Aunt Marys Lasagna Recipes

MARY'S LASAGNA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the noodles. Put a bowl of ice water near the stove, and set out a few towels next to the bowl to drain the pasta.
• Generously grease a 10 by 14-inch baking pan using 1 to 2 tablespoons of the butter. Set aside.
• In a small bowl, mix the ricotta, egg, and parsley together. Rip up the basil leaves and fold them into the ricotta mixture. Season with salt and set aside.
• With a slotted spoon, transfer the pieces of pork, sausage, and meatballs from the Sunday Gravy to a separate bowl. They will be coated with some of the tomato gravy. That's okay. Set the remaining gravy and bowl of meats aside.
• Generously salt the boiling water and cook the lasagne sheets, a few at a time, at a rolling boil for 1 minute. The noodles will be very firm; they will cook further in the oven. Transfer the pasta to the ice water with a long-handled flat skimmer or strainer. As soon as they are cool to the touch- less than a minute- lift them out, shaking off excess water, and lay the noodles out on towels to drain. Repeat the process until all the pasta is cooked.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Cover the bottom of the baking pan with a layer of lasagne sheets, allowing the pasta to hang over all sides of the pan. Top with another layer of lasagne sheets cut to fit the bottom of the pan without an overhang.
• Cover the pasta with 1/2 of the reserved meats. Spoon over enough gravy to moisten well, about 1 cup. Sprinkle with a rounded 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano. Cover with another layer of pasta cut to fit without an overhang. Top with 1 cup gravy. Dollop 1/2 of the ricotta mixture over the gravy and top with half of the mozzarella and a rounded 1/4 cup of Pecorino Romano. Repeat the pasta and meat layer and the pasta and ricotta mixture layer.
• Cover with a final layer of pasta (you may not have used all the lasagne sheets) cut to fit the inside of the pan without an overhang. Top with the remaining gravy and Pecorino Romano. Bring up the overhang of pasta and fold over the top of the lasagne to enclose the filling. Dot with remaining butter and loosely cover with foil.
• Bake the lasagne for 25 minutes, uncover, and continue to bake until very lightly browned and bubbling hot, an additional 10 to 15 minutes. To keep the top noodles soft without browning, bake the lasagne covered with foil for 35 minutes and uncovered for the last 5 to 10 minutes in the oven. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.
• Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed stockpot. Add the pork chops and sausages and brown on all sides. Transfer the pork chops and sausages to a plate to make room for the onions. Toss the onions into the pot with the garlic, fennel, and salt. Saute over moderate heat, stirring frequently and scraping up any bits left behind by the pork and sausages, until the onions are soft and golden.
• Put the pork chops and sausages back in the pot with any juices on the plate. Add the tomatoes, water, and tomato paste. Drop in a few cheese rinds or ends if you have any. They are completely optional but give a nice flavor to the sauce. Cover the pot, bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Gently drop in the meatballs, 1 at a time, shaking the pot a bit to encourage the meatballs to nestle in with the pork and sausage and to make room for the addition of more meatballs. After all the meatballs have been added, continue to simmer, covered, for an hour longer or until the pork chops are very tender.
• To finish the gravy, transfer the pork chops to a cutting board. Remove and discard the bones, chop up the meat, and return it to the sauce. Keep warm over low heat.
• Homemade, fresh pasta is glorious and well worth the effort. Nothing compares to the silky, light, slippery noodles you can produce in your own kitchen. This is a quick recipe. The dough is mixed in a food processor and a pasta machine kneads and rolls the dough. George's whips this up easily, in 5 minutes tops.
