Lasagna! If there ever was a king of comfort foods, lasagna would certainly be a contender...if not outright champion. Nothing seems to say comfort like a giant serving of noodles, meat sauce, and both gooey and creamy cheeses, all layered on top of each other. Lasagna seems to be one of those comfort dishes though that appears to be daunting to many cooks. However, it really is easy to make. I think what makes lasagna so daunting is the fact that when it is a success, it is truly amazing. However, when it is a failure, it always seems to be a spectacular failure. There rarely ever seems to be a lasagna that is just OK. This past week I got a taste of both.
I found myself suffering from an insatiable craving for lasagna this week. I can often go months at a time without suffering from these cravings, but when they do hit they hit with a bang. I thought I would get to satisfy these cravings on Wednesday. The wife and I were at the store, looking at the frozen lasagnas. Please don't freak out. There are actually some very tasty frozen lasagnas. Of course there are some that end up on the other end of the spectrum as well. The problem with frozen lasagnas, is that if you are not accustomed to eating late at night, these are out of the question. They simply take too long to cook. There are some smaller ones that can be microwaved, but most of those fall closer to the disaster end of the scale than the amazing success end. Anyway, we ended up eating spaghetti and meatballs.
The next day, I thought my prayers had been answered. The mother in law had hosted a Christmas dinner the night before and served two frozen lasagnas. One was a meat lasagna. The other was a five cheese lasagna. Miracle of miracles, she had over half of the five cheese lasagna left over, and took pity on me. That night I could hardly wait for the leftover lasagna to heat up. Beep, Beep! The oven timer ended. I pulled out the lasagna and began to salivate. It looked really good. Then I took a bite. Mmmm! A very bright and tasty tomato sauce followed by the creamy texture of...
Dry wall spackling! I took another bite. Yep! Definitely spackling. I looked over to my left. The look on her face said it all. She was preparing to put up some drywall as well. I like ricotta cheese as much as the next guy. That was NOT ricotta cheese. Like I said, there is no inbetween. This was definitely a spectacular disaster. My insatiable appetite for lasagna had yet to be placated.
Now it is Sunday. The wife and I are finishing up on some Christmas shopping. We have to stop by Kroger to buy a gift card. I convince the wife to let me buy the ingredients to make a lasagna. Everyone should really try to make a home made lasagna at least once. We try to eat healthy for the most part. We aren't always successful. Okay! We are less successful than I would like to admit. One of the ways we try to be good is by usually cooking with ground turkey or chicken. However, tonight my wife found a pound of ground pork marked down for quick sale. We decided to blend that with a pound of ground chuck. Now I happen to be somewhat impatient with some cooking, as well as cheap. I don't have the time to make a home made marinara or spaghetti sauce. I also think it is ridiculous to have to spend five dollars or more on a simple jar of sauce. Heck! Spending two dollars on a jar of sauce chaps my hide. What do I do? I buy a one dollar can of Hunts spaghetti sauce and fancy it up with some basil, salt, pepper, fresh garlic, and cinnamon. Don't worry. You don't need to get your glasses subscription checked. I really did say cinnamon. Give it a try some time. Just a small amount can really add a truly inspired note to your next pasta dish.
Anyway, I won't bore you with a long drawn out story about baking a lasagna. I don't have a secret family recipe for lasagna. My family is as white Anglo-saxon as one can get. Not a drop of Mediterranean blood to draw from. As a result, no secret family recipe for lasagna, handed down from generation to generation. I simply took the recipe on the back of the Barilla no-boil lasagna box, and modified it to my own liking. I am happy to say that there was nary a small morsel of meat left over. That entire dish of lasagna disappeared in no time flat. So, without further adieu, here is my recipe.
Jim's Meaty Lasagna
Ingredients:
4 cups mozzarella
15 oz small curd cottage cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
One jar or can of your favorite marinara/spaghetti sauce
1 - 28 oz, or 2 - 14 oz cans petite diced tomatoes with juices
1 tsp cinnamon
1lb ground pork
1lb ground chuck
2 eggs
1 package of no-boil lasagna noodles
Brown pork and chuck in a skillet, seasoning with salt, pepper, and dried basil. Drain off rendered fat. Add the spaghetti sauce and diced tomatoes with juice. Stir in cinnamon. Heat to a simmer, seasoning to taste.
Mix together cottage cheese, 2 cups mozzarella, parmesan cheese, and eggs.
Spray a 9" X 13" baking dish with cooking spray. Spread one cup of meat sauce in bottom of dish. Cover with a layer of noodles. Spread 1/3 of cottage cheese mixture, followed by meat sauce, and one cup of mozerella cheese. Do two more layers of noodles cottage cheese mixture, and meat sauce. Add the final layer of noodles, last cup of meat sauce, and final cup of mozzarella.
Loosely cover with foil, and bake for 45 minutes at 375 degrees. Remove the foil and bake an additional five to ten minutes, until cheese is bubbly, and just starting to brown. Remove from the oven and allow to rest up to five minutes before serving. Serve with garlic bread.
Bon Appetit!
 |
| Four layers of gooey heaven! |
