I LOVE LASAGNA! Have you ever noticed it's spelled two different ways? Lasagna and Lasagne! No matter, I still love it.

Without any further dialogue, LETS MAKE A LASAGNA!

This recipe requires a 14"x9"x3" lasagna pan.

RED SAUCE INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 Cup Olive oil.
• 3 to 4 Large garlic cloves, peeled and minced.
• 1 Large onion, about 12 ounces, peeled and chopped.
• 1 Large Carrot, about 4 ounces, scraped and chopped.
• 2 Slices of bacon.
• 3 Pork spare ribs, trimmed of fat.
• 2 -28 or 32 ounce cans whole tomatoes, packed in puree and pulsed a few times, to coarsely chop in the food processor
• 1/2 -6 ounce can tomato paste.
• 1 Cup, or more as needed, beef or pork stock. Dry red or white wine is okay. Water in a pinch.
• 1/2 Tbs. Dried oregano, crumbled.
• 1/2 Tbs. Dried basil, crumbled.
• 3/4 Tsp. Dried rosemary, crumbled.
• 3/4 Tsp. Dried thyme, crumbled.
• 1 Dried bay leaf.
• Salt and pepper to taste.

WHITE SAUCE INGREDIENTS [Bechamel]

• 4-1/2 Tbs. Unsalted butter.
• 4-1/2 Tbs. All-purpose flour.
• 2-1/4 Cups boiling milk.
• 2 Tsp. Powdered beef stock base.
• 1 Pinch, nutmeg.
• Salt and pepper to taste.

FILLING INGREDIENTS

• 1-1/4 Lbs. Lean ground chuck.
• 1/2 Lb. Hot Italian sausage, removed from casing.
• 3/4 Lb. Sweet Italian sausage, removed from casing.
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• 3/4 Cup grated parmesan cheese.
• 1 Lb. Coarsely grated mozzarella cheese.
• 2 Lb. Ricotta cheese.
• 3/4 Cup Chopped fresh parsley.
• 1 Lb. Package Lasagna noodles.

PREPARE RED SAUCE

1. Place large sauce pot on stove burner, over moderate heat.



• When hot, add olive oil, bacon, pork spare-ribs and cook until nicely browned.



• Add garlic, carrot and onion to pot with meats. Cook until just wilted.



• Add stock, chopped tomatoes, herbs, salt and pepper to pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for about 1-1/2 hours; stirring occasionally to prevent sticking and burning.



2. Add tomato paste, stir-in well to distribute. Return sauce to a simmer and simmer for another 30 to 45 minutes, or until sauce has thickened nicely.
   
   
   • Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
   
   
   
3. Remove bacon and spare ribs from pot. Spare rib meat may be chopped up and returned to the sauce pot.

Sauce may be prepared up to 2 days in advance, cooled, covered tightly and refrigerated.

If you choose, you may prepare the sauce up to 30 days in advance, cool, cover tightly and freeze.

PREPARE FILLING INGREDIENTS

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

1. Preheat a large saute or fry pan over moderate heat. When hot, add a little vegetable oil and the ground chuck. Stir frequently to brown evenly and break-up the meat lumps. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.



• When browned, and all traces of pink has disappeared, remove from heat and spoon the mixture into a container to cool. Reserve.



2. Reheat the same pan, add a bit more vegetable oil and add the sausage meat; stirring and breaking up the lumps as it browns. When all traces of pink have disappeared, remove from heat and spoon into a container to cool. Sausage lumps will not break-down as fine as the ground beef.



• When the sausage meat has cooled; place it into the work bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to reduce the meat to about the same texture, size, as the ground beef. Do not over process.

Meats may be prepared 1 to 2 days in advance, cooled, tightly wrapped and refrigerated. Or, 30 days in advance, cooled, tightly wrapped and frozen.

PREPARE WHITE SAUCE

White sauce should only be prepared about 1 to 2 hours prior to assembling the lasagna.

1. Melt butter in sauce pan over low heat.



• Add flour and stir with a wire whisk until disolved and smooth. Do not brown.



• Gradually add boiling milk, beef stock base, nutmeg, salt, pepper and continue cooking and stirring until smooth and thickened. Remove from heat and reserve.

COOK LASAGNA NOODLES

1. Cook noodles according to manufactures recomendation. They should be al dente.



• When cooked, immediately plunge them into ice water to stop the cooking action. Drain and dry.



2. You may now use them to begin assembling the lasagna.

ASSEMBLY PROCEDURE

At Last! The fun part!

You may assemble the complete lasagna up to 1 day in advance, tightly wrap and refrigerate.

Line-up all of your assembly ingredients, which by now should be at room temperature. If the white sauce has stiffened, whisk it to loosen and smooth out. You may need to add 1 tbs. of milk to it, to achieve this.

1. Butter the lasagna pan.



• Place a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of the pan. Thick enough so you do not see the bottom.



• Place an over-lapping layer of noodles on top of the sauce. [5 noodles across]



2. Place a thin layer of sauce on top of the noodles; about the same thickness as you used on the bottom.



• Sprinkle a layer of beef, just thick enough so you can not see the noodle layer. Maybe about 3/16" to 1/4" thick. Next, add a layer of sausage to about the same thickness.



• Now, dot the entire meat surface with slightly heaping teaspoon mounds of ricotta cheese, spaced 1" apart and in rows 1" apart.



3. Sprinkle a layer of grated mozzarella cheese over the ricotta cheese; then sprinkle on a layer of parmesan cheese.



• Next dot the surface with slightly heaping teaspoon mounds of bechamel sauce using the same spacing as for the ricotta cheese. Now sprinkle a layer of chopped parsley over-all.



4. Now we just continue the layering process as above, until the pan is filled; ending with a noodle layer.



5. Congratulations! You made it!

LETS BAKE THE LASAGNA

Pre-heat oven to 325°F. for at least 20 minutes prior to baking your lasagna.

• If you have refrigerated the unbaked, layered lasagna; remove from fridge and allow to warm up a bit, to room temperature. At least 1 hour.



• Generously butter the top of the lasagna [You may use a thin layer of red sauce for this; or a combination red sauce and butter.] and sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese.



• Cover loosely with aluminum foil and place into pre-heated oven.



• Bake for approximately 45 to 60 minutes, or until bubbly around the sides.



• If the lasagna had been refrigerated, it may require additional baking time.



• If you desire a slightly browned top surface; remove aluminum foil about 15 minutes prior to completion of the baking cycle.

When lasagna has baked; remove from oven and permit to rest for about 15 to 30 minutes before cutting and serving.

Serve with additional red sauce and grated parmesan cheese on the side; along with a nice crusty loaf of French or Italian bread.

Any medium-dry to dry, white or red medium bodied wine would be an excellent accompaniment.

A salad or light seafood appetizer would make an excellent starter course.