Four Nights A Week

This lasagne recipe came from a church cookbook published sometime in the 1960s by St. Peter’s Church in my hometown of Huron, Ohio. Once my family discovered how much of a treat lasagne can be, it became our traditional dish to celebrate New Year’s Day for as long as I can remember.

Flash forward to my days as an undergrad at Plymouth State. I don’t remember exactly how I pulled this off, but I often made a pan of lasagne to bring to get togethers with my Music Department peeps. Not sure how I boiled that box of noodles (this was before oven-ready lasagne noodles were a thing), and I am sure I could not simmer sauce on a hotplate.

As happens when you make a recipe frequently, I often just winged it by making it meatless, adding fresh or frozen spinach to the layers, changing up the sauce. Although I followed the St. Peter’s recipe as written for this family version, once the basics are down, a little experimentation can be good.

A rich, satisfying meal for anytime, and easily adaptable or adjustable for different tastes, this is a great dish for bringing to a gathering or, with some proportional adjustments, for a couple of empty-nesters.

Lasagne

From the St. Peters Church (Huron, Ohio)

Ingredients

• 1 lb either Italian sausage meat or ground beef (or a mix)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 T parsley flakes (I used fresh Italian parsley)
• 1 T dry basil
• 1 1/2 tsp (or less) salt
• 2 6-ounce cans tomato paste
• 1 16-ounce can tomatoes (chopped or diced)
• 10 oz. dry lasagne noodles
• 3 cup ricotta
• 2 beaten eggs
• 2 (or less) tsp salt
• Pepper
• 2 T parsley flakes (again, I used fresh Italian parsley)
• 1/2 c freshly grated parmesan cheese (not that canned, tasteless stuff)
• 1 lb. Mozarella cheese (original recipe also said white American cheese okay. Please don’t!)

Method

1. Brown the meat and then spoon off the fat.
2. Add the next 6 ingredients. Simmer uncovered 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. (I needed to add some liquid, so a bit of red wine works for that)
3. Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and rinse.
4. Combine ricotta cheese with eggs, seasonings, and Parmesan.
5. Assemble by putting half the noodles in the bottom of a 9x13x2 pan. Spread with half the ricotta mixture, add half the mozarella and then spread half of the sauce on top.
6. Repeat the layers from Step 5.
7. Bake for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
8. Let stand about 15 minutes before serving. Makes about 12 servings.