Old JB here has been making Lasagna for over 40 years and
was first introduced to Lasagna by my mother-in-law who could really bake up a
delicious dish. Over the years I thought I had tried just about every trick in
the book, many variations and all usually really good. The only thing I have
not done is to make the noodles homemade, that still is in my future.
So, I had a dinner invite from the most beautiful lady I
will call Ms. Marie. She said she was making Lasagna, and so I was very curious
as to her recipe.
Once she started talking about how she makes it I was scratching my head pretty good. Did not really make sense to me, cilantro in Lasagna? Cream cheese in Lasagna? Peppers? And the list goes on.
I will say that it turned out to be probably the best
version of Lasagna I have ever had and the ingredients are not the usual.
Here I will post a pic of what you will need. Not including
measurements, I would just do equal parts of each, add more of what you like.
(not heavy on the carraway, thyme, basil and rosemary)
The Meat Sauce
The sauce is a meat sauce with 3 cans San Marzano tomatoes,
two cans petite diced tomatoes slow cooked for 8 to 10 hours slow simmer. Add
basil, oregano, salt pepper. The meat is a mix of 96% lean burger and Italian sausage.
Cook the meat with one chopped white onion first then add to the slow cooker.
Chop and dice 3 peppers, 1 yellow, 1 red, and 1 orange, add
with the meat sauce.
The cheese mixture is as follows.
Equal parts cream cheese, sour cream, and ricotta. Put in
bowl add a little parsley, cilantro, oregano, and a little garlic juice. Mix,
then put in a zip lock bag. Chill, when ready cut the bag at the bottom and
squeeze in the lasagna tray while layering,
You will also need 2 bags of motz and parm.
For layering start with a light sauce on the bottom
Then noodles, then motz and parm, then layer of cheese
sauce, noodles, then repeat.
Cook for 25 min at 425 covered. When it comes out top with
motz and parm, re cover with foil. Let stand on top of oven for 10-15 minutes.
Some variations according to Ms. Marie is to add mushrooms
and black olives put in sauce. A good idea is to Sautee the mushrooms first.
Also you can change up the cheese from bagged to fresh or
homemade, Just make sure the motz is whole milk.
You can also make this vegitarian by simply leaving out the burger and sasuage.
Try this recipe, it is awesome!
JB