• There are minor variations depending on the weather and the moisture in your flour (you may have to knead in an extra tablespoon or 2 of flour) but if you follow these proportions you will have excellent pasta.
• The organic eggs we buy at the farmers' market vary in size. The most reliable way to get an accurate measurement is with a portion scale. The measuring cup method will work, too (crack eggs into a small mixing bowl, whisk to combine, pour the required amount into a liquid measuring cup, and discard or save any excess for another use). In making pasta, skill is developed through repetition. Each batch will be easier than the last and with a little experience exact measurements will be less important.
• Don't fret if the final dimensions of the pasta are different from those specified in the recipe. The strips coming through the rollers of the pasta machine may be longer and/or not as wide. The ends may also narrow rather than being perfectly square. For instance, the edge going through the rollers first will be u-shaped (they can be cut later to square the noodle, if you like). Practice does make a difference in developing a feel for the process. Try to roll the dough as wide as possible--a little less than the width of the rollers, but don't be discouraged if that doesn't happen the first time. Adjust the cutting of the pasta to the strips you have--less wide sheets of lasagna noodles, for instance.
• Put the flour in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. With the motor running pour the eggs through the feed tube. Stop the machine as soon as the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Run the motor again pouring the hot water through the feed tube. Pulse on and off for 10 seconds; stop the motor. The dough should stick together when pressed between your fingertips. If not add another 1/2 to 1 teaspoon hot water and run the motor again. Turn out onto a cool, smooth surface--marble is ideal. Knead for 1 to 2 minutes until the dough is smooth and pliable. If it is sticky, knead in 1 to 2 tablespoons flour. Shape into a ball and cover the dough completely with plastic wrap and allow to rest at room temperature for a minimum of 20 minutes or up to 2 hours in the refrigerator. If the dough is refrigerated, remove it from the refrigerator about 20 minutes before proceeding with the recipe.
• Set up the pasta machine with the rollers at their widest opening.
• Divide the dough in 1/2. If the dough is sticky, dust it with flour. Flatten the dough half with the heel of your hand, and feed it through the rollers of pasta machine. Fold the dough in half lengthwise and feed it through the rollers again. Repeat 20 to 30 times occasionally folding widthwise to fit between the guides. This kneads and smoothes the dough further, creating silky and supple pasta.
• Now you can roll the pasta into thin sheets by feeding it through each successive setting of the pasta machine until you have passed it through the second thinnest opening (dust with just enough flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking). This process is done without folding. If the sheet of pasta becomes cumbersomely long cut it crosswise into 2 pieces to make it more manageable. Repeat with the second half of the dough. Lay the dough out on a barely floured counter or clean, dry kitchen towels. Each half of dough will yield 2 strips of pasta roughly measuring 3 feet by 4 inches.
• Try to make lasagna noodles as wide as your pasta machine allows (4 to 5-inches); cut the lengths the most appropriate size for the pan you plan to use--anywhere from 8 to 12-inches long (longer if you like, or shorter if smaller noodles are easier for you to handle. Lasagna noodles can be cut and patched together in assembly). Keep in mind the pasta will grow, or expand, when it boils, increasing its dimensions.
• After you have cut the noodles, you can cook them right away or lay them out in a single layer without touching on a lightly floured surface or on clean, dry kitchen towels until ready to cook (flour dusted or towel lined baking trays work well if you don't have counter) If you are not using the pasta the same day, allow it to dry completely, then transfer to long, shallow containers with lids. You can keep it in a cool, dry place for 1 week.

