Labor Day Weekend – the calm before the storm, you might say. With perfect end-of-summer weather in hand, the three-day weekend flew by with soccer games, cookouts,and lots of great family time. With my brother and his partner in town from the West Coast, it was like one long party! We laughed, cheered, swam, ate, laughed some more, played four-square and word games, and eked out every last drop of summer that we could before night fell on our long weekend.
There was plenty of great food lined up for the weekend, like yummy lime-marinated grilled chicken, guacamole with feta, my sister’s unbelievable M & M chocolate chip cookies, and some unforgettable Whole Foods desserts, like flourless chocolate cupcakes and key lime tarts. A couple of breakfast outings brought us to local eateries like the Centre Cafe and Christopher’s. Check out these delicious breakfasts!
Monday rolled around and it was time to start planning supper. With a dozen people coming and going all afternoon, the evening meal had to be something easy and low-maintenance that could easily feed a crowd. Lasagna! You just can’t go wrong with lasagna. It is easy to put together, pleases all kinds of palates, and doesn’t need any babysitting once it’s in the oven. I only make lasagna a couple of times a year, so I do make the effort to prepare the sauce from scratch. It is worth the little bit of extra time simply because it is so much better than using store-bought spaghetti sauce. Andiamo a mangiare! [Let’s eat!]
Hearty Lasagna
Serves 10-12
Ingredients
9 lasagna noodles, cooked
15 oz. part-skim ricotta
1 and 1/2 c. shredded part-skim mozzarella(divided)
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
2 tsp. parsley flakes
2 T. olive oil
1 green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tsp. chopped garlic
1 lb. ground turkey or beef
2-28 oz. cans whole, peeled tomatoes
1- 6 oz. can tomato paste
2 tsp. brown sugar
1- 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1/2 t. basil
1/2 t. thyme
salt and pepper to taste (at end)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
1) Sauce: Saute’ garlic, onion and pepper in olive oil over medium heat until softened. Add ground meat, and continue sauteing until meat is browned. Add tomatoes and tomato paste, breaking up whole tomatoes with hands as you at them to the pot. Add all spices, stire and simmer uncovered for 1- 1 1/2 hours. Once sauce is cooked, remove from heat to cool slightly.
2) Cheese mixture: In a small bowl, mix together ricotta, 1 cup of shredded mozzarella, parmesan, eggs, and parsley.
3) Lay three cooked lasagna noodles in the bottom of a 9×13 baking pan. Take 1/2 the cheese mixture and spread evenly over noodles. Take about 1/3 the sauce and spread that evenly over the cheese layer. Top with three noodles and repeat the cheese and sauce layer one more time. Top with remaining 3 noodles, the remaining 1/3 sauce, and about 1/2 c. of additional shredded mozzarella.
4) Cover pan loosley with aluminum foil. Bake in over 45-60 minutes. Let sit 10 minutes before slicing.
Enjoy!
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