Lasagna

A classic southern/midwestern American deluxe lasagna. Can be frozen or made as meal prep. Perfect for handing out as part of a meal train, or for trying to impress in-laws. And hey, if you get the process down, go visit the friends at Lasagna Love and show it off! This is the same recipe I pass out for my monthly lasagna delivery.

Ingredients

• 1 or 1/2 lb ground beef or pork (feel free to split a pound of meat with another recipe here)
• 1 medium-large jar of Traditional flavor tomato pasta sauce, any brand
• 1 tub of ricotta (the smaller one)
• 1 bag of shredded mozzarella (recommend a larger one, but will not use the whole thing)
• 3 eggs
• 1 package of lasagna noodles (NOT the oven-ready kind)
• olive oil
• Oregano, thyme, and rosemary - or just a jar of mixed "italian seasonings"
• Salt
• Garlic, any kind, jarred or powdered is fine

Optional Ingredients

• 1 tub of white mushrooms, sliced or whole
• 1 sweet onion

Process

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F (if you are cooking immediately)


2. Start the pot of water for the lasagna noodles, with lots of salt and a dash of olive oil. Follow the instructions on the package for these, and cook to Al Dente.


3. In a decent sized saucepan or wok, brown and drain the meat. Set aside.


4. If using mushrooms and onion, sizzle them in olive oil or leftover meat grease until soft. Set aside with the meat.


5. Over medium heat, for about one minute, cook together a tablespoon or two of olive oil and a good amount of herbs and garlic.


6. Add the sauce fairly quickly, before the aromatics burn. Stir well, and add in the meat and optional mushrooms and onions. Turn the heat off, and leave this alone for a minute.


7. In a separate container, blend together the ricotta, eggs, and about a cup of mozzarella. Set this near enough the sauce you can reach both.


8. Drain the noodles and run them under cold water until they can be handled without pain. Arrange this near the sauce and the ricotta mixture, along with a 9x13 minimum casserole dish.


9. Put a spoonful of sauce at the bottom of the pan, and spread it out thin. Add three noodles longways.


10. Add on top of this another spoonful of sauce and a spoonful of ricotta, about 1/6th the volume of ricotta mix and 1/8th the volume of sauce. The next layer of three noodles should be applied shortways across the pan instead of longways. This will require trimming and rearranging of the extra bits.


11. Repeat the application of sauce, cheese, and noodles in that order, alternating the direction of the noodles. Keep going until you run out of pan, cheese, and noodles at about the same time, but keep a little bit of sauce if possible.


12. Top the final noodle layer with the last bit of sauce, and sprinkle generously with more shredded mozzarella. Cover with aluminum foil.


13. If you're going to chill, freeze, travel with, or deliver the lasagna, this is the best time to do it. If you do freeze it, thaw in the refrigerator overnight before attempting to bake.


14. Bake at 350 F for about an hour. Take the aluminum foil off and set back in the oven for about 5 minutes to get a crisp on the cheese. Serve with a spatula, and enjoy.