Homemade Lasagna!

Hello hello hello! Now, I know I said I was going to make pollo ala crema BUT the weather was bad today so I was unable to get groceries so I had to use what I have on hand. Which was the makings of lasagna. My lasagna was water this time because of the sauce being really thin, if you just use the crushed like I said, it should be fine but I mean really? Runny lasagna will never prevent me from enjoying it! :)

A note about the noodles and sauce. I did not have crushed tomatoes on hand so I used diced and stewed whole tomatoes so I pureed the tomatoes in a food processor, that’s why it looks thinner.  And the noodles, of course you DO NOT have to make your own noodles (or even sauce) you can use regular grocery store dried noodles and canned sauce, do whatever you feel comfortable doing. If you DO use dried noodles, the cooking time needs to be extended. :)

In my family, if there isn’t enough meat in a dish, there will be words exchanged!  We live in Iowa and we have a beef cattle farm, so we have (luckily) an abundance of beef and meat, you can increase or decrease the amounts how you like.

I only made 4 sheets of pasta for 2 layers, figure 2 sheets of pasta for one layer, so, if you want more layers, cut the dough into 6ths or 8ths.

Hope you like it!

Ingredients:

a.       Sauce-

                                                              i.      2 1/2c crushed tomatoes

                                                            ii.      1t garlic salt

                                                          iii.      1t basil

                                                          iv.      1t oregano

                                                            v.      1 1/3c beef broth

                                                          vi.      1 jalapeno (seeded and deveined)

                                                        vii.      1T sugar

                                                      viii.      1t kosher salt

                                                          ix.      1t pepper

b.      Noodles-

                                                              i.      2c flour (I did this with 1c ap flour and 1c whole wheat flour)

                                                            ii.      1 egg

                                                          iii.      1c water (give or take)

c.       Filling-

                                                              i.      1# ground beef

                                                            ii.      1# pork sausage

                                                          iii.      Cottage cheese

                                                          iv.      Salt

                                                            v.      Pepper

                                                          vi.      2c mozzarella cheese

                                                        vii.      2c Colby jack cheese

                                                      viii.      Garlic powder

Directions:

1.      Cook pork, beef, onion, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

2.      Drain grease.

3. Add flour, egg, and water (add slowly) to make dough in a mixer/food processor/by hand.

4.      Add tomatoes, beef broth, salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano, basil, and sugar to another pan, cook until heated through and well combined.

Making the noodles:

1.      Cut into 4ths. Roll out into see thru sheets.

2.      Set aside on thin towel with some flour on them, cover with another towel.

Assembly:

1.      Grease 9x13 pan.

2.      Cover bottom with 1/3 of sauce and 1/3 meat mix.

3.      Then noodles (2 sheets, it’s ok if they overlap)

4.      Then sauce, meat, and 3 cheeses.

5.      And repeat until used up all ingredients.

6.      Cook in oven at 350F for 40 min. (cover with foil).

7.      Uncover and cook for an additional 10 min to finish melting cheese.

8.      When the noodles are cooked through, turn on your broiler to low and brown the cheese (if not already) KEEP YOUR EYE ON IT, IT WILL BURN QUICKLY!!!

9.      Let rest for 10-15 min (this is so all the sauce won’t run)

Serve with salad and garlic cheese bread.

The lasagna came out runnier/soup like this time for me. But that is only because of the thin sauce, so if you stick to the crushed tomatoes, you should be fine. And the noodles were just a little doughy/raw still, so I will end up cooking mine more tomorrow for supper, but that didn't stop me from eating it because it was still yummy!