We have a cat, Stripes, whose nickname is “Fat Boy.” This lasagna is named for him, because, if like Garfield he ate lasagna, well, he’d be even fatter than he is. Stripes was Tiger Boy’s 11th birthday present along with Lady. Tiger Boy just turned 16 a couple weeks ago, and it was time to make his favorite meal, lasagna. I decided to make it from scratch.
Boil some water.
I started with the tomato sauce. I heated up a Dutch oven over high heat while I chopped up two red onions. I then added olive oil to coat the bottom of the pot and threw the onions in on top, stirring them around to coat them evenly. I added a teaspoon of sugar to the mix to help caramelize the onions and bring out their sweet flavors. Then, I used a bulb (yes, bulb!) of garlic, minced up. I threw that in with the other stuff, added a half teaspoon of red pepper flakes, a couple teaspoons of oregano, a half teaspoon of paprika, and salt and pepper to taste. I threw in 3 pounds of tomatoes quartered, and two diced habanero peppers, and then let all that simmer for an hour. I added 1/4 a cup of fresh basil leaves, chopped and let that simmer for another 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, I browned 1 lb. of ground beef and 1/2 lb. of country (pork) sausage. Once it was browned, I drained the fat, and then added the meat to the sauce.
Mix 2 cups of ricotta with 1 cup or so of parmesan, 2 eggs, and 1 cup of fresh parsley if you have it or 2 tablespoons of dried parsley if you don’t.
Shred up some mozzarella. I wound up running out of the mozzarella, so I shredded some cheddar too. It’s not as heart healthy, but it’s delicious.
Hopefully, at this point, you don’t do what I did. I realized that I’d forgotten to boil the lasagna noodles! You want them al dente.
Preheat your oven to 350.
Pour some sauce, enough to cover the bottom, into your 9″ x 13″ pan. Spread it around. It should be a thin layer to keep the noodles from sticking to the pan. Layer 3 lasagna noodles over that. Add more sauce – 1/3 of what’s left. Add 1/2 the ricotta mixture followed by a handful of mozzarella and cheddar. Add 3 more lasagna noodles, 1/2 of what’s left of the meat sauce, and the remaining ricotta mixture. Add another handful of cheese. Place 3 more lasagna noodles on top of that, cover with the remaining meat sauce and with enough cheese to form a delicious cover.
Put aluminum foil over the top, and bake for 1 hour. Remove the aluminum foil and cook for 15 minutes until cheese is nice and bubbly.
Pour some red table wine of your choice and steam a veggie. I steamed up some broccoli.
Enjoy!
