I must really love this guy. I spent 3 hours making a lasagna I cant even eat (no dairy for me.) It doesn’t matter, my man wanted it and there’s not much else to do in the middle of summer in Arizona. To go along with the lasagna we made a chicken pasta dish, a salad and garlic bread. For desert, chocolate covered strawberries.
It was simple, used Brianna's Home Style Vinaigrette Champagne Caper
Check out that steam! Yaaa
You have no idea how good these are.
The Lasagna
Serves 12
Ingredients
1 pound sweet Italian sausage
3/4 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
12 lasagna noodles
16 ounces ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Cook lasagna noodles in hot tap water for 20 to 30 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, and remaining parsley.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
To assemble, spread 2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.
PERFECT Garlic Bread
Ingredients
1 16-ounce loaf of Italian bread or French bread (I used Artisan)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (NOT melted)
2 large cloves of garlic, smashed and minced
1 heaping tablespoon of freshly chopped parsley
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350
Cut the bread in half, horizontally. Mix the butter, garlic, and parsley together in a small bowl. Spread butter mixture over the two bread halves. Place on a sturdy baking pan (one that can handle high temperatures, not a cookie sheet) and heat in the oven for 10 minutes.
Remove pan from oven. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over bread if you want. Return to oven on the highest rack. Broil on high heat for 2-3 minutes until the edges of the bread begin to toast and the cheese (if you are using cheese) bubbles. Watch very carefully while broiling. The bread can easily go from un-toasted to burnt.
Remove from oven, let cool a minute. Remove from pan and make 1-inch thick slices. Serve immediately.
