Father's Day Lasagna

Today I made lasagna for the greatest Dad around. My husband used to be a meat and potatoes kind of guy. He still loves meat and potatoes however he now eats a variety of vegetables and loves pasta and Italian food. Lasagna is one of his favorites so we went with the rich, cheesy, meaty kind for this special occasion.

I went to one of my favorite Italian stores, Severino Pasta, to buy homemade lasagna noodles. We tried half regular and half spinach. Their pasta is outstanding. See how great the noodles look.

The sauce was filled with meat just like hubby likes it. You can always substitute ground turkey and turkey sausage if you like. The hot sausage gave the lasagna a nice little kick.

We decided to eat plenty of lasagna and skipped the salad. Who has room for that after eating fresh Italian cheeses and bread for an appetizer? A nice walk was needed after dinner. With a busy school week coming up , stay tuned for some really quick dinners. The leftover lasagna is going to work with the hubby tomorrow as I will eat all the salad I missed today. Happy Fathers Day to all the daddys out there!

Meaty Cheesy Lasagna

Meat sauce:
1 lb ground beef
4 hot Italian sausage links, casings removed
2 TBS chopped garlic
2 (28 oz) cans crushed tomatoes
1(28 oz) can tomato puree
handful fresh basil, chopped
handful fresh parsley, chopped
3 TBS sugar
salt and pepper to taste

In a large Dutch oven, brown beef and sausage. Drain any extra grease. Add garlic, tomatoes, puree, basil, parsley and sugar. Simmer (covered) for 1 hour on low while stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Lasagna:
1 lb fresh lasagna noodles
32 oz part skim ricotta cheese
2 eggs, beaten
handful fresh parsley, chopped
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
16 oz shredded mozzarella cheese

Cook noodles for 1 minute in a large pot of boiling water. When noodles are cooked, make sure they are drained very well. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, mix ricotta, eggs, parsley and Parmesan cheese. To assemble, spread meat sauce (about 1 ½ cups) on the bottom of a 13x9 lasagna pan. Arrange 4 noodles in the pan. Spread half the ricotta cheese mixture on top of the noodles. Cover with meat sauce then ⅓ of the shredded cheese. Add another layer of noodles, ricotta cheese, meat sauce and shredded cheese. Arrange the last 4 noodles, then top with sauce and remaining cheese. You will have extra meat sauce to serve with the lasagna. Cover with foil, making sure foil does not touch cheese. Bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil then bake for another 10 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Comments

Peter M

June 16, 2008 at 4:37 am

Yep...she (the lasagna) is a real good one. You get my top marks for that near perfect stack, er slab of lasagna...nice one!

Prudy

June 16, 2008 at 8:39 am

Your lasagna looks perfectly executed, a nice compact stack. I'm ashamed too admit how many times I've made soupy lasagnas...

Jenny

June 16, 2008 at 10:58 am

Oh, what a terrific looking lasagna Lisa! It looks perfect, I love the green pasta layers. Hope you all had a great day!

Emiline

June 16, 2008 at 3:31 pm

I would have skipped the salad too! Looks great! I love lasagna...although the spelling of it is always tricky to me.

Tanya

June 16, 2008 at 4:00 pm

Looks yummy! I love the homemade spinach noodles. I might have to attempt those now.

Great recipes!

Jeena

June 16, 2008 at 6:40 pm

My hubby loves lasagna too....if I showed him this post I just know he would tell me that he'd love this. It looks great Lisa, glad you had a nice day we had a great day too. 🙂

Kevin

June 16, 2008 at 7:24 pm

That lasagna looks really good!

EAT!

June 16, 2008 at 10:05 pm

how I love a good lasagna. your husband is a lucky man!

Arundathi

June 17, 2008 at 6:29 am

dang - that looks great! my husband wouldve loved that for Father's Day! Instead he got to spend the day with his daughter! 😉

Veronica

June 17, 2008 at 10:22 am

Oh, I really like the look of those noodles! We are so in need of a place to get homemade pasta. I've tried making my own which can be tasty...but a little too much work.

Leslie

June 17, 2008 at 1:45 pm

ohhh,,the ultimate comfort food! Looks great!

Clumbsy Cookie

June 17, 2008 at 3:08 pm

That is a seriosly good looking lasagna! And salad...? What are you talking about?

Bridgett

June 17, 2008 at 11:38 pm

Now that is perfection on a plate. I love the spinach pasta idea.

Lisa

June 17, 2008 at 11:51 pm

Thanks for all the nice comments everyone!

LaDue & Crew

November 18, 2008 at 11:34 pm

Hopped over here from Patsyk- That pasta looks scrumptious! Now I will be on a kick to make homemade pasta! Great looking dish! Janet

LaDue & Crew

November 18, 2008 at 11:34 pm

Hopped over here from Patsyk- That pasta looks scrumptious! Now I will be on a kick to make homemade pasta! Great looking dish! Janet

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