Favorite Recipes: August 2009

So, I got this recipe from allrecipes.com but tweaked it quite a bit with some help from commentors. It's a bit time consuming, but not really, the longest part is letting the sauce simmer....but the best red sauces always have to simmer for quite a while in my book.

Red Sauce
1 lb sweet italian sausage
1 lb lean ground beef
1 onion, minced
3-4 garlic cloves, crushed (trust me)
2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes
2 (6 oz) cans tomato paste
2 (6.5 oz) cans tomato sauce
1/2 C water
1 teaspoon sugar (if any, og. called for 2T)
1/2 - 2/3 C fresh chopped basil (fresh is best)
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
NO SALT (og. called for 1T!!, does NOT need it)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Cheese Mixture
32 oz. Ricotta Cheese
1 egg
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsely
1/2 teaspoon salt

Other Ingredients
lasagna noodles (12 or so)
Mozzarella cheese, sliced (1 -2 lbs.)
Parmesan cheese, grated (not the powder kind) about 1 1/2 C

1. In a large sauce pan, sautee onion and garlic with a small amount of olive oil or butter, then add and cook sausage and ground beef until well browned. Drain the fat ( the sausage produces a lot, it took me quite a while to get all the fat out). Stir in diced tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, italian seasoning, pepper, and 2T parsley. Simmer covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. (As long as you can, the longer the better)

2. Don't boil the lasagna noodles, soak about 12 noodles in a pan ( I used the 9 x 13 dish) of hot tap water for 20 - 30 minutes. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, 2 T parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

3. To assemble, spread a layer of meat sauce on the bottom of baking dish (at least 9 x 13). Arrange noodles over meat sauce.(I used 4 to 5 noodles, breaking some to fit everywhere). Spread a layer of ricotta cheese mixture over noodles. Top with a layer of sliced mozzarella cheese (I used about 6 or 7 slices). Spoon another layer of meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Repeat layers ending with sliced mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Cover with foil (to prevent sticking, spray the foil with cooking spray).

4. Cook in preheated 375 degree oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving (this helps it to set up nicely).

I actually made a 9x13 pan and a smaller half size one with this amount (so I used about 15 noodles total)

So there you have it, Luigi's Love Nest 2009 version, main entree.