Lasagna al Georgeo

If you follow my personal social media, you know that I love to make Lasagna for family and friends. So many of us think that Lasagna is one of the meals that is so difficult to make that many shy away and buy frozen. While I do enjoy me some Stouffer's Lasagna from time to time, often times frozen is filled with so much sodium and preservatives, you might as well just take a salt lick and add tomato sauce. Yes, it isn't something you just whip up in mere minutes, you can prepare it the day before and refrigerate it and heat it up when you get home. This recipe is so delicious, that those who eat it will beg you to make it again and again and again.

Let's cook!

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The Tools

• Cutting Board

• 9X13 baking dish (the deeper the better)

• Knife

• Bowls

• Stock Pot (for Pasta)

• Large Sauce Pan

• Flat Wooden Spoon

• Large Slotted Spoon

• Spatula

• Ladle

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Ingredients

• 1 Package Lasagna Noodles

• 1lb Ground Beef (80/20 preferred- a little fat adds flavor)

• 1lb Bulk Sweet Italian Sausage (Hot Sausage if You'd Like A Little Heat)

• 16oz Sliced Baby Bella Mushrooms (2- 8oz packages)

• 5oz Container Fresh Spinach

• 1 stick unsalted butter

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil

• 1 Sweet Onion

• 4 Cloves Garlic

• 1 Large Can Diced Tomatoes (Drained)

• 1 Large Can Tomato Sauce (28oz)

• 4 Cups Ricotta Cheese

• 4 Cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

• 2 Cups Shredded Parmesan Cheese

• 1/2 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese (Shaky Cheese as some call it!)

• 2 Eggs (Beaten)

• Kosher Salt

• Pepper

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Let's Cook

The Noodles

1. Cook 12 Lasagna Noodles according to the package in salted water. Try to cook them a little on the al dente side (about 10 minutes). Once cooked, drain noodles and lay out on parchment paper or onto a baking pan to cool.

The Filling

1. Preheat Oven to 375 degrees.

2. Chop onion and place into bowl.

3. Mince 4 cloves of garlic and place in separate bowl.

4. Coat bottom of sauce pan with extra virgin olive oil, and add sausage, stirring and breaking down sausage into smaller pieces. Add ground beef to pan and mix the two meats together. Cook through. Once cooked, scoop meat mixture into large mixing bowl with slotted spoon and set aside. Drain pan of oil and return to stove.

5. Heat 1/2 stick of butter to pan over high heat and melt. Once melted, add mushrooms and stir, coating with butter. Sprinkle mushrooms with salt and pepper. Once mushrooms have cooked, add to bowl with meat mixture and combine.

6. In the same pan, add drained can of tomatoes over high heat and sweat liquid out of the tomatoes. Sprinkle with a pinch or two of salt and stir (salt helps draw the moisture out and adds flavor)

7. Add onions to tomatoes and mix together. Cook until onions have become soft and translucent.

8. Add garlic and mix together.

9. To the tomatoes, onion and garlic mixture, take one handful of spinach and sauté. Once the first batch of spinach has wilted down, continue to add more spinach until all spinach has cooked down and mixed together. (You may need to add a little water to create steam to help in the wilting process- an ice cube will add just enough liquid to steam the spinach, and evaporate out-you do not want a soupy mixture)

10. Add vegetable to meat mixture and combine. This is now your filling for the lasagna!

The Cheese

1. In a bowl, combine 4 cups of ricotta cheese, two eggs (beaten), and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan (shaky) cheese. Stir together and set aside.

2. In a separate bowl, combine you shredded mozzarella and shredded Parmesan cheese together.

Time to Assemble

1. Coat the entire bottom of the baking dish with a thin layer of tomato sauce.

2. Place three lasagna noodles length wise on top of the tomato sauce, making sure to overlay each noodle with the next until the bottom pasta layer is laid down.

3. Scoop out a layer of filling (about 1/2 of the bowl)

4. Once filling layer is down, add a layer of cheese mixture to the filling. Place several dollops around the meat and smooth out with a spatula (as if you were frosting a cake). Cover entire mixture with a layer of cheese.

5. On top of the cheese, add a layer of sauce, spreading across similar to the cheese layer.

6. Sprinkle shredded cheese mixture across the sauce layer until covered.

7. Repeat steps 2-6 as another full layer of lasagna.

8. Once the "second layer" is assembled, place three final noodles across the top. Spread tomato sauce over the noodles and sprinkle with shredded cheese.

9. Place entire baking dish on an ungreased cookie sheet and place in the oven. Bake for 40 minutes.

10. Once baked, turn broiler onto high and bake for 3-5 minutes until the top layer of cheese is browned (keep an eye on this step as it can quickly burn!)

11. Remove lasagna from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before cutting. Should yield 9 pieces of lasagna.

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Suggested Sides

• Garden Salad

• Italian Bread

• Garlic Bread