Lasagna

And none of that sissy Lasagna either!  You know the kind…….a little old pound of ground beef mixed with a jar of spaghetti sauce.  Um, no.  JUST SAY NO, friends!  You can make your own!  Just as easy!  But WAY better!

I love lasagna.  I love ALL Italian food.  But I am a fiend for some Lasagna.  But MY Lasagna.  I have tried eating “brought on” Lasagna, but I just can’t stomach it.  I started making Lasagna early in my married life.  I didn’t grow up eating Lasagna.  I think I was probably pretty close to being an adult before I ever tried it.  And I’m fairly sure it my cousin Kim who brought one to some shindig we had at my Granny’s.  And I fell in love! 

So I searched cookbook after cookbook looking for just the right recipe.  And you know what?  Most of them used too much “brought on” stuff.  So I just created my own.  And I’ve tweaked it over time to make into what it is today.

The first thing is making the sauce.  I like MEATY sauce!  Again, none of the sissy stuff!  Don’t wave some ground beef past the pan and act like you’ve got a meaty sauce!  Let’s make some, how ’bout?

Meat Sauce for Lasagna:

* 1 1/2 pounds ground round

*  1 pkg. sweet Italian sausage

*  1 large onion, diced

*  1 large bell pepper, diced

*  1-28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

*  1-15 oz. can diced tomatoes

*  1-15 oz. can tomato paste

*  1 Tbsp. minced garlic

*  1 tsp. fennel seed

*  3 Tbsp. Spicy Spaghetti Seasoning (from the spice aisle at Sam’s)

Cook ground round and Italian sausage with peppers and onions.  Drain well and rinse with hot water.  Return to pot and add remaining ingredients.  Simmer 30 minutes.

While the sauce is simmering and starving you to death, make your cottage cheese mixture.

Cottage Cheese Mixture

*  1 large tub cottage cheese

*  1 small tub ricotta cheese

*  2 eggs, well beaten

*  generous amount of freshly ground pepper

*  1 Tbsp. minced garlic

*  2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped

*  1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

This is what you’ll have:

Now mix all this well and set it aside for a few minutes.

You’ll also need:

*  Fresh mozzarella cheese

*  1 bag shredded mozzarella cheese

*  1 bag shredded pizza cheese (a mixture of mozzarella, romano, asiago, parmesan and provolone cheeses)

*  1 pkg. of sliced pepperoni

*  lasagna noodles

Now, I’m about to liberate you.  Guess what?  You do NOT have to boil the noodles first.  YOU DO NOT!  I know someone way back in history told you that you had to.  But you don’t.  And you don’t have to buy the over-priced “special no-boil” noodles either!  Plain old regular lasagna noodles work fine and don’t have to be pre-boiled, which extended lasagna making by several days before I was liberated and knew better!  So I’m setting you FREE!  Go forth and make lasagna now!!!!!!  Boil free! 

OK, are you ready to build?  Let’s!  I built this in an aluminum pan because honestly, I just don’t have a real pan deep enough to make lasagna like I REALLY like to make it.  And if I’m going to be perfectly honest here, I wish I had something even DEEPER to build it in.  But I don’t, so aluminum works and then you have nothing to wash when it’s over!  You can’t beat that!

So let’s build!  It’s important to generously spray your pay with non-stick cooking spray before building or when it comes time to wash dishes, you WILL cry…….or you’ll pull a Lisa on Green Acres and throw the dish out the window.  Cuz with all that cheese it is STICKY!

Line the pan with lasagna noodles.

Now add some of that delectable sauce on top of the noodles.  And don’t skimp.  There’s nothing worse than a wimpy little lasagna with wimpy little bits of sauce here and there!  Be generous!

Now drop large spoonfuls of the cottage cheese mixture on top of the meat.  Then spread it out so it evenly covers the meat sauce. 

Like this…………..

Now add slices of pepperoni on top of the cottage cheese mixture.  I LOVE pepperoni!  I could eat a whole package all by myself!  YUM!!!!

Now add slices of fresh mozzarella cheese.  PLEASE, for the love of God and all that is Holy and good, PLEASE use real mozzarella cheese here!  I can’t even tell you just how amazing this stuff is until you try it for yourself!  So PLEASE, try it for yourself!  You will never be sorry!

Then repeat until you get to the top.  Finish it off by adding the shredded cheeses on the top and give it a sprinkle of parsley to make it purty! 

I like to bake it covered for the majority of the baking time so steam will be created and cook the noodles………see?  So you don’t have to pre-boil them!  But make sure you thoroughly spray a piece of foil with non-stick cooking spray or there will be a major meltdown when you try to take the foil off.  At least, I would have a major meltdown if that happened to me! 

And when all is said and done, you’ll have this:

OH MY GRAVY!  That’s something to behold right there!  Absolutely unbelievable! 

Someday, I’ll share my Chicken Cheese Lasagna with you all!  But it’s a major special one.  I have one friend that caught her honey with it!  In the meantime, give this one a whirl!  Your family will bow down and kiss your feet!  I know this to be the truth because Tall Skinny Man did it the minute he got up from the table after eating this lasagna!

Enjoy!