The Recipe That Started It All: My Lasagna al Forno

This blog came about primarily for two reasons: one, I wanted to share my love of food with you all but, two, because people wanted and LOVE my lasagna recipe. Over the summer, I decided I would make my lasagna for some friends here at Georgetown - little did I know that nearly everyone I knew would soon find about it and want a bite. So ladies and gentleman, prepare yourselves for the BEST FOOD COMA of your life - and of course, a glass of Chianti might help :) Mangia Bene!

Ingredients


1 lb of Dried Lasagna Sheets
6 to 7 cups of Meat Sauce (Already Made - See previous blog posts!)
2 lbs Whole Milk Ricotta
2 Eggs
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 cup, maybe 2 of Freshly Grated Parmiggiano Reggiano
12 Ounces of Fresh Mozzarella thinly sliced (the shredded kind at your local supermarket would work just fine)
6 Fresh Basil Leaves


Assembling the Lasagna:
1) Cook the lasagna noodles only for 4 or 5 minutes not cooking them all the way though but just enough so that they are pliable.
2) In a large bowl mix together the ricotta, ½ cup of parmiggiano reggiano, the egg and season lightly with salt and pepper
3) Oil a 13 by 9’ deep dish casserole dish. Spread a thin layer of meat sauce on the bottom of the casserole dish. Place a few sheets of lasagna noodles in the pan in a single layer overlapping slightly. Spread evenly with ¼ of the ricotta mixture, add about 1 cup or so of meat sauce and spread evenly. Arrange some slices of mozzarella and sprinkle with parmiggiano reggiano.
4) Repeat step 3, 3 more times finishing with the mozzarella and parmiggiano reggiano. 
6) Bake for 1 hour or until the top is golden brown and the lasagna is bubbly at the bottom. Sprinkle the top with fresh basil.
7) Wait for 20 minutes before cutting otherwise it will fall apart.


If you have any leftovers cut into portions and wrap with aluminum foil and freeze. It freezes perfectly and when you are ready to reheat simply stick it in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes or if you can’t wait that long, place it on a microwave safe dish, cover it with another microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 6 or 7 minutes.


To this day, every time I go home, my mother has lasagna (in plastic containers, already separated) ready for me to take back to Georgetown; thus, it really is a special dish.