Lasagna

I Love pasta. I can not lie. I love pasta just about anyway you serve it to me. Nothing is more comforting that a great bowl of spaghetti with a long simmered meat sauce, or an incredible Bolognese meat sauce. Once a year or so I indulge in Pasta Carbonara. It gets harder to justify the calories and the cholesterol as I get older and the waste line gets wider.
 But of all my pasta favorites, lasagna has to be at the top of the list.  It can be a long process to make a good lasagna. You can open a jar of store bought pasta sauce and simply pour it over your noodles.

I have never chosen to do that. Then there is the cheese choice. I have seen recipes calling for no ricotta cheese and instead substituting for cottage cheese. I despise cottage cheese. So I always pass up those recipes. It can be a real pain in the ass to make lasagna, so I rarely go to the effort. But, then when I have a desire for a some, i stoop to buying the Stouffer's frozen style at the supermarket. I am always disappointed.  It's just nasty.

So last week I was asked to make several meals that could be broken down into single servings and then frozen for a client. My first thought was lasagna. I also made a homemade chicken pot pie filling that I topped with pre-baked puff pastry sheets. Each was put into a little tin foil pan and sealed and then delivered to the client. I was very happy with each meal and I hope she enjoys them as much as I do.

the tomato sauce is still a bit warm

I make my own sauce. I just cant use the bottlesd stuff.  It's basically the same recipe I use for my long simmered tomato sauce. I just cook it a little longer and use a bit less water so that in the end, its a thicker, richer sauce. I start by browning tough little beef steak, or stew meat. Once nice and brown I room them from the pot and saute tons of onions and garlic. Then I add tomato paste and tomato sauce, lots of oregano and basil and I drop the steaks back into the sauce. I cook at a very low simmer for about two hours. Or just until the steaks or meat is fall apart tender.

I kept picking out and eating the mushrooms. I browned them
in  a hot skillet and then added a splash of white wine
to boost the flavor.

 Then as the sauce cools, I pull out the steaks and shred them before I put them back into the sauce. That way the sauce is flavored with the beef and the finished sauce has tender bits of steak mixed throughout. For this recipe I also added mushrooms and browned italian sausage. I wanted this to be a substantial meal.

browned italian sausage and mushroom filling.

 Then from there, its just a basic lasagna. I don't really do anything special or revolutionary. Just layer and cover.

hard to wait for it to bake and cool down.

Tell me that this doesn't look good!

Of all the ways I like my lasagna, my favorite is cold. Eaten as leftovers the next day. Cold lasagna for lunch is the best! But either way, this is a great dish. Filling, substantial, and it just plain makes you feel good.