Tuesday, February 5, 2013

My Favorite Lasagna and the One We Serve in Honduras

At the request of the committee planning the Women's Bible Conference in Honduras, we serve "American" meals or maybe better stated, foods not readily served in Honduras.  One of our team favorites to prepare and eat is Lasagna.  We usually make at least 19 - 9"x13" pans of this entree and freeze it for later in the week.  It's very easy to prepare in an assembly line with a team of 5, but also works one pan at a time for a family.

What you will need:
4 cups of your favorite red/spaghetti sauce (see blog for Versatile Red Sauce)
1 1/2 pounds ground meat or Italian sausage, browned and drained of fat
1 lb. mozzarella cheese, grated
2 lbs. ricotta cheese mixed with 2 eggs, 1 T dried parsley and 1 tsp. lemon juice
6-8 oven ready lasagna noodles

After years of pre-cooking noodles and ending up with watery lasagna or over-done noodles, I am all in favor of using oven-ready noodles if you plan to bake and eat it right away.  If you plan to freeze it, any noodle will do and will cook as it bakes.

To assemble the lasagna:
Lay 3-4 uncooked noodles in the bottom of the 9"x13" pan.
Cover with half of the ricotta cheese mixture
Sprinkle half of the meat over the cheese.
Gently pour 2 cups of red sauce over the meat and use a rubber spatula to gently spread around.
Sprinkle half of the mozzarella cheese over this.

Repeat.  However, I spread the ricotta on the noodles before laying them in the pan on top of the mozzarella cheese.  Then, use a rubber spatula to gently cover the noodles and smooth out the layer.  Continue as above.

To enjoy tonight simply bake at 350 degrees F for 30-40 minutes until bubbly and top layer of cheese is lightly browned.  Let cool for about 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

To enjoy later.  Cover with waxed paper (so that the tomato sauce does not "eat" through the foil) and then a layer of heavy-duty foil.  Freeze.  Defrost before baking to cut bake time, or allow up to two hours to fully warm a frozen Lasagna.

This is one meal that's easy to replicate and have on hand to feed extra mouths or give away to a family in need.

No comments:

Post a Comment