lasagna.

i've been wanting to make lasagna for awhile now. but i've been so hungry when i've gotten home from work the past few weeks that i've gone straight to the triscut box without coming up for air for a good 20 minutes. at that point, the idea of dinner seems more than obsolete and that week's brick of cheese is usually lying naked on the cutting board, staring at me in shame.

yesterday, i got off the metro and went straight to the grocery store. the triscuts and cheese weren't going to lure me in with their delicious wiles. i stocked up on our usual weekly groceries as well as the necessary lasagna ingredients according to the food network. this recipe would feed about eight so i halved it to feed two hungry wild things .

i started by browning up about 8 oz of lean organic beef in a medium-sized skillet for about 5-7 minutes.
once it was no longer pink, i removed the meat from the pan and added 1 teaspoon of garlic olive to the same pan along with 4 oz of chopped portabella mushrooms.
those cooked about 5 minutes or until soft. then the cooked meat and about 1 cup of tomato sauce (along with a few spices for kick!) returned to the pan for another layover. let this sauce mixture simmer while you get the rest of your ingredients ready.

next you'll need your cheese layer of course, which contains 8 oz of part-skim ricotta cheese, 1 egg white, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 1/4 teaspoon salt, a dash of nutmeg and 5 oz of spinach.
mix these ingredients together and set aside.

at this point you would find your pan to bake said lasagna. since i was halving the lasagna i needed my cute little 8x8 pan, which i tore the apartment up looking for before i promptly gave up. instead i used half of a 9x13 which looked a little silly but still turned out pretty well.

so first add about 1/2 cup of plain tomato sauce to the bottom of your pan (not the meat and mushroom suace) and then top with a layer of lasagna noodles (i used the no pre-cook ones which are SO much easier and less work) and then half of your cheese mixture.

top with more noodles, then add half your meat and mushroom mixture.
repeat with noodles, then the rest of your cheese mixture, more noodles, the rest of your meat mixture and finally another layer of noodles. phew, that was a mouthfull! i figured i could skip photos of some of those layers, we all know how lasagna is built right?

then add another 1/2 cup of the plain tomato sauce and top with 2 tablespoons of grated parmesan and about 1/3 cup of shredded mozerella.

cover with foil and bake at 375 for 45 minutes, uncover and bake for another 15 mintues. let it rest for about 10-15 minutes before you cut yourself a generous slab.
while i liked this lasagna and it was on the healthy side, i'm not sure i'm sold on the no cook noodles. i wonder if they didn't turn out as well as the last time because my pan was too big, hmmmm. i'm willing to give them another shot, perhaps even soak them in boiling water for a few minutes to soften them up as the edges were a tad too crisp for my taste. nelson did seem to be pleased as punch though by the lasagna and even took some for his lunch as leftovers. and this boy is the president of the no leftovers club. perhaps a successful lasagna after all?