La-La-Lasagna!

Cooking should be fun. Turn on some music--I get inspired by Sinatra--and pour a glass of wine.  (Note: I learned the hard way that while it’s a good idea to pour that glass of wine, it’s also important to make sure you only sip it until the dish is done.  During one dinner party, I got carried away talking with friends and was on to my second glass of wine when it came time to assemble the sauce for my lasagna. Instead of adding one teaspoon of salt, I added one tablespoon. That was one salty lasagna! Another time, I made the same mistake, but with red pepper flakes. The lesson: Sip your wine and enjoy the rest during dinner.)

Lasagna is an elegant dish that is great to serve at dinner parties. It may seem like a daunting task with a long list of ingredients and those pesky noodles that always stick together, but with this recipe you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Some tips: First and foremost always read the entire recipe from top to bottom and make sure you understand what you are supposed to do and in what order.  Then pull out the ingredients you will need and do all of your chopping, peeling and grating before you even turn the burner on. This way you don’t have to stop halfway through a recipe and risk overcooking or burning something.

If you made the basic red sauce from my last article you’ll need one of your containers – if not this is a great time to make it and freeze the extra sauce.  Add a simple salad and some fresh bread and you’ve got a tasty, Italian meal that you can be proud to serve your guests.  Bon Appétit!  

Lasagna with beef

Recipe inspired by Emeril Lagasse, Food Network

Cook Time:  1 hr 20 min       Level:   Easy       Yield:   6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

• 1.5 pounds ground beef
• 6 cups Basic Red Sauce
• 1 (15-ounce) container ricotta
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup grated Parmesan
• 5 cups grated Mozzarella
• Essence Seasoning (buy seasoning or find recipe online)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 12 dried (uncooked) lasagna noodles

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large saucepan, add the ground beef and brown over medium heat.  Drain fat and season with 1 tsp. Essence. Add the basic red tomato sauce and simmer for at least 10 minutes.

In a large bowl fold together the ricotta cheese, eggs, 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, 1/2 cup grated mozzarella, ½ tsp. Essence, salt, parsley, basil, and black pepper.

Spread one ladle of the tomato/meat sauce in the bottom of a 3-quart (13x9) casserole. Lay three lasagna noodles (uncooked) lengthwise down the dish. The noodles should not touch one another. Spoon 3/4 cup of the ricotta mixture over the noodles, and spread evenly with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle one cup of the mozzarella evenly over the ricotta. Repeat with the remaining ingredients, for a total of four layers of noodles. Sprinkle the remaining one cup of mozzarella over the top layer of tomato sauce, and top with the remaining 1/2 cup of Parmesan.

Cover the casserole tightly with aluminum foil, and bake, covered, for one hour. (Put a cooking sheet under the casserole dish to catch any overflow.)

Remove the casserole from the oven, and remove the aluminum foil. Return to the oven and bake, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

(Photo credit: Jon Sullivan)

About the author and chef:

Melissa Wychocki lives in Naples, FL with her husband Nick and yellow lab - and sous chef - Charley. She runs a successful real estate team, The Bluewater Group, as well as a home flipping company, Bluewater Acquisitions. When she’s not busy with real estate, Melissa has found a new passion in cooking and enjoys hosting dinner parties for family and friends. She has never taken a cooking class and is mostly self taught. Her motivation to write this column is to inspire Young Professionals to put the take-out menus down and give cooking a shot because it’s easy, fun and much healthier! Follow Melissa's cooking column here on YPNation.