Lasagna

Who doesn't like lasagna? I don' t think I know anyone who doesn't like it. I suppose if you are lactose intolerant it might not be a good idea... The thing I find interesting about lasagna is that everyone thinks their Mom's is the best. I know I do, but I actually think my Mom's might be the best! In fact I have been at a dinner or two at her house where a guest has whispered "don't tell my Mom, but I think your lasagna might be the best I have ever tried!"



My Mom taught me everything I know about cooking, so I think my lasagna is pretty decent too. Here is my "recipe". I say it like that because I never use a recipe so this is really just a guide.



Needed:

frozen chopped spinach- thawed and drained

oven ready noodles
9x13 pan



cheese sauce-

2-3 cups white cheese (I usually go for mozzarella, Monterrey jack and an aged white cheddar)

1 15 oz container of ricotta cheese

2 cups milk

1/2 cup butter

8 tablespoons flour



tomato sauce:

1 398ml can tomato sauce

1 398 ml can stewed tomatoes

1 156ml can tomato paste

1 package lean ground beef (feel free to leave this out or replace it with your choice of veggie ground round, ground turkey etc.)

1 medium onion chopped

mushrooms sliced

garlic minced (most people would say 2-4 cloves but I say you can never have enough!)

spices: a couple of tablespoons each of fresh basil and parsley, if you use dried use 1-2 tsp, I also usually add a few dashes of pepper, onion powder and some kind of herd mix or Italian mix.

optional: red & yellow peppers chopped (or green if you like),shredded zucchini and carrots make a nice addition that also make your lasagna a bit healthier



In a large saucepan (or I like to use a wok) heat oil cooking onion until tender. Add meat, brown and cook thoroughly. If your meat is staying in large lumps you can use a potato masher to get it into smaller pieces. Add garlic and mushrooms to meat mixture. Now is the the time to add whatever vegetables you want, a lot of lasagna doesn't add any, but I think it makes it a bit more of a full meal instead of just being carbs and protein. I would say I usually add about 2 full cups of vegetables. This could be just peppers, or peppers and zucchini and mushrooms... It is your choice. Now add the stewed tomatoes and the tomato sauce. I usually start here and let it simmer for a bit while adding the spices. If your sauce is very thick you may want to add another can of sauce or stewed tomatoes, if it is runny I suggest adding the small tin of tomato paste. I don't always add the paste, sometimes the sauce seems fine with out it. It is definitely best if your sauce simmers for a few minutes with the spices in it. Add my suggestions or what you feel is appropriate. Some people like to use chili powder or paprika too.



You can now put the sauce aside and make the cheese sauce.

Melt a couple of tablespoons of butter in a mid size saucepan, add about twice as many tablespoons of flour to the melted butter. Make sure this is on low, as it will burn easily. Add milk until it thickens, make sure to stir constantly with a large fork or a whisk. Now add the ricotta cheese and shredded cheese. Stir constantly until all the cheese is melted. If the sauce is too thick you can add more milk. If it is slightly too thin you can add more shredded cheese. If it is very thin take a couple of tablespoons of flour with a skip of milk, whisk this together in a measuring cup. Add this to the cheese mixture on the stove, stir in, once it heats it should thicken enough.

In your pan lay out enough noodles to cover the bottom of the pan. Make sure they don't over lap. I usually layer this way:

noodles
meat sauce
noodles
cheese sauce
noodles
meat sauce
spinach
noodles
cheese sauce
noodles
meat sauce
noodles
cheese sauce
You can do less layers depending on how deep your pan is. Some people do a layer of noodles with tomato sauce and then cheese sauce before placing the noodles on top. I think you really can't go wrong!

If you have extra cheese I will put slices of cheese on the very top! I usually cook a 9x13 pan for 45 minutes at about 180 c or until the cheese sauce browns on the outside and the middle is bubbling.