Lasagna

 The long version, just for my nephew

Make the sauce a day ahead, cool in frig overnight. Assemble the lasagna cold the next day and bake.

Sauce Ingredients:
3-4 Italian sausage links (or 3/4 lb ground, sweet or hot – depends on how spicy you like it!)
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 Tsp fennel seeds (optional)
1 large bay leaf
1/4 Tsp rosemary and marjoram (optional)
1/2 Tbsp each of oregano, thyme, basil (*if you have fresh herbs available, use up to 2 tbsp each, chopped)
1 28oz can of crushed or petite diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp each of sugar and salt
1 C water +

In a stock pot or other large pan with a lid, uncase the sausage and brown the sausage crumbles. Drain the fat from the sausage and add the onion – saute for 5-6 minutes, then add the spices – stir and allow the herbs to become fragrant, then add the tomato, sugar, salt and water (should be thin at this point). Allow this mixture to simmer with lid on for 30 minutes. Taste it, add more herbs, sugar or salt to taste. Remove the lid and allow the sauce to simmer down to the thickness you prefer. Remove from heat, allow to cool, refrigerate overnight.

Lasagna Ingredients:
15 oz container Ricotta cheese
8 oz Cottage cheese
3 oz Romano or Parmesan cheese, grated fine
12 oz. Mozzarella cheese, grated
1 lg egg, slightly beaten (or 2 small)
1/2 bag fresh spinach, cleaned, coarse chop
6-8 large mushrooms, sliced thinly (enough to make a layer)
lasagna noodles (I prefer the Barilla, rolled flat, no boil noodles – 2 of them may one layer in my pan perfectly)

Cheese mix: In a bowl, mix the ricotta, cottage and romano cheeses. Add a pinch of salt and the egg – mix thoroughly & set aside
Slice the mushrooms thinly and set aside. Rinse and drain the spinach thoroughly, then slice coarsely and set aside
In a long, hi sided loaf pan**, put a thin layer of the red meat sauce in the bottom of the pan, put a layer of noodles. Place 1/2 the cheese mix on top of the noodles, place the mushrooms in a layer over the cheese. Spread a layer of Mozzarella, then red meat sauce. Repeat layers – noodles, cheese mix, spinach, mozzarella, red sauce. Place 1 more layer of noodles on top & use the rest of the sauce & remaining cheese for a top layer. If your meat sauce is really thick, you may want to add a 1/2 C of water down the sides of the pan to ensure even baking. Bake this monster until it bubbles through – approximately an hour at 350. Pull from oven and allow the lasagna to “rest” for at least 20 minutes….if you don’t allow it to settle, it will go “soup” on you when you cut it. Takes as good, just doesn’t look as nice.

This recipe will divides into six large portions.
**The loaf pan I use is an old commercial bread pan, it measures 4″ deep, 4″ wide & 13″ long.