Greg’s Late-Night Lasagna

Submitted by Greg H.

"Adapted from Ms. Tatia Morrison’s 1986 Whiteaker Middle School (Keizer, Oregon) home economics class spaghetti sauce, as well as my uncle’s lasagna recipe, which called for canned sauce. It’s “late-night” because I have delayed making it due to Paula’s request that I write up the recipe. We ended up eating at 10:30 PM."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 15mins
• Ingredients: 18
• Serves: 4-6

ingredients

• 1 teaspoon salt (optional)
• 4 teaspoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon onions or 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 4 teaspoons oregano
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon parsley
• 1 pinch thyme
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1⁄2 cup chopped onion
• 1⁄2 cup chopped pepper, any color
• 1 lb italian-seasoned ground turkey (or just ground turkey, or ground beef)
• 2 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 6 oven-ready lasagna noodles
• 12 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese (about 2 1/2 cups)
• 1 (15 ounce) package ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper
• parmesan cheese

directions

1. SERVES 4-6 • 520-775 calories per serving when prepared with ground turkey • Set oven to 375°.
2. In a cereal bowl, combine brown sugar, onion (or garlic) powder, oregano, basil, parsley, and thyme. Add salt ONLY if you use plain meat and not the seasoned kind. Set aside.
3. In a medium pot, heat olive oil over medium heat and sauté onion and peppers. Once they are softened up, the onions translucent, add the ground turkey (or ground beef) and sprinkle with a little salt. Cook until safe to eat, but don’t eat it yet! If you want it to come out like Greg’s, cook it in such a way that there are many large chunks of meat clinging together. Remember to drain meat of excess fat.
4. Pour in both cans of tomato sauce and your seasoning blend. Stir well and simmer on med-low heat for 20 minutes. It should just barely be boiling. Stir every few minutes. Careful, it spatters!
5. While sauce is simmering, put entire package of ricotta cheese into a medium-size bowl. Add egg, pepper, a few hearty shakes of parmesan cheese, and about ½ cup of your mozzarella. Combine completely.
6. It’s time to assemble. Spray a 9x9” glass baking pan with whatever cooking spray you prefer. Put 1/3 cup of the sauce in the bottom of the baking pan (avoiding large meat chunks at this stage) and spread to edges. Place two oven-ready lasagna noodles side-by-side in the pan; you’ll probably have to snap off some corners to make them fit properly.
7. Now spoon half if your ricotta mixture onto the noodles and spread evenly to the edges of the pan. Sprinkle about half of your mozzarella. Finally, scoop between 2/3 and 1 cup of sauce on top of the cheese, and spread to edges. Space out meat chunks as needed.
8. Place 2 more lasagna noodles and remaining ricotta, MOST of the remaining mozzarella, more optional ingredients, and another cup of sauce. Break up noodles and fill in the top of the dish irregularly (perhaps this is the late-night part of the visual presentation). Thinly spread more sauce (but no large meat chunks) over the noodles so they are completely wetted, then set aside any remaining sauce for picky people who don’t like ricotta. Sprinkle the last of the mozzarella and a little parmesan.
9. Place in center of oven. For a Greg-preferred crusty cheese top, leave uncovered, or cover it with foil for the first 25 minutes. Bake 35-40 minutes, then let cool at least 10 minutes. Use a knife to cut through cheese crust and into 4-6 pieces, then use a square spatula to scoop out the pieces. Serve after a garlic bread appetizer and a Caesar salad. Greg’s family also enjoys this dish with a glass of milk.
10. A NOTE ABOUT “REAL” NOODLES – They are a complete waste of time. Use the oven-ready! lol.