Eight Hundred Grapes Lasagna recipe

Hello. For book club this month our selection was Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave. In the book she states the characters mother's lasagna has a secret ingredient, Dark Chocolate. I want to make this lasagna for our book club meeting. I have found a recipe which added chocolate, http://bit.ly/1Lr6hiI.
Yesterday I made a large pot of my mom's Meat Sauce, http://bit.ly/1j7PVPP.
The question is - Do you think I can add the Dark Chocolate and Cinnamon to the my already cooked sauce and simmer for a bit on the stove?

Lucia from Madison
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3 Comments

702551
702551 October 8, 2015
Why don't you take a small portion of your already cooked sauce and incorporate dark chocolate and cinnamon to it?

There is nothing that requires you to turn the entire batch of your mom's meat sauce into an all-or-nothing experiment.
 
Michelle
Michelle October 8, 2015
This sounds like a riff on a mole sauce. There is a recipe in Epicurious for a mole sauce that I first tried in 1998. I have since graduated to one by Rick Bayless but the Bon Appetit recipe was enough to get me hooked. It calls for 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/2 ounce of semi sweet chocolate. What you want is like Nancy said, not at all a dominant flavor. What I aim for is that my guests say, What is that?!! I know there's something, and I know what it is, I just can't figure it out.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/chicken-and-green-olive-enchiladas-4965

Please report on your success, and I want to know if the book is good.
 
Nancy
Nancy October 4, 2015
Yes, you can add the chocolate and cinnamon to an already made tomato sauce. I've done it and it works. Usually in small amounts, so the taste is a counterpoint and not a dominant flavor. Last, her recipe says 1/4 chocolate. Check with other or search for another copy online to find out 1/4 what unit...lb, cup, other
 
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