photos .. I just want to grab my fork right now.
My boyfriend has some canned bacon that he got from somewhere. It’s wayyyy past it’s expiration date, so I doubt we will be trying it any time soon, but it’s certainly a little unusual.
Thanks for the recipe. I love proscuitto and look for excuses constantly to buy some, so I will be trying this one soon!
YUMMY!
Bacon lasagne is a brilliant idea. I’m a little bit obsessed with it.
The lasagne sounds good, but I must say the idea of baconnaise makes me shudder!
Ode to bacon coming up next Tuesday…
Wow, this lasagne sounds fabulous with bacon! The smokey and sweet flavors must be fantastic!
Bacon lip balm? Seriously??? But your bacon lasagna looks AMAZING! Bookmarked!
You’ve given me a great idea! What bacon is to you, truffles are to me, so I’m going to make a mushroom truffle lasagna!
Must. Make. This. Drooling. Majorly. =)
Your Australian bacon is so much better than American bacon, you’ll be sorely disappointed when you visit. When are you visiting by the way? I love sausage in my lasagna, so I’m sure I’d love a slice of this as well. xoxo Mum
What interesting products
I think the bacon lip balm would be very confusing – and make me want to eat all the time. Love the lasagna, Lorraine.
That looks so indulgent! So did you get your standing ovation?
As for strange foods, the strangest i’ve tried lately is baby food (some of that stuff seriously is strange!)
bacon and lasagna are to of my favorite words. combining them together makes me feel a little faint.
You are hilarious. Bacon lasagne may seem odd to some, but makes total sense when you’re in mind. Well done on coming up with something to force dieters to pretend to themselves they’ll run an extra km or two tomorrow
Is there any dish that bacon, the wonder meat, can’t make improve? And if you don’t think you’re much of a poet you should google Bec Hewitt’s wedding poem to Lleyton, and you’ll instantly feel better about your abilities!
oh *drool*
I wonder if I will get away with serving this tonight to the hordes of Emo vegetarians staying over.
I mean, they have to have something to be depressed about don’t they?
I just saw a show on the food network where one of the chef’s favorite dessert was bacon donuts. Bacon is slowly taking over the world
I saw Baconnaise and Bacon Salt at David Jones basement food hall in Sydney CBD. I was laughing and remember that you like bacon, but bacon in a jar? Will it be good? Then I saw your post here, apparently it is good.
Baconnaise? OMG I’m in heaven! Extraordinary! And this lasagna is amazing! Ooh now I have to look for all this bacon stuff when I’m in the US this summer. Someone just gave me my first bar of chocolate with bacon and I’m saving it till I’m alone.
Bacon lip balm! Oh my, I need to get myself some of that.
This bacon lasagna is brilliant, love the combination of pancetta, bacon and proscuitto.
Holy Smoke, that’s a whole lot of bacon hehe. Very ingenious of you but don’t know if die-hard Italians would go for the sweetness of this dish, not big fans of sweet/savoury combined. Disappointed you didn’t make your own lasagna sheets Lorraine, tut tut. I’d certainly give it a try though.
Can’t say I’ve tried any unusual foods lately but did have a lovely meal at the Centennial restaurant in Bowral last night, where they designed their meal around local produce. It’s a lovely spot and you overlook the grape vines as you dine. You and Mr.NQN should try it next time you take a drive to the Highlands.
Your lasagne looks amazing – I love bacon too but the Baconaise … not too sure about that one
OMG this lasagne looks delicious! Will def be giving it a go. Wish you didn’t mention baconnaise…I’m going to hunt it down when I’m in the US later in the year. I think I’ll be lugging home a suitcase full of food!
i am so making this for my bacon loving boyfriend
a Google search resulted in an Australian liquid smoke
http://www.mistygully.com.au/catalog/index.php?cPath=46&osCsid=810d0fadb5815804354ed6f2e9e3dde9
Hi
I am a recent subscriber to your blog. I find it fun, interesting, informative and humorous. I am not sure about this recipe, only because I have no clue what liquid smoke is (I will endeavour to find out, most likely from previous posts of yours). What I wanted to comment on is the remark about Australian Customs. Technically Australian Customs should not be removing anything from your package. If it was done it was most likely Australian Quarantine Inspection Services (AQIS). They are responsible for managing quarantine controls to minimise the risk of exotic pests and diseases entering the country. They fit under the umbrella of the Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF). My point is not to be a pedant but to potentially help. In future if you want to have someone send you food stuff that could potentially be configated check with AQIS first before they send the item. You can check the website (http://www.daff.gov.au/aqis/import/food) which can be very informative or email the department responsible for deciding what needs a permit to enter the country (biological@aqid.gov.au) with your query and as much information as you can provide about the product. They are usually very helpful. Then either print the email response (send it to your friend to print) or print the relevant page on their database (ICON http://www.aqis.gov.au/icon/asp/ex_querycontent.asp) and include it in your parcel. This way, if it is check by the Quarantine officers they will have evidence to prove it is allowed into the country. Usually for personal use small items that are considered low risk will be allowed in.
I hope this is helpful in future.
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