LASAGNA

By Lutie

The first time you make lasagna, you may want to use the pre-made version, until you get the rhythm of it all. If you decide to go all the way with the homemade pasta, I recommend you make the spaghetti sauce and the filling one day, and do the pasta and assembly of the lasagna the next day. This recipe will make at least two pans of lasagna. Here we go.

Ingredients

• 1 Recipe spaghetti sauce
• 1 Recipe ricotta filling
• 3 recipes, pasta
• Grated Romano
• Shredded mozzarella

Preparation

Step 1

For the pasta: Divide the dough into workable portions and roll out on floured pastry cloth as thin as possible. Cut into 3” wide strips, with length as long as your lasagna pan (9x13 or 7x10”). Have a large pot of salted water (add a few drops of olive oil to water) boiling. Add pasta and cook just until it rises to the top. Remove with slotted spoon and put in strainer. Keep water running slowly in strainer to keep pasta from sticking to each other.

Assembly:

In glass baking dish (9x13), spread a little sauce on bottom of pan. Place lasagna noodles, overlapping slightly, over bottom. Spread with layer of ricotta filling. Sprinkle with Romano and mozzarella cheeses, then sauce. Repeat three times, and top with last layer of pasta. Spread sauce over and sprinkle with Romano cheese.

I always bake the lasagna for about a half an hour, whether we are going to eat it that day or not. Lasagna always tastes better after the second baking. So, bake for 30 min. at 350 degrees, and let cool. You can cover and freeze or put in the fridge for the next day. When I bake it to serve, I top it with shredded mozzarella and then bake for about 45 minutes, again at 350 degrees.