Brad's Easy Lasagna

Just about everyone I know likes lasagna. It's kind of like a cake made with pasta, sauce and a cheese frosting, right? The pasta gets all puffed up from cooking in the sauce, the cheeses melt and the sauce is where a good lasagna recipe comes together. You need to have a good sauce that hits all the right notes. Lasagna is typically associated with Italy where every region has a variation. Southern Italy is known for simple tomato sauces while northern Italy is known for white sauces. Lasagna actually originated in Greece. The predominate theory is that lasagna is large sheets of pasta dough cut into strips and the word "lagana" means a type of flat unleavened bread in Greek. The alternate theory is that it referred to a trivet or stand, Romans borrowed the word "lasanum" meaning cooking pot in Latin. At some point the Italians started to refer to the dish in which the lasagna was made; eventually the name of the food and the cooking dish became one, Lasagna.

Lasagna and its variations have made their way around the world. There are recipes for green lasagna, Mexican lasagna, four cheese lasagna, breakfast lasagna, seafood lasagna, mushroom lasagna, etc. As you can see, people have borrowed the recipe and then incorporated ingredients from all over the world as they continue to reinvent and rework this standard.

For me, lasagna is wide flat pasta, sometimes with wavy edges and the pasta is placed in a pan with alternating layers of sauce and cheese. When I first started making lasagna, you had to buy a big box of lasagna pasta, cook them just right and then attempt to gently lay them out in your pan as you constructed your lasagna. I can't tell you how many boxes of lasagna pasta that I ruined trying to get them in the pan without tearing or breaking them. One day when I was in a hurry, I added water to the bottom of the dish. Then I added sauce and then layered in the lasagna pasta uncooked. Amazingly, the lasagna pasta cooked just fine! So, that put an end to my struggles with the lasagna pasta. Later, I discovered that Barilla came out with and no cook lasagna pasta that was shorter, thinner and wider.

I started out making lasagna with four cheeses- mozzarella, ricotta, parmesan and cottage cheese. Since the lasagna came out dense and heavy, I eliminated the ricotta and cut back on the mozzarella but kept all of the spices for flavor. The lasagna still has plenty cheese to make it satisfying and hearty.

Now let's talk about the sauce! I like to make my own red sauce and included my Pomodoro Sauce with Italian Tomatoes and Sausage along with my Marinara sauce recipes. For me, the sauce is really where all the action is and you can flavor the sauce exactly the way you like. I use fresh spices as they really give my sauce additional depth. If you want to keep it really simple, buy a jar of prepared pasta sauce and brown up some Italian sausage or ground beef and it will dramatically cut down your preparation time. Then, assemble your lasagna and pop it into the oven.

So let's get started....

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Brad's Easy Lasagna

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**Ingredients**
1 pound ground beef or Italian sausage
1 jar (32 oz.) of prepared sauce or homemade red sauce
12 - 16 oz. package lasagna pasta uncooked
1/2 cup of water (if using the thick wavy style of lasagna pasta)

**Cheese filling**

12 oz. mozzarella cheese
16 oz. cottage cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 egg
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

**Preparation**

Brown ground beef or Italian sausage and add to homemade or prepared sauce. Simmer for half an hour. Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Shred mozzarella and reserve one quarter. In a large mixing bowl combine, cottage cheese, mozzarella, cheese, egg, parsley, oregano, basil, salt and pepper.

Determine if you would like to make your lasagna in two or three layers. In a large 9 x 13 Pyrex or cake pan place one half or one third of the pasta sauce and water if necessary. Cover the pasta sauce with a layer of lasagna pasta. Top with one half or one third of the cheese mixture. Repeat layers and cover with aluminum foil.

Bake lasagna for 30 minutes, remove aluminum foil and top with parmesan cheese. Return to oven and bake for another 20 minutes until parmesan cheese is bubbly and slightly brown on top. Add the remaining mozzarella cheese and bake for 10 more minutes. Remove from oven and let lasagna stand for 10-15 minutes to firm up before serving.

This is really just a place to start, remember we're all just borrowing this recipe from each other, and feel free to play around with the ingredients to fit your tastes!

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Pomodoro Sauce with Italian Tomatoes and Sausage

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*****Ingredients*****

1/3 cup high quality olive oil
6 oz. can of tomato puree
28 oz. can Italian style tomatoes
16 oz. package of Italian sausage
Medium onion chopped
4 - 6 cloves of garlic chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes

*****Preparation*****

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat and add sausage, onions and garlic. Brown for 5 to 8 minutes. Tilt pot and remove fat with a large spoon, if necessary.

Stir in tomatoes, tomato puree and spices except salt. Lower heat and simmer for 30 to 60 minutes until flavors blend. Add salt to taste if necessary.

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Marinara Sauce

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*****Ingredients*****

2 cans (28 oz. each) imported San Marzano plum tomatoes
1 bottle (16 oz.) strained Italian tomato sauce
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 garlic cloves finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1/2 cup rough chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 tablespoon fresh thyme removed from their stalks
12 - 15 fresh basil leaves chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup olive oil

*****Preparation*****

Remove tomatoes from the can; separate the whole tomatoes from their juice and reserve. Clean the tomatoes of any skin or hard parts in the core. Using your hands gently crush the tomatoes into pieces.

Heat olive oil in a large non-reactive pot over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until onions are beginning to brown. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute or until the garlic begins to brown. Add pureed tomatoes, parsley, thyme, dried basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Allow sauce to come to a boil and then reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour. If you prefer a thicker sauce, simmer for an additional 15 - 20 minutes.

Add fresh basil and simmer for 5 minutes.

**You can add Italian sausage to this recipe; just brown the sausage with the onions and garlic.

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