What's For Supper? Lasagna & Garlic Bread

Mmmmmmmmmm

Okay, I have a confession to make. I'm not having this for dinner tonight. I made this Sunday night, and am just now getting around to posting it. I have good intentions, but the time doesn't always present itself so I can sit down and post it. :-)

I got this recipe from my Mom. I didn't create this delicious recipe. She's made it for as long as I can remember (which means at least 30 years....yikes!). This was always what I chose for my birthday supper, every year. My Mom got this recipe off of a lasagna noodle box, and I'm always looking for the same recipe when I go grocery shopping, but it seems to be forever gone from the side of the box (I think it was Prince brand...but I'm not for sure). Thank goodness she saved it. :-)

This recipe is a little time-consuming, but it's worth it. Not only for its yummy goodness, but this lasts us for 3 meals, so I don't have to cook supper for 2 nights! Happy dance! It also freezes well if you want to make a few of these. After putting it together and before cooking it, cover it up and put it in the freezer. Okay. Time for the fun part.

Ingredients:

1 (15 oz) container Ricotta Cheese
1 Egg, slightly beaten
1 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
Meat Sauce (recipe below)
16 oz. Lasagna Noodles, cooked
12 oz. shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Meat Sauce (ingredients highlighted in red):

In a 5 qt. (I use a 4 qt) kettle, heat 2 Tbsp. corn oil (I use olive oil) over medium heat. Add 1 pound ground beef, 1 cup chopped onion, 3 cloves garlic, minced and 1/2 cup chopped parsley.

Stirring frequently, cook about 10 minutes or until beef is browned. Add 2 cans (28 oz. each) crushed tomatoes to the beef mixture. Stir in 1 6oz. can tomato paste, 2 tsp. sugar, 2 tsp. dried basil leaves, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp. dried oregano leaves and 1/4 tsp. pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally for 45 minutes. Makes approx. 7 1/2 cups.


In a small bowl, stir together ricotta, egg and 3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese. In 13x9x2 inch roasting pan (make sure it doesn't have shallow sides), spread 1 1/2 cup meat sauce. Layer 1/3 of noodles (3), 2 cups sauce, 1/2 of ricotta mixture (I just drop small spoonfuls around to cover) and 1/3 of mozzarella cheese. Repeat once. Top with remaining noodles, sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Bake in 350 degree oven for 50 minutes, or until bubbly.

I always place a cookie sheet under the baking pan in case any of it bubbles over.


While that is baking, I take a loaf of french bread and slice it up. I mix some spreadable butter with minced garlic in a small bowl, and spread it on one side of the sliced bread. Put it on a cookie sheet, and after the lasagna is done, bake it at 425 degrees for approx. 7 minutes.




I noticed after I took this photo that the tomato paste was missing...pesky little bugger. ; -)
The Muir Glen Fire Roasted crushed tomatoes were on sale at HEB last week, so I decided to try that. Yummy.

There's the tomato paste! All the spices ready to be added to the ground beef/tomato mix.







All ingredients for the Meat Sauce added into the sauce pan and ready to be stirred.

Finished Meat Sauce. Yum.

The rest of the ingredients to put it all together. : -)

Ready to add half of the ricotta mixture to the layers.



Ready to go in the oven!

Bread, minced garlic and spreadable butter for some yummy garlic bread. : -)



Yummy. It's supper time. : -)



Enjoy!

I hope I don't drive you too crazy with all of my photos. I love lots of photos. I'm a visual learner. I kept all recipe separate at the top so if you want, you can just print that part and not have to print all these photos. :-)

Please let me know if you try this, and I hope you like it! (Okay, after reading that sentence back, all I can think of now is the Yo Gabba Gabba song, Try It, You'll Like It!)

~ Thanks for stopping by! ~

Jaime