I had mentioned previously that one of the things I want to do this year is try about 40 new recipes, either completely untested before, or revisits of family recipes that I haven’t ever done before. Last night I took a crack at lasagna, based on my grandmother’s recipe. Here goes:
Grandma’s Lasagna
1 lb ground beef or Italian sausage
1 small onion, chopped
1 12oz can tomato paste
1 28oz can tomatoes
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon oregano
2 tablespoons parsley
12 lasagna noodles (most of a box)
1 lb pizza cheese
2 C Ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1/2 C Parmesan cheese
Begin by browning the ground beef or Italian sausage. Add the chopped onion, tomato paste, an additional 12oz can’s worth of water, the tomatoes, garlic powder, oregano, and parsley. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for about a half an hour.
While the sauce is cooking, cook the lasagna noodles (unless you got the no-boil kind). Much like hot dog buns and hot dogs, the amount of noodles they put in a box never seems to line up with however many you’ll need. I used about a dozen to do 3 layers. You’ll also want to preheat the oven for 350 degrees.
In a separate bowl, mix together the Ricotta cheese, eggs, and shredded cheese.
Grease a 9×13 baking dish and put a layer of sauce along the bottom to keep the noodles from sticking, burning, and making a complete mess. Layer the cooked noodles, cheese, and sauce. Be sure to save enough sauce for a top layer (this keeps the top layer of noodles from getting dried out and crunchy). I finished off the last bit of Parmesan I had in the grater on top of that.
Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. I put a large baking sheet under my dish to make it easier to get in and out of the oven and to prevent any spillover from making a mess.
Let it cool for about 5 minutes, and then serve. Makes approximately 8 decent servings.
Suggested alterations
My grandparents weren’t big on garlic, but I am. I’d recommend increasing the garlic powder to 1 teaspoon, minimum. Even at that point I wasn’t getting a huge garlic flavor. I’d also recommend adding some salt to the sauce.
If you have fresh basil, try throwing a layer of that in somewhere (thanks to my friend for suggesting it).
Finally, if you like your lasagna to have a little more heat, use spicy hot sausage or throw some crushed red pepper in the sauce.
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