Lasagna

By Febrina Malloy

Mom’s Lasagna is by far the most-loved main dish by the Malloy clan. All other dishes calling themselves “Lasagna” pale in comparison.  It is often the main dish for our holiday gatherings.  Substituting store-bought ingredients is not recommended. However, no-boil noodles have been successfully substituted. For best results, make the sauce, meatballs, and sausage at least a day before you plan to make the lasagna.  They can be made ahead and frozen. Assembled lasagna may be frozen before baking.

View photos of lasagna assembly here.

Ingredients:
2-3 cups Italian Spaghetti Sauce, about ½ recipe (if using no-boil lasagna, add extra sauce.)
1/2 recipe of Italian Meatballs
1/2 lb Italian Sausage, store-bought or homemade
1 lb lasagna noodles
1 lb ricotta cheese
1 beaten egg
1/2 tsp salt
dash pepper
up to 1 TB dried parsley
1/2 lb mozzarella cheese, sliced thinly using the side of a cheese grater
2-3 oz grated Romano cheese (about 3/4 cup)
4 oz can of mushrooms, drained, or sauteed fresh mushrooms

Directions:
1. Make a recipe of Italian Spaghetti Sauce.
2. Mix ½ recipe of Italian Meatballs and form into patties. Cook; cool and slice in half. Set aside.
3. Cook ½ lb whole Italian Sausage. Cool and slice thinly. Sautee lightly in olive oil. Set aside.
4. When ready to assemble the lasagna,  mix up the ricotta, grate the Romano, and slice the Mozzarella cheeses before starting.  Meanwhile, start a pot of water boiling for the lasagna noodles.  Add a little olive oil to the water. Then divide the sauce into 5 equal portions, and the meatballs, sausage, mushrooms and cheeses into 3 equal portions.
5. Put 1/4 of the lasagna noodles into the boiling water.  On a surface close to the pot, place a colander on top of a dish that is large enough to catch the water drained off from the noodles.  Push the noodles down into the water and boil until they are flexible, but still firm or "al dente".  Lift them out of the water into the colander, leaving the water in the pot.  Add the next 1/4 of the noodles and repeat until all the noodles are cooked.  (If using no-boil noodles, skip this step.)
6. In a shallow 13x9 inch pan, spread one portion of the sauce in a layer on the bottom.  Make a length-wise layer of noodles over the sauce, cutting off the excess.  Add a portion each of mozzarella, sausage, meatballs, and mushrooms, spacing them out evenly.  Dot evenly with spoonfuls of one portion of the ricotta mixture, and sprinkle with one portion of the Romano cheese.  Spread sauce evenly over all and repeat for two more layers.  Cover the third layer with remaining noodles and spread sauce over all.
7. Cover with foil. Bake at 350°for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake uncovered 25 minutes longer. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.