Lasagna

Again, I failed to post last week. I have a good excuse, I promise. I was moving. It’s all very exciting. Our new place has beautiful new appliances and a much awesomer and more manageable kitchen than the last one, and the whole situation is much better. I vowed that I would make this week’s post extra-awesome due to my failure to post anything last week, so I guarantee that this is one of the best real food (i.e., not baked goods) recipes I have posted to date.

Lasagna! Everyone loves it, right? Actually, I don’t. I’m really not a huge fan of most lasagnas because I’m very picky about what I want in a lasagna. I honestly only made this because I promised my friend Andy (a big lasagna fan) that I’d make it for him. A lasagna has to be heavily cheese-based for me to enjoy it. I’m a cheese fiend. Especially when it comes to Italian cheeses like parmesan, mozarella, and ricotta—all of which this recipe uses in full force. So if you like a good, cheesy lasagna—and yes, there is beef in there too—you’ve come to the right place.

I generally look to the Food Network when I’m looking for a good recipe, and I found one via the Neelys on FoodNetwork.com. It was pretty simple (important for a first-time lasagna-maker) and didn’t use a ton of expensive ingredients (important for a cash-poor college student). However, there were some elements of which I was not a fan. They used cottage cheese instead of ricotta (WHAT?! No thank you!) and cheddar cheese (again, WHAT?!). So, I made some modifications and pressed on. It came out wonderfully and I am now officially a lasagna lover. Well, a lover of this lasagna anyway.

I’m trying this new thing where I post the recipe in full first, then the step-by-step pictures. I figure it will make the recipes easier to print out without all the filler text and photos I add in. Bear with me.

Lasagna
Based on the Neelys’ “Mama’s Lasagna” recipe and modified

• 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for pan
• 1 pound ground beef or turkey (I’m sure you could also use sausage for more kick)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can stewed tomatoes, chopped
• 1 (8-ounce) jar tomato sauce
• 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 (8-ounce) box no-boil lasagna noodles
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups ricotta cheese (low-fat is totally fine, that’s what I used)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 2 teaspoons freshly chopped parsley leaves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon seasoning salt
• 1 (8-ounce) bag shredded mozzarella
• 1 (8-ounce) bag shredded Parmesan

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly oil the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish.

In a large saute pan, over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon oil and saute meat, onion, and garlic until meat is browned, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon. Drain pan of fat and add stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, then mix in ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, parsley, salt, pepper, and seasoning salt.

Spread a little of the meat sauce in the bottom of the prepared pan. Lay half the noodles in the bottom of the baking dish, overlapping by 1/2-inch. Spread half the egg and ricotta cheese mixture evenly on top. Sprinkle half the mozzarella and shredded Parmesan evenly over the ricotta cheese mixture. Pour half the meat sauce on top. Repeat layering in same order. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup grated Parmesan on top. Bake in center of oven 30 to 35 minutes until sauce is bubbling around the edges. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

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Your cast of characters:

Your meat mixture should look about like this before you drain it:

Mmm, saucy!

Your ricotta/parmesan/egg/parsley mixture. This is totally the best part of the lasagna. In my humble opinion, anyway.

I didn’t take a photo of every step of the assembly, but it’s pretty self-explanatory. It’s fun building a lasagna, no? This is layer 4. It goes sauce, noodles, ricotta mixture, shredded cheeses. Repeat.

And this is what it should look like before it goes in the oven.

…aaand after it comes out. Perfect!

Definitely let it sit for those 10 minutes, they are crucial. I used that time to heat up some frozen garlic bread. If you’re feeling ambitious, a Caesar salad would be a nice addition.

Not a great picture (I was in a hurry to eat), but you get the idea. This lasagna is awesome. It’s super cheesy but not overwhelmingly so, and all the other flavors are readily apparent as well. It’s a great first-timer’s lasagna, so if you’ve never made it before (like me), don’t be intimidated. This recipe is super simple and totally worth it. You’ll have yummy leftovers for days!

Enjoy!