LAYERS UPON LAYERS
Mozzarella and ricotta were on sale at my local supermarket, which is the best excuse I can think of to make lasagna. This one I kind of adapted on my own from my dad’s “meat sauce” (kind of a Bolognese, but far less fiddly), with some techniques I learned from my college flatmate. It’s not traditional, but it’s tasty.
For the sauce, I start with ground turkey, for no real reason besides “I like ground turkey”. It’s a little sweeter than ground beef, a little leaner (although that isn’t always in its favor), and I’m just used to it now. If I’m going to use ground beef for anything, I’m probably going to grind it myself, but that’s another post.
The seasonings are the standard ones I use for, well, a lot of things, but mainly my tomato sauces. My Italian grandmother didn’t exactly disapprove, but she felt oregano was more suited for a pizza sauce. My Jamaican grandmother puts raisins in her lasagna, and let’s not even go there.
You can add red wine to the sauce. I didn’t because I didn’t have any wine in the house (gasp!), but a nice red seems to play well with the flavors. Here are some low-tannin wines you might like. I would use about a cup or so, adding it to the pan before the tomatoes but after the meat is completely browned. If you do add the wine, serve the rest of the wine with your meal.
I use no-boil noodles partially because I am a heathen and partially because boiling lasagna noodles is a mess and gets clumpy as it cools but burns your fingers when it’s warm. JKLA says you can get away without boiling your pasta, so that’s good enough for me.
Adding the simmering sauce to the ricotta not only helps blend the flavors together, it also melts the cheese somewhat and makes it easier to spread. Plus, after you use the ricotta, you have a nifty container to hold other stuff! Visit nearly any Italian household and you will find ricotta containers in the fridge with very few of them actually containing cheese.
RECIPE
For the sauce:
- 2 lbs ground meat (I use turkey)
- 2 28-oz cans crushed tomatoes
- Garlic, minced or powder
- Onion, minced or powder
- Oregano, dried
- Salt
- Red pepper flakes
- Black pepper
- 1 large bay leaf
Brown the meat in a large saucepan and break it into crumbles. When the meat is mostly browned, add some garlic, onion, and oregano to season it. Add the tomatoes, and as they’re coming to a boil, add more garlic, onion, and oregano, as well as the rest of the seasonings. Once it comes to a boil, bring the heat down to a simmer and loosely cover. It can simmer for 1/2 hour to an hour.
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For the lasagna:
- Meat sauce (above)
- 1 pound block of whole milk mozzarella, cubed (see notes)
- 1 2-cup bag of whole milk mozzarella, shredded
- 1 32-oz container of whole milk ricotta (part skim is OK if you’re into that)
- Grated cheese
- 1 box no-boil lasagna
In a separate bowl, plop the ricotta out of the container and mix with about 1/2 cup of the simmering sauce. Stir to combine.
Preheat your oven to 375. In a 9×12″ baking pan, lay down a thin layer of sauce to coat the bottom as best you can. Place three noodles on top of the sauce, and spread a layer of ricotta over that. Toss some mozzarella over the ricotta, and pour some more sauce over the whole thing. Add another layer of noodles and continue as above. Around the third layer, I added some Locatelli to the cheese mixture.
When you get to the last layer of noodles. cover with everything you have left and then sprinkle your grated cheese over the top of everything. Cover with foil and place in the oven for 30 minutes. When that time is up, remove the foil and bake for an additional 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it cool and set for at least 20 minutes. I know it’s hard. Resist the temptation. The lasagna will be a lot better for it.
–c
NOTES
I cubed the mozzarella because I couldn’t find my box grater, but it does well in that state because it makes little pockets of cheese, and doesn’t that sound delightful?
My box of no-boil noodles left me with two pieces to spare. The pan was already pretty full, and two isn’t enough for a layer, so I just left them in the box. Maybe I’ll put them in the toaster oven for a snack later.
Lasagna freezes well. I cut the dish up into individual servings and let them cool. I wrap them in plastic first and then aluminum foil. It’s a pretty heavy meal, and I can get at least 8 servings out of one pan; you might be able to get more if you have better portion control than I do.