DIVITO FAMILY LASAGNA

Every year right around Thanksgiving time I start to crave my Grandma's lasagna.  Every Thanksgiving my Grandma used to make her lasagna as a first course to our Thanksgiving meal.  Yes, that is right....we each ate a huge piece of lasagna before we moved on to the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy and pumpkin pie!   What can we say...we are Italian!  Since my Grandmas passing my family has kept the tradition alive.  This year we will be celebrating Thanksgiving with my husbands family so I know I will be missing out on my large hunk of lasagna.  It was for this reason that I made a huge batch of lasagna a few weeks ago.  To make it a bit easier on me I always  make a huge batch of marinara sauce and freeze it in smaller batches.  When I make the lasagna I take a batch of my marinara sauce out and just add a  1/2  pound of ground meat to the sauce....tadah....I then I have my lasagna sauce.  This lasagna is great!  It has been a family tradition for years and will be for years to come!


DIVITO FAMILY LASAGNA 

• 1 - 1 1/2 lb. lasagna noodles
• 2-3 pounds ricotta cheese
• 1 egg per pound of ricotta cheese
• 1 lb. ground meat (1/2 for sauce and 1/2 for lasagna filling)
• 1/2 cup chopped italian parsley
• 2 cups fresh grated parmesan cheese (1/2 cup for lasagna filling and 1 1/2 cups between lasagna layers.
• 16 oz. mozerella cheese - shredded
• salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste
• 1 batch meat sauce (see recipe for marinara sauce below) 

** If you want more layers to your laagna use the higher amounts in the recipe.

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add lasagna noodles one at a time.  Stir.  Cook noodles about 8 minutes or so until cooked al'dente.  Drain noodles and pat dry with a paper towel.  Line a baking sheet with waxed paper.  Place lasagna nooodles on wax paper in one single layer.  Place a sheet of waxed paper between each layer of lasagna noodles so they do not stick together.  Set noodles aside.

2. Heat large skillet over medium high heat.  Add 1 lb. pound of ground meat to skillet and brown the meat.  Add 1/2  the meat to the pre-made marinara sauce in a large pot on the stove.  Simmer for at least 1/2 hour. Add the other 1/2 of the ground meat tot he lasagna fillling.
3. Make the lasagna filling:  mix the ricotta,  1/2 cup parmesan cheese, 1/2 pound browned ground meat, parsley, eggs, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper.  Mix well.

4. Layer the lasagna:  Take a large baking dish or lasagna pan and place a large ladle of the meat sauce over bottom of  pan.  Add a layer of the lasagna noodles, followed by ricotta cheese mixture, mozerella cheese,  another ladle of sauce, sprinking of grated parmesan.  Continue this process layer by layer ending with a layer of noodles.  Ladle some sauce over the last layer of noodles and sprinkle with some grated parmesan cheese.  At this point you could either cover with aluminum foil and place in fridge until ready to cook or you could cook the lasagna right away.
5. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Place lasagna in oven uncovered into oven and cook at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or  until heated through and bubbling.