Lasagna Recipe

I went up to Lake Tahoe this past weekend for a little last minute getaway with B and his brother. While, they were out snowboarding I was in the hotel getting some work done (I'm a terrible snowboarder and I get too frustrated, so I've given up long ago), and making lasagna for dinner! It was a little weird that there was no snow at the hotel ground level, the guys said the snow on the mountain was pretty good. They went to Heavenly, but last time we went to Squaw and they had much more snow at the hotel, but less on the mountain! I think next time the plan is Kirkwood, they always seem to have tons of snow, even with the drought, and low snow levels.

Luckily our hotel had a kitchenette and I brought all the necessary ingredients. Other than forgetting to bring the egg, and the pan with the sauce filled to the top while it was cooking, I didn't have any big problems cooking it in our suite. I brought a cooler with our ingredients, and an aluminum pan for the lasagna. I cooked and put it all together before the guys came back, and just popped it in the oven once we were ready for dinner. You can serve it with a Casesar salad or garlic bread, or beer like we did!

Excuse the messy lasagna, everyone else's slice came out beautifully, and mine was being really difficult!

Here's the recipe adapted from The Pioneer Woman, I cut the recipe in half, and we still had leftovers for 3 people, so I'll list the halved recipe here: (Serves 6)

Ingredients:
3/4 pound Ground Beef
1/2 pound Hot Breakfast Sausage
1 cloves Garlic, Minced
1 cans (14.5 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes
1 cans (6 Ounce) Tomato Paste
1 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
1 Tablespoons Dried Basil
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 cups Ricotta Cheese
1 whole Beaten Eggs
1/4 cup Grated (not Shredded) Parmesan Cheese
1 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 pound Sliced Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 package Lasagna Noodles

Directions:
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet or saucepan, combine ground beef, sausage, and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat until browned. Drain 3/4 of the fat. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, 1 tablespoons parsley, basil and salt. After adding the tomatoes, the sauce mixture should simmer for 45 minutes while you are working on the other steps.

3. In a medium bowl, mix ricotta cheese, beaten egg, grated Parmesan, 1 more tablespoons parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir together well. Set aside. Cook lasagna until “al dente” (not overly cooked). Drain pasta, then fill pot with cold water, enough to keep noodles submerged.

4. To assemble:
Arrange 4 cooked lasagna noodles in the bottom of a baking pan, overlapping if necessary. Spoon half the ricotta cheese mixture over the noodles. Spread evenly. Cover ricotta cheese with a layer of mozzarella cheese. Spoon a little less than half the meat/sauce mixture over the top.

5. Repeat, ending with meat/sauce mixture. Sprinkle top generously with extra Parmesan.

6. Either freeze, refrigerate for up to two days, or bake immediately: 350-degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes, then finish under the broiler to make the cheese bubbly. No more than 5 minutes and be sure to watch it or it could burn, move the pan around if necessary to get even browning. Cut into squares and serve!