AUNT MAY'S LASAGNA

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer; drain. Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, oregano, pepper and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 40-50 minutes or until thickened., Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°. cook noodles according to package directions; drain. Discard bay leaf from meat sauce. Stir in olives., Spread a fourth of the sauce in a greased 13x9-in. baking dish. Top with three noodles and a third of the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers. Top with remaining noodles, sauce and cheese. , Bake, uncovered, 35-40 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting.

AUNT PINKIE'S BREAKFAST LASAGNA

Steps:

• 1. Pre-Heat oven to 400 degrees.
• 2. You can use your favorite sausage gravy recipe if you have one just reduce the milk or cream to compensate for the juice from the tomatoes.
• 3. Make sauce: Brown the sausage and remove from pan. In the same pan, cook the onions in the sausage drippings to lightly brown (if you use a lean sausage like i do add a couple tablespoons oil or butter). Add in the butter and flour and stir well, cooking for about 3 minutes to take out the raw flour taste. Whisk in the milk and diced tomatoes with juice. Bring to a simmer. and add the sausage back in. If sauce seems to thick add in more milk if to thin add in flour in small amounts letting it thicken up each time you add a teaspoon of flour until it is at a gravy thickness. reduce to lowest heat and cover to avoid gravy skim as we call it :)
• 4. In a bowl, crack and whisk together eggs lightly salt and pepper if you want to (I add a couple tablespoons water to make sure they do not set to fast but this totally up to you ). Get a non stick frying pan ready with a little oil to cook the eggs. Scramble eggs until just starting to set and remove from heat to where you will be building the dish.
• 5. Remove sauce (gravy) to work area and let's get ready to layer :)
• 6. put about 1/2 cup gravy into bottom of 9x13 inch pan (or whatever is your favorite lasagna pan) add layer of oven ready lasagna noodles, layer of semi-cooked eggs, sprinkle of green onions, sprinkle of red peppers, 1/3 of Ricotta cheese just dolloped in random spots, 1/3 of cheddar and 1/3 of Mozzarella, now pour a ladle of sauce (gravy) over this and and repeat until you have 3 layers. Cover top layer of noodles with as much gravy as you can fit on it and top with remaining cheese. Spray a piece of tinfoil large enough to cover dish with cooking spray or brush with oil or butter to keep from sticking to cheese and cover tightly
• 7. Bake in pre-heated 400 degree oven for 30 mins. Remove foil and bake another 15 mins or until brown and bubbly. If you like a browner cheese just cook under broiler for a few mins watching closely to avoid burning. Let cool for 15 mins or longer to set.
• 8. I serve this for breakfast and dinner both and I serve it with a cornmeal biscuit (recipe posted)
• 9. This recipe is freezer safe for 2 weeks just make it ahead (uncooked), thaw it out and cook it the same as above directions. And pre-cooked freezer safe also, just defrost in microwave until heated through. (I have found to reheat from frozen state it is best to use defrost mode. I just defrost for a couple of minutes at a time.)

AUNT ANGIE'S LASAGNA RECIPE

Steps:

• For the Meatball Mix: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients. Roll meatballs into desired size and bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. For the lasagna, instead of rolling into desired size, spread mix out evenly on a sheet pan and bake. Break up the meat for lasagna.
• For the Meat Sauce: In a stock pot (or large cooking vessel) brown the ground beef. Add the celery/carrot/onion mix and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and the seasonings. Let simmer for 2 hours.
• For Aunt Angie's Lasagna: Using a 1/2 hotel pan or medium to large baking dish, coat the bottom with a thin layer of meat sauce. Lay out 4 pieces of lasagna so they go up the side of the pan with an additional 3 to 4 inches hanging over the edge. Do the same in the other direction of the pan using pieces of pasta. Add another layer of meat sauce, followed by 1/2 of the meatball mix. Then top the meat with 1 pound of the ricotta cheese, 1 pound of mozzarella, and 1/4 cup of Romano. Add a layer of pasta and repeat to have 2 layers. Fold over the remaining pasta to cover the top. Top with meat sauce and place in preheated oven and bake until proper serving temperature is reached or top is golden brown.

AUNT JUDI'S LASAGNA

Steps:

• Meat Sauce:.
• Brown and drain meat.
• Add all other meat sauce ingredients to pan with meat and simmer, uncovered until thick - about 45 minutes to an hour.
• Cook noodles. Drain and rinse.
• Cheese mixture:.
• Mix together all cheese mixture ingredients in large bowl.
• Note: If using 9x13 pan, makes 2 layers. If using 8x8 pan, makes 3 layers with left over ingredients. We like a thicker lasagna so I go for the smaller pan and then use left over noodles to make little "lasagna rolls.".
• Spread small amount of sauce in bottom of pan to help with sticking.
• Make first layer of noodles. Spread 1/2 (or 1/3) of cheese mixture over noodles. Top with just shy of 1/2 (or 1/3) of meat sauce spread over cheese. Then just shy of 1/2 (or 1/3) of mozzerella over meat.
• Repeat layers until you run out of cheese mixture or you reach the top of the pan.
• Layer one final layer of noodles, light layer of sauce and remaining mozzerella cheese.
• Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes.
• Can be frozen before or after baking.

WORLD'S BEST LASAGNA

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
• Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

AUNT MARY'S LASAGNA

Steps:

• In a large skillet brown ground beef, season to taste with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
• Add pasta sauce.
• In a large bowl soften cream cheese and mix with sour cream, cottage cheese, onion and bell pepper.
• Boil lasagna noodles according to package direction.
• Butter 13 X 9 baking dish.
• Layer noodles, cream cheese mixture, then pasta sauce mixture.
• Layer parmesan cheese then mozzarella cheese.
• Repeat layers ending with parmesan and mozzarella cheese.
• Bake 350 for 30-45 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.