Comfort Food through Trying Times - Lasagna!

With all the crap going on, I knew one thing that would make me feel better. As the stock market dropped like a rock yesterday and there was nothing but bad news, I cooked my favorite thing in the world... Lasagna! I have to say, it came out great and tasted delicious despite having to make some minor substitutions for ingredients I didn't have.

I used garlic powder instead of garlic cloves and added some thyme because I thought I was out of basil, but found it later and added it also. I also added extra tomato sauce because I didn't have enough tomato paste. I made a double recipe of the sauce itself. I froze some of the extra sauce and kept some in the fridge. It is the best sauce I think and is good with any noodle.

Also... I use 18 noodles instead of the 12 the recipe called for... 6 for each layer, with a total of three layers instead of just two.  I love how the recipe calls for overlapping the noodles on each layer to make it even more noodley. One other difference... I used grated mozzarella cheese instead of cheese slices.

Below is the recipe and a video if you want to give it a go.

World's Best Lasagna

By JOHN CHANDLER

Prep: 30 mins
Cook: 2 hrs 30 mins
Total: 3 hrs 15 mins
Additional: 15 mins
Servings: 12

Ingredients:
1 pound sweet Italian sausage
¾ pound lean ground beef
½ cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
½ cup water
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 ½ teaspoons dried basil leaves
½ teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 ½ teaspoons salt, divided, or to taste
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
12 lasagna noodles
16 ounces ricotta cheese
1 egg
¾ pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Step 1: In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Step 2: Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Step 3: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Step 4: To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.

Step 5: Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.