Tri-Sauce Lasagna Pastry and Butterfinger Tres Leches Cake #Valentines4All

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My husband and I have never been big on going out to dinner on Valentine's Day. There are too many variables that could really mess up a romantic meal {lost reservations, poor service, bad food, etc.}, so we do Valentine's Day dinner at home. Plus, we've got ourselves a small brood {4 kids under the age of 5} and by going to a restaurant we could quite possibly be the cause of another couple's ruined romantic meal.  So, every year I plan us a made-at-home dinner with something easy-to-make for the kiddos {they're easy to please with tortellini, marinara sauce & baby carrots}. This year I have decided to make Tri-Sauce Lasagna Pastry for our dinner and a Butterfinger Tres Leches Cake for dessert. I was able to test out both recipes this past week and am beyond excited for our romantic meal on February 14th, 2014!

The first task was getting started on the Tri-Sauce Lasagna Pastry, it's something I have never made before and was super amped to try-out. It's basic lasagna made with marinara sauce, pesto sauce and alfredo sauce - then wrapped in a puff pastry dough and baked again until golden brown and served over more sauce. It's deliciously cheesy, crispy, saucy, meaty and above all else - it's totally novelty for a Valentine's Day romantic meal!

I gathered up the ingredients and got to work on my Tri-Sauce Lasagna Pastry!

This Tri-Sauce Lasagna Pastry is all about the sauces - so the quality of pasta sauces is of the utmost importance. I spotted Buitoni sauces in the deli section of Walmart and what do you know? There was one of each flavor I needed for my creation!! I had tried Buitoni pastas before but had yet to try their sauces as I usually make my own. I love that they are all-natural, packaged for freshness and absolutely delicious {you know I taste-tested each one before I started cooking!}.

The first sauce I used in the Tri-Sauce Lasagna Pastry was the Buitoni Marinara Sauce which I used to mix with ground beef. You can really tell by the photo below how chunky the sauce is! It has both a rich texture and flavor. My only regret is not trying this sauce sooner - it is a great substitute to homemade sauce when you are strapped for time. {busy moms need these kind of back-ups!}

Next up was the Buitoni Pesto with Basil {made with Extra Virgin Olive Oil}. This was spread on the first layer of the Tri-Sauce Lasagna Pastry and quite liberally I might add. I am a pesto-lover and am totally digging Buitoni's version! It's thick and smooth which are two of my favorite qualities in a tasty pesto.

{gratuitous shot of meaty, cheesy, saucy goodness...}

Third up to bat was Buitoni's Alfredo Sauce which was used on the next layer of the Tri-Sauce Lasagna Pastry. The Alfredo pasta sauce was thick, cheesy, creamy and oh-so-tasty! I see how Buitoni has been in business making pasta sauces since 1827, they do have a pretty amazing product.

I finished up assembling the lasagna, wrapped with foil and baked for almost an hour.

Out of the oven popped a baking dish of gooey, saucy-goodness! The Tri-Sauce Lasagna was done but it needed to be cold before starting the next step. I let it get close to room temperature and then placed in the frieezer for 25 minutes and then fridge for an hour. {there is no method to my madness...}

Then I wrapped up two pieces of the Tri-Sauce Lasagna in puff pastry sheets. This was my first time using puff pastry sheets, but I did pretty good by imagining I was wrapping a Christmas gift. {use pinching and water if needed} Once they were on the baking sheet I brushed egg whites on top to ensure a nice browning then it was into the oven for these bad boys!

Don't you love when something turns out better than you expected? When the Tri-Sauce Lasagna Pastries popped out of the oven I knew we had a winner for a romantic meal on Valentine's Day! They looked beautiful and smelled wonderful - I couldn't wait to taste this awesome concoction.

I plated the Tri-Sauce Lasagna Pastries over Buitoni Marinara and Alfredo sauces, leaving out the Pesto as I put a lot inside the actual lasagna. Having this rich dish on a weekday made me feel like I was on vacation - totally spoiled! One bite had me mmm'ing outloud - it was a serious flavor explosion in my mouth.

