Mitch, Andy, Rocky & Lasagna

I had a really great visit yesterday with my brother Mitch and his wife Andrea.  And the orphaned squirrel, Rocky, that Andy is nursing until she can get it into a wildlife sanctuary of some sort.  Bless his little heart for clinging to life - and to his bottle - with everything he has!  Visiting with them is about the easiest thing a girl will do in a day!  They are sweet, and smart, and funny and kind.  I mean, seriously, who rescues a shrivelled rat-looking creature and feeds it every two hours by hand?!

For their visit I prepared my favorite lasagna recipe.  I went through a lasagna phase and tried a dozen or so recipes and this one is everything I want in a lasagna.  I hope you think so too.

Three-Cheese Lasagna with Italian Sausage
(Bon Appetit - March 1997)

Sauce:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup finely chopped peeled carrots
2 tablespoons minced garlic
8 ounces lean ground beef
6 ounces spicy Italian sausages, casings removed
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes with added puree
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon golden brown sugar
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

Lasagna:
15 lasagna noodles (about 12 ounces)
2 15-ounce containers part-skim ricotta cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)
1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, squeezed dry
2 large eggs
4 3/4 cups grated mozzarella cheese (about 1 1/4 pounds)

Preparation for sauce:
Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion, carrots and garlic; saute until softened, about 12 minutes.  Add beef and sausages to pan; saute until cooked through, breaking up meat with back of spoon, about 5 minutes.  Add remaining ingredients.  Cover and simmer until flavors blend and sauce measures about 5 cups, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.  Discard bay leaf. Cool.

Preparation for lasagna:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Cook noodles in large pot of boiling salted water until almost tender, about 7 minutes.  Drain; cover with cold water.
Combine ricotta and 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese in medium bowl.  Mix in spinach.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Mix in eggs.
Drain pasta and pat dry.  Spread 1/2 cup sauce over bottom of 13x9-inch glass baking dish.  Place 5 noodles over sauce, overlapping to fit.  Spread half of ricotta-spinach mixture evenly over noodles. Sprinkle 2 cups mozzarella cheese evenly over ricotta-spinach mixture.  Spoon 1 1/2 cups sauce over cheese, spreading with spatula to cover (sauce will be thick).  Repeat layering with 5 noodles, remaining ricotta-spinach mixture, 2 cups mozzarella and 1 1/2 cups sauce.  Arrange remaining 5 noodles over sauce.  Spread remaining sauce over noodles.  Sprinkle remaining 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese evenly over lasagna

Cover baking dish with aluminum foil.  Bake lasagna 40 minutes; uncover and bake until hot and bubbly, about 40 minutes.  Let lasagna stand 15 minutes before serving.  (Can be prepared up to 1 day ahead.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate.)

In my experience this makes quite a bit more than will fit in one 13x9-inch pan.  This time around I put a portion in an 8x8-inch pan also.  I had one for my guests and was able to share the small one with a neighbor.  Win-win!

Because, after all, one of the reasons I cook is because I love to eat good food.  But the main reason I cook is to show my family and friends how much I love them!

www.jerianne.rnohomes.com