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Lasagna with Meat Sauce


Lasagna.  Either you love it or you hate it.  I love it but hate to make it.  And why make it when you can buy Stouffers frozen lasagna and it just as good or even better than homemade.  But being as I have been living on my own for more than 25 years, I figured it was time to make my own.  This Homestyle Lasagna seemed simple enough so I thought I would give it a go.  Or at least try...

Modifications Made: Meat Sauce
Meats called for 1 lb of sweet Italian sausage and 1 lb of hamburger but I used 1 lb of both to make life easy.  Both the garlic and the onion were doubled in quantity and the sugar was omitted all together.  Per many suggestions, fresh basil was used instead of dried and parsley was as always left out.

Modifications Made: Cheese Mixture
Wanting to ensure the cheese mixture was not too runny causing the layers to fall apart when cut, shredded mozzarella was substituted for slices.  12 oz of mozzarella was then mixed with the ricotta, egg, and fresh basil to taste were mixed together to form a thick, creamy base.

Modifications Made: Assembly
Instructions say to use 12 noodles in two layers. Never have I had a two layer lasagna.  Never.  Using a slightly larger than 9x13 pan, I used four noodles per layer for a total of three layers cramming as much meat sauce and ricotta cheese mixture as possible ending with a final layer of sauce and then topped with shredded mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. 

Scaled for Likability: Good
Many of the recipes reported being a lot of work but worth the effort.  I did not find the work to be too much.  Once you brown the meat and onions, all the other ingredients are tossed together and time on the stove does the rest.  Assembling the layers took less than minutes and then again time in the oven does the rest.  What I found to be more time consuming was the amount of dishes created.  Not a very photogenic dinner, the meal was less than exciting.  It was just standard run of the mill lasagna. Or maybe it could be lasagna is just a dinner I enjoy after all. 

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