Welp. I meant to post this about 3 months ago. Lucky for me, the weather is still been overall garbage in Chicagoland. In fact, after a quick stint of nice weather, it's getting cold. Really cold!
Luckily, this recipe is still tried and true. And still delicious. And still perfectly fitting for a winter day.
I feel like there is a lot to catch up on as I haven't been posting. But to be honest, my dark kitchen, paired with the overcast days, doesn't exactly lend itself to pretty photos. Sure I could invest in a bunch of equipment to create some faux light...but also, I have 3 kids who are rambunctious. It's more likely someone busts that, dinner doesn't get on the table and then I'm annoyed and someone feels bad. Thankfully, I have faith that spring will be here in no time. And at least it won't be dark at 4 PM :)
I've talked about this lasagna recipe a lot as it really is a comfort food. It's a love language. It's how I help. Or at least try to. Plus it's simple. Mozzarella, fresh Basil, bread crumbs, Riccotta, salt, pepper, Italian Seasoning, ground beef or turkey, marinara, cottage cheese, eggs, pasta...like I said, simple. But good.
The meat is extra lean turkey, because that's what I had. Sweet, white onion, Italian Seasoning, lots of fresh garlic, salt and pepper. Done. Cook it up until everything is browned nicely and all the pink parts are gone. Feel free to use ground beef, actually my favorite, but not necessary. Also, 93/7% lean Turkey is cool too. If you use enough marinara, and enough quality cheese, it's OK. I promise.
The next step is to mix up the ricotta mixture. I have some issues with heavy dairy so I use part skim milk ricotta, totally not necessary though! You can use whole milk ricotta if that's all that you can find. I mix in some parmesan cheese, Italian Seasoning, eggs, cottage cheese, fresh basil, pepper and breadcrumbs to the mix. You want it to hold some, but be smear-able. If it's coming out runny at all, add more breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese.
Once the beef or ground turkey is browned up, add in your marinara and stir well. Meanwhile, leave about a half a cup of marinara on the bottom of your baking dish so that the lasagna noodles bake well.
Lay down your first layer of noodles making sure the whole bottom is covered and all noodles are touching the sauce essentially.
Next lay down your meat and marinara mixture. Spread it well but don't go too heavy but also don't go too light. Again, you want all of the noodles touching the sauce. Next add a thin layer of the ricotta mixture and smear it over the meat and sauce mixture. Lastly, cover the layer with parmesan and mozzarella cheeses.
Repeat the layer again. For the final layer, I like to do one more layer of noodles, one more layer of sauce so that the noodles cook, and top with an excessive amount of parmesan and mozzarella cheeses.
Why this is my favorite recipe:
Aside from the fact that it's loaded with flavor, it is seriously a love language all in it's own. The layers, the sauce, the meat, the cheese, the seasonings. It's a beautiful thing.
It's versatile! Sometimes I use more cottage cheese if I don't have a ton of ricotta cheese. Sometimes I use dairy-free cheeses. Sometimes I use zucchini noodles instead of noodles altogether.
I don't have to pre-boil the lasagna noodles. This recipe takes 90 minutes to cook. And about 20-30 minutes to put together. But if I cover it in foil, everything comes together nicely and the lasagna noodles are al dente.
It freezes well! I have gone as far as freezing individual portions when I was a single gal in the city and pulling one out for dinner after a long day at the office.
It's a great "get well," "I love you" or "Thinking of You" meal. Most folks won't be mad if you show up with a 10 pound pan of lasagna :)
