Lasagna from the Chatroom
Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 8:55 am
This is labor intensive and not necessarily cheap, but good!
Ingredients:
3 slices Italian bread, cut 1†thick, crust trimmed
½ cup milk
1Lb Ground chuck
1½ Lbs Hot or Mild Italian Sauage
4 Eggs
1 Medium Onion-chopped
3 30 oz. Cans Italian Crushed Tomatoes in puree
2 Lbs Ricotta Cheese
1¼ Cups Grated Parmesan cheese
8 oz. Mozzarella Cheese-shredded
4 Large Garlic cloves-minced
¼ Cup + 2 Tbsp Chopped fresh Parsley
1 Tbsp Chopped fresh Oregano or 1 Tsp dried
Salt
Pepper
1 Tbsp Ground Nutmeg
1 Tbsp Ground Cinnamon
Cup Sugar
Olive oil
Lasagna Noodles
Preparation:
1) In a small bowl, soak bread in milk for 15 minutes. Squeeze excess milk from bread. In a large bowl, combine softened bread with ground chuck, 1 egg, ¼ of the garlic, 2 Tbsp Parsley, 1 Tsp Salt, ¼ Tsp Pepper. Mix well. Form into 8-10 Meatballs.
2) Heat Olive oil (1/8 inch or as needed) in pan. Add meatballs and cook 8-10 minutes until evenly browned. Keep them moving to avoid burning and flat-spotting. (Flat meatballs are as bad as flat Cub tires!) Remove meatball and let drain.
3) Add more Olive oil to pan if needed. Prick sausage all over and cook in pan until brown 7-9 minutes. Remove from pan and let drain.
4) Heat 1 Tbsp Olive oil in a large pot. Add onion and remaining garlic and cook until soft, but not brown. Add Tomatoes and Oregano. Add Meatballs and Sausage and simmer for about 1-1.5 hours. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove sausage and meatballs. Let cool and cut into ¼ inch slices.
5) In large bowl, beat 3 eggs. Stir in Ricotta cheese, remaining parsley, parmesean cheese. Add Nutmeg, Cinnamon. Sprinkle Sugar in to sweeten if desired (Subject to taste) Stir well until completely mixed.
6) Cook Lasagna noodles until firm but not soft. About 10 minutes. Drain and rinse thoroughly under cold water to prevent sticking.
7) Final Assembly: Spread thin layer of sauce in bottom of 13X9 baking dish. Arrange layer of noodles and another layer of sauce. Layer half of the meatballs and sausage and cover with ½ of the Ricotta cheese mixture. Sprinkle on some Mozzarella. Cover with noodles and repeat for second layer. Top off with layer of noodles and sauce.
Preheat oven to 350 Degrees. Cover Lasagna with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.
It is ok to prepare Lasagna and bake the next day. You can even prepare multiple dishes and freeze them until ready, just be sure to adjust baking time.
Enjoy!
Ingredients:
3 slices Italian bread, cut 1†thick, crust trimmed
½ cup milk
1Lb Ground chuck
1½ Lbs Hot or Mild Italian Sauage
4 Eggs
1 Medium Onion-chopped
3 30 oz. Cans Italian Crushed Tomatoes in puree
2 Lbs Ricotta Cheese
1¼ Cups Grated Parmesan cheese
8 oz. Mozzarella Cheese-shredded
4 Large Garlic cloves-minced
¼ Cup + 2 Tbsp Chopped fresh Parsley
1 Tbsp Chopped fresh Oregano or 1 Tsp dried
Salt
Pepper
1 Tbsp Ground Nutmeg
1 Tbsp Ground Cinnamon
Cup Sugar
Olive oil
Lasagna Noodles
Preparation:
1) In a small bowl, soak bread in milk for 15 minutes. Squeeze excess milk from bread. In a large bowl, combine softened bread with ground chuck, 1 egg, ¼ of the garlic, 2 Tbsp Parsley, 1 Tsp Salt, ¼ Tsp Pepper. Mix well. Form into 8-10 Meatballs.
2) Heat Olive oil (1/8 inch or as needed) in pan. Add meatballs and cook 8-10 minutes until evenly browned. Keep them moving to avoid burning and flat-spotting. (Flat meatballs are as bad as flat Cub tires!) Remove meatball and let drain.
3) Add more Olive oil to pan if needed. Prick sausage all over and cook in pan until brown 7-9 minutes. Remove from pan and let drain.
4) Heat 1 Tbsp Olive oil in a large pot. Add onion and remaining garlic and cook until soft, but not brown. Add Tomatoes and Oregano. Add Meatballs and Sausage and simmer for about 1-1.5 hours. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove sausage and meatballs. Let cool and cut into ¼ inch slices.
5) In large bowl, beat 3 eggs. Stir in Ricotta cheese, remaining parsley, parmesean cheese. Add Nutmeg, Cinnamon. Sprinkle Sugar in to sweeten if desired (Subject to taste) Stir well until completely mixed.
6) Cook Lasagna noodles until firm but not soft. About 10 minutes. Drain and rinse thoroughly under cold water to prevent sticking.
7) Final Assembly: Spread thin layer of sauce in bottom of 13X9 baking dish. Arrange layer of noodles and another layer of sauce. Layer half of the meatballs and sausage and cover with ½ of the Ricotta cheese mixture. Sprinkle on some Mozzarella. Cover with noodles and repeat for second layer. Top off with layer of noodles and sauce.
Preheat oven to 350 Degrees. Cover Lasagna with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.
It is ok to prepare Lasagna and bake the next day. You can even prepare multiple dishes and freeze them until ready, just be sure to adjust baking time.
Enjoy!
