Lasagna

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Lasagna

Lasagna for Sunday dinner was a traditional Italian meal for our family for many years.   As people became more health conscience, it was made for a holiday or special occasion. My father was a cinematographer for the movie industry.  He was working on a film in Chicago with Marcello Mastroianni and the film crew from Italy.  After being in Chicago for several months, they were missing an Italian home cooked meal, so my Mother invited the whole crew over to the house.  She made several large pans of lasagna served with a side salad, meatballs and Italian sausage.  They loved it!

For this Lasagna recipe you will need to make the sauce and meatballs first.  You can use jarred sauce or see our family recipe for Spaghetti Sauce (Old World Style).  The meatball recipe is included with our spaghetti sauce recipe.  I usually make the sauce and meatballs the day before and then cook the noodles and assemble the lasagna on the day I am planning on serving it.

For this recipe, you will need:

Spaghetti sauce
Lasagna noodles
Ricotta Cheese
Egg
Dried, crushed parsley
Meatballs
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Grated Pecorino-Romano cheese

In a large pot, par-boil the lasagna noodles.  I get my groceries delivered and they substituted and brought me Oven-Ready lasagna noodles instead of the type you need to par-boil.  Truthfully, I never use these but the day I made this, it was -12 degrees Fahrenheit outside.  I wasn’t going out and I didn’t want anyone to deliver anything else until the weather goes back up.  So I used what I had.  Please note, I only made one layer because I wasn’t sure if I would like them.  My preference is the noodles you par-boil, so I’m happy I only made one layer.  Normally, we make two layers.

In a medium size bowl, mix the drained ricotta cheese with one egg and dried crushed parsley.

In a large baking dish, spread some spaghetti sauce on the bottom of the pan.  Layer the par-boiled (or oven-ready) lasagna noodles over the sauce.

Spread the ricotta mixture over the noodles.  Slice up some meatballs and layer on top of the ricotta cheese.  Disperse shredded mozzarella cheese over the meatballs.  Add more sauce and repeat (noodles, ricotta mixture, sliced meatballs and shredded mozzarella cheese). The final top layer is noodles, sauce and a sprinkling of both Pecorino-Romano cheese and shredded mozzarella cheese.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake on 350 degrees Farhenheit for 40-60 minutes.  Let rest for 10-15 minutes before serving.  Serve with additional sauce, meatballs and sausage.  A side salad and garlic bread may also be served.

If you like our Lasagna recipe, please comment below.  If you made it, post your wonderful images on Instagram and tag me. Don’t forget to go back to the The Finished Dish’s Home Page, scroll down on the right side and subscribe.  You will be emailed each time I post a new recipe.

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