What's Cooking? - Holidays Blog

One of my signature dishes is my Lasagne. I learned how to cook this dish when I was 4 years old from my mom and her friend.

Yes 4 years old cooking. I can't see my own kids even near a stove, but I do let them watch and taste test. My mom's friend is from Florence Italy and would share cooking stories. They would be in the kitchen for hours making the perfect sauce from scratch. Of course, they didn't have the convenience of the many can goods we have today, but the aroma just filled through the air. I was lucky I got to be the taste tester, meat sauce on buttered fresh sourdough french bread. Oh it was the best alright.

I'd sit there watching every move of how they prepped and cooked. I'd of course, asked many questions too.

The wine they put into the sauce was red table wine and I believe they also drank some while cooking or added more than they needed to.

The sauce was created with really stewing roma tomatoes, but I felt that the time of creating it from scratch would take hours and so I created this recipe as a semi-homemade recipe. The best results in creating a great meat sauce is to cooking it one day and let it rest in the refrigerator and using it the next day, but we all don't have that time in our lives to do so. I believe I can't perfect it much more so I want to share this most excellent Lu'sagne recipe today.

Lu'sagne - The Ultimate Lasagne Recipe

Ingredients for meat sauce: ( for vegetarians, just leave out the meat part and it's still the Ultimate Lasagne. I make eggplant lasagne, zucchini lasagne etc...)

1 lb. of ground sirloin or ground round beef
1/2 lb. of sweet italian pork sausage (squeeze all the meat out of the skin.)
1 can of tomato paste
1 can of stewed tomatos (basil, onion, garlic, and oregano stewed roma tomatos preferred.)
1 large jar of Marinara sauce 10 oz. or 1 lb. (Barilla or Ragu marinara preferred.)
1 beef boullion package
1/2 package of brown gravy (This enhances the beef flavor and bonds sauce.)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. red chili flakes or powder
1/8 tsp. galic powder
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
1 Tbsp. oregano (can be fresh or dried)
1 Tbsp. basil (can be fresh or dried)
1 Tbsp. parsley (can be fresh or dried)
2 Tbsp. of red wine (cabernet savignon or merlot preferred)
1 Tbsp. sugar (This cuts the acid in the tomato and eliminates heartburn.)
3 Tbsp. butter or margarine
1 Tbsp. fresh cut up garlic minced
1 Tbsp. fresh cut up onion minced (minced purple onion soaked in ice water eliminates the odor and heartburn)
1 Tbsp. fresh cut up shallots (These look like tiny onion bulbs.)
1 package of fresh sliced mushrooms
1 tsp. of enriched flour (The flour will work as bonding the sauce)

Instructions to creating the meat sauce. First, wash your hands. In a large bowl, put the meat, sweet italian sausage, salt, pepper, garlic powder, garlic salt, any dried ingredients, flour, brown gravy, beef boullion and mix well with hands. Wash hands and heat your 9" or larger skillet to medium high. Add butter and onions, shallots, fresh garlic and brown slightly or transparent. Add the meat mixture and stir until completely brown or medium well done. Drain the meat excess fat if any. Then add the tomato paste, stewed tomatoes, sugar, red chili flakes and marinara sauce. Stir and add in mushrooms, wine, and any fresh herbs if you didn't add dried herbs. Lower the heat to medium low and cover. Stir frequently and lower the heat to simmer, cover and add salt and pepper to your taste, it should be okay. Stir as frequently as you can including taste test, watch out for the heat.

Ingredients for the Lasagne

1 box of Lasagne egg noodles (Barilla prefered)
1 cup of Parmesian cheese (Use kraft preferred romano, four cheese type, etc...)
2 Tbsp. melted butter or margarine
2 cups of shredded Cheddar cheese
2 cups of shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 container sour cream 16 oz.(This ingredient replaces the ricotta cheese)

Putting this monster Lasagne together Instructions:

The trick to getting a Lasagne perfect is to lay down the meat sauce first with melted butter drizzled, then start adding the layers of noodles. I've been trying the none boiled noodles, but I prefer to boil the noodles al dente, then cooled off in cold water and rest. Use a large oblong baking cookware to build your Lasagne. Layer one is in this order; meat sauce, noodle, parmesian chesse, sprinkle both cheddar and mozzarella cheeses, meat sauce, sour cream and noodle. Do this layers four times and on the very top, apply meat sauce and some cheese. Plastic wrap this dish when refrigerating. Do not put foil on top because the acid in the tomato can form on the dish and ruin what you've created. Put the dish into the refrigerator and bake when you are ready. Unwrap the Lasagne and bake the Lasagne for one hour at 350 degrees and rest for 1/2 hour before serving. Do check it out to make sure the cheese is not burning or cooking to fast. Lower the temperature if the cheese is browning too fast. It will be hot so take pre-caution when removing from your oven or serving. Use your oven gloves or real good pot holders.

Serves 12 - 15 people
difficulty - easy - medium
time prep ingredients 1/2 hour or less
time prep meat sauce cooking 1 hour
time prep building Lasagne - 15 minutes or less
cooking time Lasagne 1 hour

tags: Lasagne, food recipe, main dish, holiday food recipe, cooking, baking recipe, Lu'sagne, Meat Sauce, cooking instructions, meats, dairy, bread, vegetables, fresh herbs, recipe, food safety, food health safety, Italian cooking recipe, Italian cooking, Ultimate Lasagne Recipe, GetSmart, Author

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