Lasagna

The idea of making lasagna always seemed a little daunting to me. This was surprisingly easy (minus the multitasking and long list of ingredients) and incredibly delicious; beats any restaurant lasagna!

I add spinach to the ricotta, which makes it slightly healthier. Spinach haters rejoice! You can barely taste it.

Ingredients

9 lasagna noodles
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup onion
1 clove garlic
2 cans tomato paste (6 oz. each)
1 jar pasta sauce sauce
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. basil, oregano, marjoram (or whatever Italiany herbs you feel like)
1/2 tsp. pepper (I like a little more)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
1 15 oz container of ricotta
1 bag frozen spinach (thawed and drained; optional)
2 cups mozzarella
1/4 cup parmesan
Olive oil for cooking (about 2 T)


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Boil the lasagna noodles until tender (put some olive oil in the pot to prevent them from sticking to each other)

3. While lasagna is boiling, on medium-high heat, saute onions in the olive oil, adding garlic a little later (it tends to scorch). Add the beef and brown it.

4. Add tomato paste, spaghetti sauce, sugar, pepper, basil, oregano, and salt, and lower the heat

5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the ricotta and egg and the frozen spinach if you have it.

6. When all your ingredients are ready, put 1/4 sauce at the bottom of a lasagna pan. The add noodles, 1/4 of the sauce, 1/2 of the ricotta, then 1/3 of the mozzarella. Layer again, eventually ending with noodles, sauce, and mozzarella. There should be, in total, 4 layers of meat, 2 layers of ricotta, 3 layers of noodles, and 3 layers of mozzarella (last one with parmasan). At this point you can refrigerate it for up to a couple of days so that you can pop it into the oven whenever you need it.



7. Cover with foil (rub bottom with olive oil so it doesn't stick to the lasagna) and put in the oven for 25 minutes; remove foil and cook for an additional 15-30 minutes (until it's bubbly)

This makes a LOT of lasagna, so either feed a party or a family or be prepared for leftovers.