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Oh I do need to post a pic! It was gone 5 minutes after it hit the table last night but I made a ton of sauce and will make another one tuesday. I'll post a pic then! Ok, this is not the short cut lasagna. It takes 8 hours to make the sauce but OMG!!!
This makes a huge pot of sauce! Enough for at least 2 large pans of lasagna but it freezes really well.
Sauce
2 pkgs Italian sausage, mild, sweet or med. (each pkg usually has 5 links)
5 (12oz) cans tomato paste
1 cube of butter
1 head of garlic, about 12 cloves, chopped (yes I use a whole head of garlic, unless it's a large head of garlic)
3-4 cups of chopped leeks (after cutting off tops and bottoms of leeks split them down the middle and separate before washing in a large bowl of water, then dry and chop).
2 lbs of good quality hamburger meat
1/4 cup of dried oregano (crush by putting in palm and rubbing hands together while adding)
1/4 cup dried basil (crush while adding)
1 tsp sage (optional)
1 tsp thyme (optional)
garlic powder (to taste)
onion powder (to taste)
salt
pepper
Casserole Ingredients
2 pkgs of lasagna noodles (1 for each casserole)
1 1/2 lbs of monterey jack cheese, sliced
1 1/2 lbs of mozzarella cheese, sliced
baby spinach leaves (I buy the pre-washed packages and just remove the stems)
1 med tub of ricotta cheese (no don't use cottage cheese instead, unless you don't care if this is the over the top recipe I'm known for)
Ok. Mix the cans of tomato paste with a small amount of water in a large, heavy stock pot. Mine is 8 quarts but you can use a 6 quart pot (lightweight pots may burn the sauce and that is death for the whole pot of sauce).
Blend well adding more water a little at a time, whisking well to remove any lumps. In a heavy skillet, brown all the Italian sausages then add them to the tomato paste. In the now empty skillet melt the cube of butter and add the leeks (can use reg onions instead but use less since leeks are a much milder and sweeter type of onion). cook just until they start to get tender (maybe 2-3 minutes) add chopped garlic and cook 'til garlic starts to soften (another 2-3 minutes) add to sauce and stir. Deglaze pan with a little water (or you can use a little, good quality, red wine instead) and add to sauce. Add oregano and other dried herbs (can use fresh herbs if used to working with them, use less because they are stronger). Stir well, once sauce is warm throughout turn heat down to low and cook for 6-8 hours, stirring occasionally (you'll be tempted to use after 4 or 5 hours since it starts to get some great flavor then but wait! It gets even better in the last 2-3 hours! Taste the sauce and add garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste. Brown the hamburger and add sometime in the last 3 hours of cooking time. If you are not using low fat hamburger then drain off the extra fat before adding it to the sauce.
When sauce is done (I make the sauce the day before) get a large, deep casserole pan out (mine is 10x15 and 3 inches deep) and start a med pot of water, with salt added, for pasta. Heat water 'til boiling add pasta and cook just until flexible (will continue to cook in oven). Pull out sausages and slice. Put a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of the casserole dish to keep noodles from sticking and put a single layer of noodles down in bottom of pan. Add more sauce over noodles then start laying down sausage slices and pats of ricotta cheese (I like a lot!). Don't be stingy with ingredients it's messy but YUM. Layer spinach leaves over sausage and ricotta. put another layer of noodles over fillings (face opposite direstion to help hold casserole together) cover with more sauce, add cheese slices (I cover the sauce entirely, and then some, but if you use too much cheese it won't melt all the way when cooking. Cover loosely with foil (try not to touch the cheese very much since it will stick to foil) and cook at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove foil, turn up heat to 400 degrees and cook for 15 more minutes till cheese is a little bubbly. If you don't like your casserole real messy use less sauce in the pan but leave extra sauce (with ladle) on table to spoon over individual servings.
Serve with real butter garlic bread. DELICIOUS!!! After all this work get someone else to do the dishes! I don't do any dishes when I make lasagna, I've earned the right to rest.