Tri-Sauce Lasagna Pastry
(PRINTABLE RECIPE)
Ingredients
1 cup Buitoni Marinara Sauce, divided
½ lb cooked & crumbled ground beef
6 lasagna noodles, cooked according to package
1 cup ricotta cheese
⅓ cup Buitoni Pesto with Basil Sauce
1.5 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
¾ cup parmesan cheese, shredded
⅓ cup Buitoni Alfredo Sauce
2 puff pastry sheets
1 egg white
Directions
1. Heat oven to 350.
2. Mix together marinara sauce and ground beef, set aside.
3. In bottom of an 8x8 baking dish, spread ¼ cup marinara sauce. Top with 2 lasagna noodles, cut to fit. Then top with ingredients in the following order:
⅓ cup ricotta cheese, pesto sauce, ½ cup mozzarella, ⅓ of ground beef, ¼ cup parmesan cheese, 2 lasagna noodles, ⅓ cup ricotta cheese, alfredo sauce, ½ cup mozzarella, ⅓ of ground beef, ¼ cup parmesan cheese, 2 lasagna noodles, ⅓ cup ricotta cheese, ½ cup mozzarella, ⅓ of ground beef, ¼ cup parmesan cheese.
4. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature and then chill in fridge until cold to the touch.
5. Heat oven to 375.
6. On a floured surface, roll out puff pastry sheet. I used a store-brought one that I found in the freezer section. Place lasagna, upside down, on sheet and wrap as you would a gift - using pinching and water when necessary to make everything hold together. Try not to use more puff pastry than needed to wrap around the lasagna as it may not have enough time to cook thoroughly, leaving a doughy pastry instead of a crisp one.
7. Spray baking sheet with non-stick baking spray. Place pastries on baking sheet, seam side down. Brush tops of pastries with egg-white.
8. Bake for 20 minutes or until sides of pastries are golden brown. Keep in mind that the tops will turn brown first due to the egg-whites.
9. Serve over marinara and alfredo sauces.

But that wasn't the only dish that I gave a test-run, I also made sure my idea for a dessert was going to be awesome too. {this is hard work folks, but somebody has to do it!} I decided to forego the gooey-chocolatey dessert this year due to the richness of the Tri-Sauce Lasagna Pastry.  Instead I decided on Butterfinger Tres Leches Cake. I'm not sure where this Tres Leches Cake has been all of my life but I am glad to have found it!

This Butterfinger Tres Leches Cake was perfect to make while the Tri-Sauce Lasagna Pastry was cooling, as the cake itself needs at least 4 hours to chill in a refrigerator. Tres Leches Cake is a spongecake soaked in three milks, which may sound a bit odd - but the cake is so fluffy and full of air that it soaks all that milk right up! After the cake had chilled for the required 4 hours I topped it with whip cream and a crushed Butterfinger {one of our favorite candy bars!}.  This dessert is cool, light, fluffy and has the smoothest, sweetest flavor - it will be the perfect ending to our romantic meal next week.

The Tres Leches Cake mix was one of several Nestle Baking Kit varieties that I spotted while on my shopping trip at Walmart. I thought all of the flavors looked wonderful and when I looked up said Nestle Baking Kits online I found a plethora of baking in my future. :) I love making things from scratch, but sometimes I need to not over-do myself and love that there are wonderful-tasting baking kits available that include almost everything needed to prepare a full dessert.

All in all, this Valentine's Day romantic meal will take time to put together but it's made a whole lot easier with the help of Buitoni sauces and a new {and awesome} Nestle Baking Kit. I am so excited for this upcoming Friday and the romantic meal my husband and I will share. Everyone knows the way to a man's heart is through his stomach and this meal is certainly going to do the trick! ♥

Do you have plans to make a dinner at home this upcoming Valentine's Day? What's on the menu?