The ship was scheduled to sail from New York Harbour, past the Statue of Liberty, on October 24, 2006. As she made her preparations to go on this trip, she imagined all sorts of romantic things. And she laughed to her friends, "I'm going to have a ship-board romance!" Knowing full well that she was much too shy to actually have one. But it was fun to dream.
The "girl" and her travel companion, her adventure loving mother, left for New York City early that fall morning. They boarded the QM2 with starry eyes and full of excitement. That very night at a cocktail party for her and the other travel agents on board, she met her shipboard romance! When she and her mother walked into the lounge, her mother's whispered "Look at that cute Chinese guy over there," sealed her fate.
Six days later, after disembarking in Southampton England, she was totally smitten and looking forward to meeting up with him again in London. After having dinner with him, her mother, and her sister in London, they all headed home. The "girl" and her family to Houston. He back to Vancouver. And the long-distance romance began in earnest.
He made arrangements to visit Houston almost as soon as he arrived home. And on his first trip down...she cooked him lasagna!
My husband swears, to this day, that my lasagna is the reason he proposed. Or maybe it was my apple pie...but most likely...it was the lasagna!
My Mammaw always made her lasagna from scratch. And while it's not the fastest meal to cook, it's not anywhere near as complicated as most people think. And it can actually be made a day or two ahead if that would be simpler.
I recently had a house full of unexpected company coming for dinner. I had about 2 1/2 hours before they'd arrive and I needed to feed about 15 people. Amazingly enough, I had most of the ingredients required to make my lasagna. I jumped in the car and ran to HEB to grab a little more cheese...and I started to work.
The recipe is very simple. And it's very similar to my spaghetti sauce, which I'll share at a later time. For this many people, I used 2 pounds of ground beef. 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 3 tablespoons of dried Italian seasonings, one whole sweet yellow onion, 3 tablespoons of minced garlic, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper, 2 - 14.5 ounce cans of diced tomatoes with Italian seasonings, 2 - 6 ounce cans of tomato paste with basil/garlic/and oregano, 54 ounces of tomato sauce, 18 lasagna noodles (yes...I actually count them out!), 2 - 8 ounce packages of shredded Italian Five Cheese from Kraft, 24 ounces of shredded mozzerella, approximately 32 ounces of cottage cheese, and one egg.
To start (and be prepared...your kitchen will begin to smell like an Italian restaurant very quickly!) pour the 3 tablespoons of olive oil into your pot and turn the heat on low. Then add in the 3 tablespoons of dried Italian seasonings. You can use fresh if you'd prefer. But I don't typically have the time or energy to keep up with fresh herbs. And while feeling a little guilty over it, I watched an episode of The Barefoot Contessa. She had a professional chef on. He said the key to using dried herbs is making sure to fully re-hydrate them. Thank you Ina and friend! You just made my life so much easier, and completely eliminated my guilt!
So now I use this technique every time. I add the dried herbs to the olive oil before I even begin to sautee the onions. Which is the very next step. I find that the time it takes me to chop the onion is all the extra time the herbs need to soak up the oil. So now I add the onions to the pot and let them cook until translucent. The last thing I do, just before adding the meat to the pot, is add the 3 tablespoons of minced garlic. You can use fresh garlic, but in the interest of expediency, I use jar. I honestly can't tell the difference in a dish like this.
After I put the ground beef into the pot(adding 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper), I turn the heat up to high and pour in the two cans of diced tomatoes. I use the kind already seasoned, it just can't hurt to have more seasoning! Cook this until the meat is good and brown and make sure you get the consistency very fine. For me...I don't like to have big chunks in my sauce!
As soon as the meat is browned we're going to make the rest of the sauce. Turn the heat down to low again and add the two cans of tomato paste (also pre-seasoned...I love my Italian seasonings!) And stir it in. Then pour in the 54 ounces of tomato sauce. If these happen to include some additional seasoning...go for it!
54 ounces seems like alot. I know. But when you're making a layered dish like this, you need to have plenty of sauce.
Leave your sauce simmering, you can cover it if you'd like, until you have everything else ready to assemble.
You should at some point in the process above (I'm not going to tell you when...You're a big girl...work that time management) start a pot of water to boil (with a 1/2 teaspoon of salt) and add the lasagna noodles. I use Dreamfield brand, because they're low-carb...and I feed alot of diabetics. For this recipe you'll need about 18 noodles, but to be safe you might cook 20. This way...if the others break...you've got a couple of spare.
In a bowl pour your 32 ounces of cottage cheese, straining out as much of the extra liquid as possible. On occassion, I use ricotta cheese instead. But I far prefer the flavor of the cottage cheese. Crack one egg into the bowl, and stir vigorously to lightly beat the egg. The egg is nothing more than a binding agent. It'll help make this layer stay together.
Once everything is cooked, the sauce and the noodles, turn your oven on to 350 degrees. I used 2 - 9 by 13 baking pans. Not too deep.
Now lets assemble the masterpiece!
Using a ladel, pour a very thin layer of sauce on the bottom of the pan. Then place three of your cooked noodles length-wise on top of the sauce. Now, ladel another layer of sauce on top of these noodles. Then put a layer of the cottage cheese/egg mixture on that layer of sauce. At this point, you can either go with your next layer of noodles, OR sprinkle some of the mozzerella cheese. I'm a cheese lover...so I usually put the cheese next!
Now you'll put three more noodles, length-wise, on top of the cheese and ladel out more sauce. Don't make the sauce layers too thick, or you'll run out...but don't be too stingy either. You want a nice full lasagna.
Your next layer is just mozzerella. Then you'll put three more noodles on top of this layer. You're almost done! Pour out one last layer of sauce then use an entire 8 ounce package of Kraft Italian Five Cheese shredded mix. I love the combination of all of these cheeses, and it makes an excellent topper to our amazing lasagna!
Now repeat this entire process for your second baking pan. Didn't need those extra two noodles? Good! Take them and dip them in any left-over sauce...and enjoy! It's what I do!
If you'll be eating your lasagna today, go ahead an pop them in the oven for approximately 1 hour, or until the cheese on top starts to turn golden. If you're preparing ahead, cover them with foil and put them in the fridge. I don't recommend preparing them more than a day or two ahead.
Once your lasagna has baked, I suggest that you let them set for about 20 to 30 minutes (longer if you can). They will actually serve better and be more firm if they aren't piping hot from the oven.
Remember, if your noodles tear while you're putting them in the pan...no worries. You'll be cutting into them anyway. So just piece them together as best you can and move on.
For a smaller gathering, or just your family, cut this exactly in half. I promise...it'll still be perfect!
If your mouth isn't watering yet...check this picture out...it should be!
My Mammaw would be proud, I think, and I managed to catch me husband too!
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