September 18.2017

Recipe of the Week – My Favorite Lasagna

This week’s recipe of the week is an updated version of an old favorite…classic lasagna.  I had gotten away from making lasagna because quite frankly I couldn’t be bothered with boiling the lasagna noodles.  They always seemed to tear or the water would boil over and make a mess of my stove.  I tried a few versions using the ‘no pre-boiling required’ noodles but couldn’t find one that I liked.  They all seemed to produce a saucier lasagna with noodles that were overcooked…until now!

I adapted this recipe from one that the Spinelli’s Italian Centre put out in an email and discovered that not all pasta noodles are created equally.  They carry several brands and I’ve tried a few different varieties.  Most recently I used the Paese Mio brand and not only was it excellent, it was considerably less expensive than its counterparts.  Another tip from the Spinelli’s…change the direction you lay your pasta sheets with each layer and don’t be afraid to overlap.  When I mentioned this to my hair stylist who is Italian and I talk to about food a lot, he seemed to know all about alternating the direction of the pasta sheets.  It really does make a difference in keeping everything together.

Because this is a less saucy version of the classic I like to heat extra of the tomato sauce and serve my lasagna on a base of the warm sauce.  Enjoy!

MY FAVORITE LASAGNA

This dish makes 6-8 servings.

2 c                   tomato sauce*

1 lb                  ground beef, veal, or pork or a combination

¼ c                  parsley, chopped

1½ c               ricotta cheese

1½ c               Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated

1½ c               mozzarella cheese, grated

1 pkg              oven ready lasagne sheets, you’ll have extra

Prepare tomato sauce and set aside.

Brown ground meat and drain.  Add parsley and season with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a 9×13 baking dish assemble lasagne as follows alternating the direction of the pasta sheets with each layer.

Layer 1

¼ of the sauce

Lasagne sheets to cover

½ of the ground meat

1/3 of the Parmigiano Reggiano

1/3 of the mozzarella

Layer 2

¼ of the sauce

Lasagne sheets to cover

All of the ricotta cheese

Layer 3

same as layer 1

Layer 4

lasagne sheets to cover

¼ of the sauce

1/3 of the Parmigiano Reggiano

1/3 of the mozzarella

Bake on middle rack for 30 minutes.

*I use my Go To Tomato Sauce that I’ve posted before.