Lasagna for my Valentine

By special request, I’m making lasagna from scratch for my Valentine. 🙂

INGREDIENTS:
1. 2 – 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes (NOT tomato sauce, which already has spices in it, and some brands have added salt and sugar!)
2. 3 medium onions, diced
3. 1 bell pepper (red or green), seeded and chopped
4. 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
5. 1/2 pound lean ground beef
6. 1/2 pound ground turkey
7. 16 oz fat free ricotta cheese
8. 2 cups shredded fat free mozzarella
9. lasagna (I use a store brand whole wheat “oven ready” brand)
10. seasonings of your choice: I use garlic, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, oregano, basil and parsley, and usually, after cooking the sauce for a while, add even MORE garlic and oregano.
11. 2 eggs
12. 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (or a mix of parmesan and romano)
13. Additional mozzarella and parmesan if desired.

DIRECTIONS:
1. Chop the vegetables and saute them in a small amount of olive oil. Add the garlic and seasonings and cook until the vegys are tender.
2. Put the crushed tomatoes into a large stock pot.
3, Add the vegys to the tomatoes in the stock pot.
4. Brown the meat in the same pan you used for the vegys (get ALL that yummy flavor!) Drain off the fat and add the meat to your sauce.
5. Cook sauce over low heat, stirring frequently, It needs to thicken and there’s no way to hurry this. Depending on how juicy the vegys are, this can take an hour.
6, Beat the eggs with a whisk. Mix the mozzarella, parmesan and ricotta cheese with the eggs.
7. Take out your baking pan/s and spray them thoroughly.
8. Layers: (from the bottom up, because, um, there’s no other way. Gravity and all that!)
– sauce
– lasagna noodles
– 1/2 of cheese mixture
– sauce
– lasagna noodles
– 1/2 of cheese mixture
– top with remaining sauce, making sure you cover all of the edges
– sprinkle extra parmesan on top, if you wish.
9. Cover with foil. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes. Remove the foil, sprinkle 1 cup additional mozzarella on top and bake uncovered for another 10 minutes until the cheese melts.
10. Let “rest” for 20 minutes before cutting. (Don’t worry! It will still be plenty hot!)

NOTES:
1. When I had vegetable-averse children, lasagna was the perfect place to hide cooked and finely chopped/pureed vegetables. (Sorry kids, yes I did. Broccoli, carrots, green beans, mushrooms.) Not a lot. Just 2 servings worth. Because I’m sneaky like that.
2. For years, this was called “pizza pasta” because the kids claimed they “hated” lasagna. Whatever works.
3. You can use sausage or diced, cooked chicken. The turkey Italian style sausage is really good. Depends on who I’m cooking for and what they can have in their diet.
4. I always have extra sauce. ALWAYS. Which is better than having not enough. So I save it, sometimes freeze it and it makes great spaghetti sauce.

(before baking)

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About Deb

Wife, mom, sister, pastor, bereavement counselor, friend and Buckeye. I Yam what I Yam. Frequently imperfect, completely loved by the Divine, and grateful.

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