From Cooking with Joey
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 pound meatloaf mix (ground beef, pork and veal)
10 lasagna noodles, broken into 2-inch pieces
1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
Add the diced tomatoes along with their juice to a 1-quart (4 cup) measuring cup. Add enough water to bring the volume to 1 quart total.
Set a large nonstick skillet over medium heat and add the oil. When it starts to shimmer, add the onion and the salt. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until the onion begins to brown, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and red pepper and cook just until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the meat, using a wooden spoon to break it apart. Cook until the meat is browned.
Add the broken noodles to the pan, but do not stir - just let them sit on top of the onion/meat mixture. Pour the tomato/water mixture and the tomato sauce over the noodles (again, don't stir). Cover the pan and bring the liquid to a simmer. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer and cook, now stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender (about 20 minutes).
Turn off the heat under the pan. Stir in 1/2 cup of the Parmesan and season to taste with salt and pepper. Drop the ricotta by heaping spoonfuls onto the top of the lasagna (don't stir to incorporate), then cover and let stand for about 5 minutes to allow the cheese to soften. Remove the cover and sprinkle with the basil and remaining Parmesan, then serve.
Tips: There's not much I would change about this recipe. It's fabulous exactly as it's written. The only thing I would add is a little shredded mozzarella cheese sprinkled over the top. The only variation I think I'd do is to substitute half of the ground meat with sweet Italian sausage. Just break it up and brown it with the meat as directed.
My Interpretation:
Absolutely delicious and very filling, with lots of left-overs. My friend, Josh, and I made this for dinner with some garlic bread and apple pie ice cream waffles for dessert. By the time we were done eating, we ended up on the living room couch in a wonderful food coma. This recipe was pretty easy to make since you don't have to put it in the oven. We used ground turkey for the meat, making it a little healthier. The taste was a little different from the usual ground beef flavor. We also added a little chopped fresh parsley on top with the basil for some extra flavor and color. This recipe will feed at least ten people. We fed five in one sitting and put half of it in the fridge as left-overs.
Josh and I on our cooking extravaganza.
Recipe: Apple Pie Ice Cream Waffles
3 waffles, made according to box or favorite recipe
1 can (20 oz.) apple pie filling
ice cream of any flavor
cinnamon sugar to taste
1. Make three waffles, according to directions, whether they're frozen from a box or homemade, or whatever.
2. Heat can of apple pie filling in a skillet on the stove until it's warm, but not hot. Sprinkle in cinnamon sugar for some extra flavor.
3. Place the waffles on your plate and divide pie filling evenly over each. Put a scoop or two of ice cream on top of pie filling.
My Interpretation:
You really don't need a a recipe for this. I just threw everything together. It was very delicious, though. The ice cream gets all soft and creamy on the warm pie filling. It's like apple cobbler Ala mode, expect easier.
This was the meal, minus the apple pie ice cream waffles. We made garlic bread with the lasagna and threw in a glass of Sunny D with Orange Julius Mad Dog and peach Schnapps. Quite the delicious meal.
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