
It’s been years since I made a lasagna. For one thing, I didn’t even know enough people in San Francisco to make a batch for everyone, much less freezer space for conveniently foil-wrapped packages. I’ve followed a ton of different recipes from books, boxes, magazines and countless adults… and I really figured it out around 2002. I haven’t looked back since. Hee hee.
I’m not going to claim that my recipe is super authentic, but it definitely does NOT contain American or cheddar cheese… OR HOT DOGS (HI MOM LOL). I don’t want to hate on my culture or anything (Filipino if you didn’t kno) AND I’M TOTALLY OPEN TO NEW APPLICATIONS FOR FOOD. BUT man… HOT DOGS GO ON BUNS. Non-negotiable DONOTCOLLECT$200 nope nada nien kind of issue. I’m BARELY ok with hotdogs in my rice… and even then… I wince.
*ahem*
MEANWHILE…
Hardware:
wide spatula
1 bowl each for tomato sauce and ricotta mixture
9” x 13” baking dish / pan
Software:
butter / oil to coat pan
1 box of no-boil lasagna noodles (homemade? you get a gold star!)
1 lb. mild Italian sausage
4 cups of tomato sauce (recipe here)
15 oz. of ricotta cheese (standard size)
1/2 cup Asiago cheese
1/2 lb. cremini mushrooms
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 egg
1 - 10 oz. box frozen spinach (fresh? about 2 cups firmly packed, blanched)
3 balls of mozzarella, sliced 1/2 inches thick - garnish
Basil leaves
Coat baking dish with butter / oil / non-stick spray and preheat oven to 375. Crumble bulk sausage (not in casing) in a pre-heated pan and cook through. Stir in tomato sauce until combined. Set aside.
Thaw spinach and squeeze out most of the liquid. Clean and slice mushrooms thickly - they tend to shrink during cooking. Saute with butter and right when the ’shrooms become nice and golden, add garlic to heat through. Set aside to cool (at least 10 minutes). When cooled, mix mushrooms, spinach and garlic mixture with the egg and both cheeses together. Time for assembly.
Add sauce to bottom of the pan (prevents sticking). Drop in 4 sheets of the pasta (they will overlap a tiny bit, totally ok). Spoon in 1/3 of ricotta mixture and spread as evenly as you can. Spoon in 1/4 of the sauce. Repeat for a total of three times and top off with remainder of the pasta sheets. Top off with last 1/4 of the sauce and lay the mozzarella on top. Cover with foil and throw in the oven for about an hour.
Before you serve it (right after or 3 hours later), throw it under a low broiler to get everything a nice beautiful golden brown. Slice with a sharp knife and remove with a thick spatula to maintain it’s shape - I mean, you’ve worked so hard to make it, right? Make it sing on your plate!
The best part about this recipe is that there’s not a lot of moisture in it, which can make some pasta casseroles watery and bland. If you’re using a jar’d tomato sauce, you might want to cook it in a saucepan and reduce it by 1/3… just so you have less water to make it runny. Mezzetta and San Marzano make a beautifully sauce that you can use right out of the bottle. Spend the extra $3 and splurge on good tomato sauce!
SERVE WITH A SIMPLE SIDE SALAD, TOASTED BREAD AND A SMILE.
Kaies? Kaies.
~Spec
P.S. Wrap each leftover piece in foil and place in a large ziptop freezer bag. They’ll keep for a while (at least 6 months) and be an easy reheat for when you don’t have time to cook a proper supper.