My Personal Lasagna

I made this lasagna recipe this afternoon and am thrilled with the results. I like making the two smaller loaf pans instead of a full tray just for the ease and convenience, plus I don't have a huge amount of lasagna leftovers in the fridge. This recipe was borrowed from a website, www.fromvaleriestable.com/, and translated well when I followed directions. First, I slightly sauteed my squash, onion and mushroom dice for a few minutes and then added some minced garlic and a chiffonade of basil. I gave it another minute then set aside for step two and three.

I transferred the veggies to a seperate plate, wiped out the pan with a paper towel and browned a pound of ground beef that I seasoned with dried oregano, fresh thyme and s&p. At the same time I mixed my ricotta cheese with two eggs and some chopped parsley and basil in a seperate bowl.

That took care of the cooking portion. I grated my mozzarella and parmesan cheeses and started to layer in my pans. A little sauce on the bottom, a no boil noodle next, some of the ricotta mixture, vegetables, meat, cheeses and tomato sauce.

I made three full layers with a final pasta noodle on top covered in sauce and cheese. I put the loaves on a sheet pan and they were ready to go into the oven.

I put them in the oven covered tightly in foil for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. I then removed the foil and let them finish cooking and browning for another 25 to 30 minutes.

Finally, I let them cool for about 15 minutes so they would slice easily and it was time to eat.

Whats nice is you can vary this any way you like. You want it vegetarian, leave out the ground beef. Add other vegetables like spinach, kale or swiss chard. Greens would be excellent in this dish. Make it your own. I used a good commercial tomato basil marinara to make it easy but use the sauce of your choice. I'm not going to publish the ingredient list, you can go to the aforementioned website if you want to check it out. Gloria gave me a big atta boy for dinner so I know it hit the spot. I hope you enjoyed this blog and another cooking adventure with me in my Pedro kitchen. Bye for now, Caseman