Feeding the Freaks: Lasagna ala Lanette

Friday, February 15, 2013

Lasagna ala Lanette

If you are a true lover of the cheesy, saucy, and pastalisicious dish called lasagna, then this is a recipe for you, my Freaks! In this instance, Mama Lanette and the SOB made their very own homemade fresh lasagna noodles; however, regular dried pasta ala’ Creamette or Barilla works just as well. We just felt like being fancy pants this week, not to mention making that new pasta attachment for the Kitchen Aid work off its cost. As an FYI: Mama Lanette has not made homemade lasagna for a good 8 years. Why go to the effort when the SOB has an affinity for Stouffers? Well, Alyssa JoJo brought up the challenge for this week, and as with most things food related, Mama Lanette grabbed that challenge and took off running…

Mama Lanette did a lot of research on lasagna recipes, and she thinks a very lovely combination is to be had by preparing her special concoction. Is it truly authentic Italian lasagna? How the f*#@ would she know? She doesn’t personally know any “sweating in the kitchen making sauce and pasta all day” Italian folk, so she doesn’t have that baseline to build from. She does, however, know a few “hanging in the backyard slamming wine” Italians. That doesn’t help much when it comes to cooking, though, does it? ;-) However, as any freak does, she has the power of THE INTERNET at her fingertips and, with her own personal powers of deduction and culinary skills, is able to tweak what she feels is acceptable into a wonderfully delicious dish…as verified by the SOB (It may be the Summit Extra Pale Ale speaking for him, but Mama Lanette takes what she can get in the positive affirmation area). Besides, whether it is a meal constructed by two or ten household members, what tastes better than a dish prepared by family? Part of the deliciousness is knowing that you all joined in and contributed to the meal.

Please don’t let the fact that we made fresh pasta scare you off. Lasagna made with regular store-bought dried pasta works just as well, and takes much less time. Also, lasagna is a perfect freezer food, so if there are only two or three of you, a regular size pan makes a nice two to three meals, depending on how you split it up. It is also a wonderful make-ahead meal for those of you who have company coming on a Friday night, but want to do prep on Thursday night. This is a recipe based off the original lasagna recipe printed on the back of Creamette Lasagna boxes back in the day before jarred spaghetti sauce was popular…and I am going to say right now…I have had MANY a fine lasagna made with jarred sauce (heart you ML!). There is nothing wrong with jarred sauce, I just wanted to explore a little bit and discover if the homemade sauce was that much more work. Honestly, I do not think it was, so do whatever is most convenient for you. Creamette has an updated recipe on their lasagna noodle boxes that calls for jarred sauce and does not require cooking the noodles beforehand, so get to it Freaks!!! There is no reason whatsoever why you cannot pull this off!

Ingredients

8 ounces dried lasagna noodles, cooked to package instructions. If using fresh made pasta, do not cook.

1-1/2 pound ground Italian sausage

1 cup onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained. If using whole canned tomatoes, chop into pieces.

2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste

1 bunch fresh basil, chopped (2 tablespoons dried)

4 cups fresh spinach, chopped (5 ounce bag of prewashed)

2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper

2 (15 ounce) containers ricotta cheese

2 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup fresh parsley, chopped (1 tablespoon dried)

4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (2 pounds)

1 cup grated or shredded parmesan cheese (8 ounce bag)

Assembly Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large skillet, brown sausage with onion and garlic until meat is no longer pink and onions are tender. Add tomatoes and tomato paste, basil, spinach, sugar, salt and pepper. Stir together and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer approximately 20 minutes. Add about ½ cup water if getting too thick.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine ricotta cheese, egg, salt and parsley. Shred mozzarella and parmesan if in block form.

In a 13x9 cake pan, spoon 1-1/2 cups sauce and spread evenly over bottom of pan. Layer 1/3 of the lasagna noodles, 1/3 of remaining sauce, 1/3 ricotta cheese, and 1/3 parmesan and mozzarella cheeses. Repeat two more times. Top with any remaining cheese.

Cover pan and bake 45 minutes. Remove cover and bake additional 15-30 minutes, depending on how browned you like your lasagna. Let stand for 15 minutes before cutting. Makes 8-10 servings.

As an aside: I am very saddened by the fact that Alyssa JoJo’s zucchini lasagna recipe did not turn out as planned. In theory, I believe it was an excellent (and tasty) idea, and the concept will be revisited again in the summer when the farmer’s markets and gardens are abundant with the tasty summer squash! Kudos to her for turning an upside down frown into a smile, but me thinks Mama Lanette won the flying freak flag this week!

TTY next week my fellow freaks! Alyssa JoJo has deemed it tilapia week, something that Mama Lanette has not been very successful with in the past, so it shall be intriguing to say the least. The SOB is already bracing himself for whatever disaster is ever so carefully plated before him.