i hope [url=http://www.luckykat.com]luckykat linda[/url] doesn’t mind me reposting her lasagna recipe. i tried finding it on her site, but couldn’t find it, so i’m posting it up here for posterity. i did find [url=http://journal.ocliw.com/2002/1015.html]my link[/url] talking briefly about it, but it looks like the recipe page is gone!
Lasagna del gatto fortunato (or luckykat lasagna)
Ingredients:
one package of dried lasagna
3 gloves of garlic, minced
1/2 onion, chopped
1 pound ground meat (i use turkey)
1 tablespoon white wine
1/2 cup mushroom, cubed
2 zucchinis, cubed
2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce (26 oz.)
1 tub Ricotta cheese (16 oz.)
3 cups shredded Mozzarella
2 eggs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
(you also need a 13 x 9 baking dish – I prefer the glass kind because it retains heat really well)
1. Follow package direction and cook lasagna. Drain and put aside.
2. Heat oven to 350°F.
3. In a large saucepan, over medium heat, cook onion and garlic in olive oil until tender. Add meat, stir in white wine until the meat is cooked, then add zucchini and mushroom.
If you don’t like zucchini or mushroom, you can add bell pepper, yellow squash or even olives instead. You can also make this into a vegetarian lasagna by omitting the meat and adding more veggies. If you use spinach, drain extra well because it’ll make your lasagna really wet.
4. Stir in pasta sauce. You can add more spices if you wish, fresh or dry. Sometimes I add more oregano and basil and even some fresh ground pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.
5. Combine ricotta cheese, 2 cups mozzarella (save 1 cup for later) and eggs in a large bowl; mix well.
6. Spread 1/2 cup of the pasta sauce on the bottom of a 13 x 9 baking dish.
7. Start layering! You need about four strips of lasagna, slightly overlapping each other. Next is the ricotta cheese mixture, pasta sauce, and parmesan cheese. The trick here is to divide everything equally so you’ll have enough to repeat two more times to make three layers. I always forget the order so here it is:
Lasagna
Ricotta
Sauce
Cheese
(It’s actually written in large letters on my recipe card. haha!)
8. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until hot and bubbly (this is good if you use a glass dish because you can see it bubbling up from the side).
9. Uncover and top with remaining 1/2 cup Mozzarella and bake 5 minutes more.
10. Take it out of the oven and let it rest for about 10 minutes (if you can withstand the hunger for that long!). Top with more cheese or chopped parsley and enjoy!
Suggested food accompaniments: caesar salad, good ciabatta bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and a glass of red wine.
Fell free to add/reduce the ingredients as you see fit — if you like garlic, by all means, use 4 or 5 cloves. If you like cheese, put in more cheese! But I find that with three types of cheese (parmesan, mozzarella and ricotta) in the lasagna, it’s already pretty rich. The pasta is pretty labor-intensive, it takes about an hour to prepare and another hour to bake, so I usually make it the night before, let it sit in the fridge all day and pop it in the oven an hour before dinner. And if you decide to make pasta sauce from scratch, it’ll probably taste even better. I’m just too lazy to do so. This is a really good dish to make because it’s hefty and it’ll feed about 6-8 people, and it’ll win you praises and make you feel like an Italian grandma. 😉 And if you’re like me and only cook for two, you’d be happy to know that it tastes even better the next day. Bring it to work and you’ll be the envy of the lunchroom.
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now…i didn’t feel like an Italian grandma when i made it, but it sure was good. pretty meaty, i think that i may have added a little bit more ground beef than the recipe called for. ground beef is a must! also, the last time i made it, i didn’t use fresh grated parmesan. i think that next time i will do just that. i also found that i ran out of mozzarella, i needed to portion that out better. i think that i will try this recipe out again, it’s been a few years since i’ve tried to make lasagna and this time i’ll add spinach to the mix. the one thing to be careful with if you do use spinach is to make sure you REALLY wring it dry because it holds a lot of liquid.
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