Lasagna

Today, my husband Jeremy turned 34. Since he was raised by a half-Italian mother, he has begged and pleaded for me to make him some of his favorite dishes that his mother would make like manicotti and lasagna and spaghetti and meatballs. I have always refused to use his mother's recipes because I would inevitably hear the complaint, "It doesn't taste the same." So, if he wants his mother's recipes, he cooks or bakes it (as he does with her Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe... and (surprise!) it never tastes the same way twice. But at least it's not MY fault!).

Well, I am finally making a lasagna for his birthday dinner... but not his mother's recipe. Something almost as good, though, based on the ingredients and how it is made. I just thought I would share it with you.

You can find it here. But for ease, I will spell it out for you.


Serves: 12


Ingredients
1 pound of sweet Italian sausage

1 pound of ground beef

1/2 cup of chopped onions

2 cloves of garlic chopped

1 (28 ounce) can of crushed tomatoes

2 (8 ounce) cans of tomato sauce

2 (6 ounce) cans of tomato paste

1/2 Cup of Water

2 tablespoons white sugar

1 teaspoon fennel seed

2 teaspoons fresh Basil leaves, chopped

4 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Italian

/2 teaspoon ground pepper

23 ounces of ricotta cheese

1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg

1 egg

1 pound shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

12 lasagna noodles

Start with the following in a pot:
1 pound of sweet Italian sausage, 1 pound of ground beef, 1/2 cup of chopped onions, 2 cloves of garlic chopped.

Brown the ground beef, Italian sausage, onions and garlic in a pot until they start to cook. It takes about 6 to 9 minutes to brown the meat. Drain grease, or not, your choice.

Add the following:
1 (28 ounce) can of crushed tomatoes, 2 (8 ounce) cans of tomato sauce, 2 (6 ounce) cans of tomato paste, 1/2 cup of water.

Gently stir this into the cooking meat.

Add the following:
2 tablespoons white sugar, 1 teaspoon fennel seed, 2 teaspoons fresh Basil leaves chopped, 2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley chopped, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper.

Gently stir these seasoning into the sauce.

Cover the pot and let the meat sauce simmer. Simmer on low heat for 1 hour and 30 minutes This is the ideal simmer time, but not mandatory. If you don’t have time it will still be great after one hour of simmering.

Soak 12 lasagna noodles.

The lasagna noodles need to be soaked in hot tap (or cold water, if you have "instant" noodles... cold water helps them cook evenly) water for 15 minutes.

While the noodles are soaking you can make the cheese filling.


Put the following in a mixing bowl:
23 ounces of ricotta cheese, 1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg.

Grate fresh nutmeg over the Ricotta cheese.

Add the following:
1 egg, 2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley chopped.

Mix these ingredients together with a spoon

Now we start building the lasagna layers.
Use a 9×13 inch baking pan. Spread 2 Cups of meat sauce on the bottom of the pan.

Remove your lasagna noodles out of the water bath. Shake water off wet noodles.

Lay 6 noodles across the layer of sauce.

Spread half of the ricotta cheese mixture over the layer of noodles.

Spread 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese over the ricotta layer.

Sprinkle half of the Parmesan cheese over the mozzarella layer.

Spread 2 cups of meat sauce over the cheese layer.

Lay down the next layer of noodles.

Spread the remaining ricotta mixture over noodles.

Spread the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses saving some cheese for the top of the lasagna.

Put the last layer of meat sauce on the cheeses.

Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.

Cover with foil. Bake in preheated oven at 350 F for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake uncovered for another 25 minutes.


Remove from oven and allow to cool for approximately 15 minutes.