Lasagna Night

On The Menu:

• Meat and Cheese Lasagna
• Sautéed Spinach with Garlic Garlic and more Garlic

Lasagna is one of those things I’m convinced just cannot taste bad. You can spice it up making it different varieties than the classic style lasagna but lasagna that doesn’t taste good just doesn’t exist when its home-made.

It’s a dish that I can make in a throw away aluminum pan which is great because it eliminates the heavy-duty mess that comes with anything sauce related. You can also make this up to a day before hand and store it in your fridge and save the oven step for the night you wish to cook it, another great thing when you’re working or are on a tight schedule, like myself. I made the lasagna on Sunday morning while doing my laundry and simultaneously making pulled pork in the crock pot for my roomie to eat while I’m gone for the holiday.  

This time around I decided to switch the recipe up a bit and make the classic lasagna with a nice and gentle twist to it.

Ingredients:

• ½ box of lasagna noodles
• 2 jars of tomato sauce of your choosing
• 1 – 1.5 lb. ground beef
• 1 -1.5 Italian sausage, Mild – removed from casings if you don’t buy the pre removed kind
• ¼ cup chopped Basil
• 15 oz. ricotta cheese
• 3 ½ cups of mozzarella cheese
• ½ cup pecorino romano plus a little extra to sprinkle on top
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp. Oregano
• ½ tsp. Thyme
• 1 tbsp. Crushed Red Pepper
• 1 tbsp. chopped Parsley

Add the lasagna noodles to boiling water and cook until al dente about 10 minutes. Remove and run under cold water so they stop cooking and don’t stick together.

In a sauté pan with high sides, sprinkle with olive oil and once heated, add both types of meat. Break the meat up with a spoon while it cooks and once all the pieces turn brown add one whole jar of tomato sauce and heat on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add in the chopped basil and stir to combine. 

 

While the sauce is cooking create the cheese mixture.

Combine the last 8 ingredients in a medium bowl with your hands or spoon. I like using my hands because I get it to combine faster.

 

Spray your glass or aluminum 13 X9 pan with olive oil and take the second jar of sauce and pour a light layer of sauce on the bottom of the pan. Lay 3 – 4 noodles down, slightly overlapping. Next spread a layer of the cheese mixture on top of the noodles than a layer of the meat sauce and then another layer of noodles and repeat the steps over again (noodles, cheese, meat sauce), ending with a layer of noodles on the top, spread a layer of regular jar sauce and sprinkle a light op coat of pecorino Romano on top.

(Clearly my friend Chari would like to take credit for putting the lasagna in the oven as well as taking this picture. But what she really deserves thanks for is the amazing apron she bought me from Anthropologie 🙂 thanks chari!!!!)

When you are ready to bake it heat oven to 375 and cover lasagna with foil and back for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10.

*If the lasagna was in the fridge you will have to cook it with foil for 40

Sautéed Baby Spinach

• 1 salad bag of baby spinach
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 2 tbsp. chopped garlic
• ½ tsp salt

Heat oil in a sauté pan and once hot add the garlic (careful it will splatter) reduce the heat to medium and add the spinach. Toss till just wilted and add the salt. Remove from heat , put it into a bowl and serve.