Pics coming later.
edited since I forgot to add salt and pepper. Guess I just assume those are a given
Oh I do need to post a pic! It was gone 5 minutes after it hit the table last night but I made a ton of sauce and will make another one tuesday. I'll post a pic then! Ok, this is not the short cut lasagna. It takes 8 hours to make the sauce but OMG!!!
This makes a huge pot of sauce! Enough for at least 2 large pans of lasagna but it freezes really well.
Sauce
2 pkgs Italian sausage, mild, sweet or med. (each pkg usually has 5 links)
5 (12oz) cans tomato paste
1 cube of butter
1 head of garlic, about 12 cloves, chopped (yes I use a whole head of garlic, unless it's a large head of garlic)
3-4 cups of chopped leeks (after cutting off tops and bottoms of leeks split them down the middle and separate before washing in a large bowl of water, then dry and chop).
2 lbs of good quality hamburger meat
1/4 cup of dried oregano (crush by putting in palm and rubbing hands together while adding)
1/4 cup dried basil (crush while adding)
1 tsp sage (optional)
1 tsp thyme (optional)
garlic powder (to taste)
onion powder (to taste)
salt
pepper
Casserole Ingredients
2 pkgs of lasagna noodles (1 for each casserole)
1 1/2 lbs of monterey jack cheese, sliced
1 1/2 lbs of mozzarella cheese, sliced
baby spinach leaves (I buy the pre-washed packages and just remove the stems)
1 med tub of ricotta cheese (no don't use cottage cheese instead, unless you don't care if this is the over the top recipe I'm known for)
Ok. Mix the cans of tomato paste with a small amount of water in a large, heavy stock pot. Mine is 8 quarts but you can use a 6 quart pot (lightweight pots may burn the sauce and that is death for the whole pot of sauce).
Blend well adding more water a little at a time, whisking well to remove any lumps. In a heavy skillet, brown all the Italian sausages then add them to the tomato paste. In the now empty skillet melt the cube of butter and add the leeks (can use reg onions instead but use less since leeks are a much milder and sweeter type of onion). cook just until they start to get tender (maybe 2-3 minutes) add chopped garlic and cook 'til garlic starts to soften (another 2-3 minutes) add to sauce and stir. Deglaze pan with a little water (or you can use a little, good quality, red wine instead) and add to sauce. Add oregano and other dried herbs (can use fresh herbs if used to working with them, use less because they are stronger). Stir well, once sauce is warm throughout turn heat down to low and cook for 6-8 hours, stirring occasionally (you'll be tempted to use after 4 or 5 hours since it starts to get some great flavor then but wait! It gets even better in the last 2-3 hours! Taste the sauce and add garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste. Brown the hamburger and add sometime in the last 3 hours of cooking time. If you are not using low fat hamburger then drain off the extra fat before adding it to the sauce.
When sauce is done (I make the sauce the day before) get a large, deep casserole pan out (mine is 10x15 and 3 inches deep) and start a med pot of water, with salt added, for pasta. Heat water 'til boiling add pasta and cook just until flexible (will continue to cook in oven). Pull out sausages and slice. Put a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of the casserole dish to keep noodles from sticking and put a single layer of noodles down in bottom of pan. Add more sauce over noodles then start laying down sausage slices and pats of ricotta cheese (I like a lot!). Don't be stingy with ingredients it's messy but YUM. Layer spinach leaves over sausage and ricotta. put another layer of noodles over fillings (face opposite direstion to help hold casserole together) cover with more sauce, add cheese slices (I cover the sauce entirely, and then some, but if you use too much cheese it won't melt all the way when cooking. Cover loosely with foil (try not to touch the cheese very much since it will stick to foil) and cook at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove foil, turn up heat to 400 degrees and cook for 15 more minutes till cheese is a little bubbly. If you don't like your casserole real messy use less sauce in the pan but leave extra sauce (with ladle) on table to spoon over individual servings.
Serve with real butter garlic bread. DELICIOUS!!! After all this work get someone else to do the dishes! I don't do any dishes when I make lasagna, I've earned the right to rest.
edited since I forgot to add salt and pepper. Guess I just assume those are a given
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