Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Dying for Lasagna!

I was on the phone with my sister on Father's Day and asked her what they were doing for dinner. Apparently they had a meat sauce cooked up for a lasagna that never got cooked, so even though it was wicked hot, they were making lasagna.

As soon as she said that... I wanted some! I would have gone to her house for dinner, but it's a 10 hour drive.

So I just kept craving it.

But even though it was wicked hot here too, I couldn't hold out for cooler weather.

I wanted lasagna! I was able to wait almost a week before I made some!

There's no specific recipe for this. None of the amounts are exact.

I imagine it's pretty much how my mom made it.

Photobucket

Lasagna
1 box lasagna noodles
1 lb extra lean ground beef
1 lb Italian sausage (I used both hot and sweet)
24 oz ricotta cheese
3 - 4 C shredded provolone & mozzarella cheese
1/2 - 1 C shredded asiago/parmesan/romano cheese blend
1 egg
a couple palm fulls of Italian seasoning
1 medium onion, diced
several cloves of garlic, minced
salt & pepper
6 - 8 C Spaghetti Sauce, your favorite recipe or prepared sauce

Brown ground beef & sausage in a pan with onions & garlic. Drain off fat, add a palmful of Italian seasoning and some salt & pepper to taste; add spaghetti sauce and simmer.

While that's simmering, boil lasagna noodles according to the directions on the box, rinse in cold water.

In a bowl, combine ricotta, provolone & mozzarella (reserve 1 - 2 C provolone/mozzarella), asiago/parmesan/romano cheese blend, egg, a palmful of Italian seasoning and some salt & pepper. Combine well.

Now the noodles, meat sauce and cheese mixture are all ready to be assembled.

Reserve 1 - 2 cups of meat sauce. Put a little sauce in the bottom of a lasagna pan. Top that with a single, overlapping layer of noodles. Then evenly spread half of the meat sauce over the noodles. Next evenly spread half of the cheese mixtures over the meat sauce. Top with another layer of of overlapping noodles and repeat. When you get to the top layer of noodles, cover with reserved sauce and reserved cheese. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes. Let stand for 15 - 20 minutes before serving.
Enjoy!!

So that's the jist of it.

Now when I was making this lasagna, I was totally yackin' on the phone with my sister. I was VERY excited because I found out that my schedule WILL allow me to attend my cousin Annie's wedding in August. Unfortunately Jon's schedule isn't going to allow him to go with me, but Tawny & Bobby will definitely go too. In addition to that, my cousin Charlie will be there WITH his daughter Nadia! I was VERY VERY excited! Can't wait to go to the wedding, can't wait to see Charlie, can't wait to finally meet his beautiful daughter in person, can't wait to see everyone who will be at Annie's wedding!

Sooo... excited and blabbering on the phone equals not paying too much attention to what I'm doing in the kitchen!

I was taking pictures, but totally forgot the onion and garlic with the meat.

So brown up the sausage & beef, with onions & garlic.
(Wanna add peppers or olives? Go for it! Toss in whatever you like!)

Drain and add sauce. I used canned sauce this time.
Photobucket

At this point I realized I forgot the onion & garlic, so I added onion & garlic powder with the Italian seasoning.
Photobucket

Let that simmer.

Boil your noodles according to the directions and don't forget to add salt to the water!

Mix up your cheeses!
PhotobucketPhotobucket
PhotobucketPhotobucket
Photobucket

Rinse the noodles in cold water.
Photobucket

Time to assemble!
PhotobucketPhotobucket
PhotobucketPhotobucket
PhotobucketPhotobucket
PhotobucketPhotobucket
PhotobucketPhotobucket
PhotobucketPhotobucket

Now into a 350F degree oven for about 45 minutes.

Pull it out of the oven and let it rest for at least 15 - 20 minutes. If you cut it too soon, the pieces will slide apart.

Photobucket

Take that time to throw some garlic bread in the oven and toss a big garden salad!

Now it's dinner time!!

Mmmmmm.... big meaty cheeses pieces of lasagna!
Photobucket

Photobucket

Jon likes it even better the next day.

Photobucket
Photobucket

Four minutes in the microwave and it's time for wicked good leftovers!
Photobucket

Sometimes it's worth being in a wicked hot kitchen when you just have to have some lasagna!!

8 comments:

Joy said...

You and me both now. I love lasagna and I never get a chance to make it. It may be a good idea to try it this weekend.

Jennifer said...

Great photos, and damn it now I am craving lasagne and it is hot here too!

Shane T. Wingerd said...

Now THAT is a beautiful Lasagne!!! mmmmmmm L A S A G N E!

Heather S-G said...

That's so wonderful...you'll have a blast! And now I am totally craving lasagna. thank you very much ;)

Debbi Does Dinner Healthy said...

Lasagna rocks! I'm with Jon, I like it the next day better too. Thanks!

Patti T. said...

I am like you, even though it has been unbearably hot I can't seem to get chili off my mind. Your lasagna looked great. Bonus, you kitchen stayed cool the next night when you reheated, right?

Unknown said...

That looks so yummy! You make it the way I do (so glad there's no cottage cheese in there LOL). I like mine with some sauce and lots of cheese :)
Have a great time at the wedding!!

matt74 said...

Spryte that looks awesome!..and believe me I know how long it takes to make..LOL!..