Lasagna Heaven

I wouldn't say I am a fabulous cook. I have my staples, about eight to ten dishes that I make well and make over and over and over. Every once in a while I pull out a cook book or google a recipe to switch things up, or because inspiration hits me and something makes me think that my kids will be adventurous eaters for once - Amelia would be, Jake likes the eight to ten things I make over and over and over. Most of my culinary regime is pretty simple, nothing to write home about. However, there is one thing I make really really well, one thing that I am willing to boast over, heck, even blog over, but I don't make it often because it requires more than the 30 minutes I usually have to get dinner done and on the table.

Lasagna. It might sound unimpressive, but don't be deceived. If you've ever made a true homemade lasagna, you know. It's a multi step process, it takes time, talent and energy, and it's not something you serve up every other Tuesday. Lasagna is a Sunday meal, a come-together-at-the-table-and-indulge meal. I made it today, and it was delicious.

The way I see it lasagna isn't for the faint of heart. If you are looking for low fat, low calorie, low taste, look elsewhere. There are many things I will try to calorie cut on, or switch ingredients to make a "healthier" version, but my lasagna is not one of them. Somethings are worth the indulgence, somethings are worth the decadence, somethings are worth the second helpings. And when you only make something once or twice a year then when you do make it, I say make it right.

My recipe is a mix from a Taste of Italy cookbook I got as a wedding gift, watching my best friends mother make homemade mouth watering lasagna in my teens, and a googled bechamel sauce recipe. It is simple, it is rich, it is tasty, and it is - if I do say so myself - the second best lasagna I have ever had. First best if my best friends mom. She makes her own lasagna noodles, diligently and painstakingly rolling out each noodle into a super fine sheet, so paper thin she can make at least eight, maybe ten, layers in her lasagna dish. I'm good, but not that good. My noodles are store bought - only six layer worthy.

The secret, I think, is the bechamel sauce. I use it instead of the ricotta cheese and spinach mix most recipes call for. I don't like ricotta cheese in this recipe. I can't pin why, I think it is a texture thing. I find the bechamel makes for a creamier, richer, smoother all round texture. It's melt in your mouth, moist, deilcious, the adjectives could go on and on.

Here are my steps:

First - homemade (not from a jar) simmered for at least three hours bolognese sauce. Tomato sauce, onion, garlic, red wine, basil, salt, pepper, red wine, organic ground beef. Pour some on the bottom of lasagna dish. Lay down a base of noodles.

Second layer - a thicker helping of the red sauce topped with a generous sprinkling of real fresh grated mozzarella cheese. Lay down another set of noodles.

Third layer - fresh made bechamel sauce. Don't be stingy, pour it on. This isn't a fat free recipe. You can have salad tomorrow (no wait, you'll be eating leftovers tomorrow - have salad the next day). Sprinkle Italian parmesan cheese on top of the bechamel. I mean it, sprinkle harder. Lay more noodles.

Fourth layer - red sauce/mozza cheese. Lay noodles.

Fifth layer - Bechamel/Parmesan. We're almost done. Lay the last noodles down.

Top layer - end with the rest of your bolognese sauce and a final helping of grated mozzarella.

Bake it covered, then take the cover off to crisp the cheese at the top, and give it a nice brownish look.

I serve a nice green salad on the side (made by my mother-in-law in this photo). I like to keep the lasagna saucy and decadent. I serve up the green stuff on the side.

Fill your wine glass up with a nice red wine, invite over family and friends, forget about your diet for one evening and voila!  Lasagna heaven.

Now I am not saying the way I do it is for everyone. I know my mother, for instance, loads her version up with veggies, and I have another friend who likes it the good ole ricotta cheese and spinach way. But for me, the creaminess and richness that you get when a great red bolognese sauce meets a great white bechamel sauce, and lots of great Italian cheese is layered in between sheets of pasta, it just doesn't get any better.... well, it can get better. Roll out your own paper thin sheets of lasagna noodles and you'll think you've died and gone to heaven. It's almost worth starting dinner prep at noon.

But the best part in any case - leftovers tomorrow!