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Lasagna

This may just be the perfect food with all of the food groups represented. This recipe has gone to many a potluck and the pan has come home scraped clean ... not even a smidge left for the dog to lick. Poor puppy!

Read me first: Commentary on basic assembly

Make the lasagna sauce first. It can be used immediately, refrigerated for a couple days, or frozen until you're ready ... it doubles easily so make a big batch once you get your fine tuning nailed.

When you're ready to make the lasagna, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Start a large pan of water for the pasta, and slice or grate the mozzerella. Make the cheese filling ... it takes just a few minutes.

Once the pasta is cooked al dente, you can start layering: pasta, cheese filling, mozzerella, then sauce. Repeat.

Use the regular lasagna noodles ... they seem to work up more reliably than the oven-cooked ones. The number of lasagna noodles depends on your pan ... I use ten for two layers for the big pan and 8 for the smaller pan. Cook the noodles in plenty of water, add a little salt, and a teaspoon of olive oil.

As for the mozzerella, you can buy the fresh Italian buffalo mozzerella or the cheaper stuff ... as long as it's decent quality, it'll be fine. I slice it about 1/4" thick and lay slices for each layer. You can grate your cheese if that's your preference. In my universe, it's the gooey cheesy goodness that counts.

I have known people to put the sauce through the food processor to make it smooth. I have no idea why someone would do that. I want to see the lasagna in it's natural glory.

The sauce should be the last layer on the lasagna. Often you'll see the cheese as the last layer, but doing it will the sauce makes it gooier and moister ... the cheese doesn't get dried out or brown. If you like the chewy cheese experience, you might want to alter the order a bit for the last layer.

Bake for at least an hour until it bubbles around the edges. It needs to sit for about 15 minutes to firm up. If you can't wait ... you don't have too ... eat it as soon as it comes out of the oven. Seconds will be firmer.

Lasagna sauce

Sauté together in a heavy pan until uniformly browned:

1 onion, 3 carrots, and 3 celery ribs — wash and pulse in processor until finely chopped
2 lbs. Italian pork sausage, crumbled into chunks (add extra fennel seed ... fresh is best, but dry is okay too)
2 oz. chopped pepperoni (pulse in processor with onions, etc.)

When the meat and veggies are cooked through, add:

3 pints of canned tomatoes
1 6-oz. can of tomato paste
Oregano, either fresh or dried

Simmer together until the flavors come to together, about 1 hour. You can make the sauce in advance and freeze it.

Cheese filling

When ready to assemble lasagna, combine the following in a mixing bowl:

1 pint cottage cheese, small curd
1 egg
Fresh parsley, chopped fine
Fresh ground pepper to suit you

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