RECIPE: Jen's famous lasagna

thoughts on lasagna -- a labor of love

Lasagna might be my favorite thing to cook, and it's certainly one of my favorite things to eat. I've been making them for years and every time I make one a little differently, but and below is recipe for a basic lasagna. Sometimes I make it with hot Italian sausage or with sliced meatballs. In the summer I make my sauce with fresh tomatoes.

Basically my theory is that a lasagna is only as good its ingredients. This isn't a meal I can make on the fly, I have to go to the farmers market for the artisan cheese, to the fancy grocery store to get good-quality tomatoes and pasta, and to the liquor store for a nice bottle of red. Also, it's not cheap (the cheese alone costs me over $20)! But you can get lots of meals out of it -- it freezes awesome.

First is my recipe for a basic sauce -- make sure you add the wine, it really makes a difference!



sauce ingredients:

-- large saucepan (6+ quarts)

-- olive oil

-- can of whole tomatoes

-- can of crushed tomatoes

-- can of pureed tomatoes

-- garlic

-- bay leaves

-- crushed red pepper

-- glass of good red wine

add olive oil to the saucepan

-- add enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan, maybe about a quarter of an inch deep

-- warm the oil on low/med heat

peel and chop the garlic

-- use as much garlic as you like
-- I used about half a head



add the garlic and red pepper to the oil
-- I like a spicy sauce, so I use a fair amount of crushed red pepper

cook the garlic and pepper

-- cook for about 5-10 minutes, stop cooking just as the garlic is starting to brown a little
-- be careful not to overcook, and make sure there's enough oil -- the garlic should be swimming

add the tomatoes

-- to stop the garlic from cooking, immediately add the sauce, starting with the puree & crushed tomatoes

-- for the whole tomatoes, squish each tomato in your hand

add salt, bay leaves, wine

-- about a teaspoon of sea salt, about 3 bay leaves and a glass of good red wine

-- (make sure the wine is good enough to drink -- don't using cooking wine)

stir occasionally

-- cook the sauce for about 2 hours, or until it smells so good you can't take it anymore

lasagna ingredients

-- fresh ricotta cheese (I used 2 15oz. containers)

-- fresh mozzarella cheese (I used 2 8oz. balls)

-- box of DeCecco lasagna

-- something to cook it in (I used my new Le Creuset pan, but a Pyrex also works well)

cook and drain the pasta

-- follow the directions on the box

set up your lasagna station

-- take a minute to set up your counter so that you can enjoy the process

-- make sure you don't forget to pour yourself a glass of wine and drink as necessary!

add sauce

-- enough to cover the bottom to prevent noodles from sticking

add noodles
-- enough to cover, overlap if necessary

add ricotta cheese
-- 1/3 of the quantity of cheese you have
-- don't worry about spreading it evenly

add mozzarella cheese

-- 1/4 of the quantity of cheese you have

-- just tear up the mozzarella ball, and again, don't worry if it's evenly distributed

add sauce

-- the amount of sauce you add is a personal decision, some people like a very saucy lasagna (Ricardo!)

repeat

-- repeat so that you have 3 layers, then add a final layer of noodles, followed by sauce and the remaining motz cheese

Cook

cook in a preheated 350 degree oven for about an hour, or until someone in the living room shouts "that sure does smell good!"