Recipe of the week...Lasagna for the Birthday Man and Kitchen Rental.... Blog on location

So, my husband's birthday was today and upon thinking of what to do or make, I stopped on his favorite meal of lasagna with Cheesecake for dessert.  Time, energy, and familiarity-wise I decided to make one or the other.  I chose to make the lasagna and buy the cheesecake... I haven't made cheesecake in so long and didn't want the hassle.  So, I bought the store standard Turtle Cheesecake, I figured I'd make one myself at a later date or save up my money for a New Skete cheesecake.

Now, my husband had to work today, our stove is being a pain, and we usually get together to play games at  my brother and sister-in-laws house and I was running behind.  So, I decided to make an offer of a pan of lasagna for the use of a kitchen.  Plus, I hate cleaning so I figured if I cooked... they could clean.. :-) and my least favorite part was taken care of!  It's just as easy to make 2 pans of lasagna as it is 1, so off I went.

Much like many of the things I make, it's all about what you like... I'm not a fan of peppers and onions, so I left those ingredients to the pre-packaged sauce. Also, I just eye-balled a lot of the layers.  Make as many layers you like, or the pan can accommodate.


The Lazy Diva's Two Meat and
Four Cheese Saucy Lasagna
Ingredients for Two Pans of Lasagna:

3 1/2 lbs + Hamburger
1 lb + Sausage
2 boxes Oven Ready Lasagna Sheets

Sauce
(1 Lg Prego Traditional, 1 Lg Ragu Traditional, 2 jars Newman's Own Sockarooni)
Lg Ricotta
4 cups shredded Mozzarella
3 cups shredded Asiago
3 cups shredded Parmesan
1 lb (or so) Mushrooms
2 tbs Garlic
2 eggs
1 tbs Italian Seasoning

1) Brown Meat and cook Mushrooms

I added a little garlic to all three pans, and browned them separately, but I suppose you could do one big skillet. Drain the meats and put aside.

2) Prep the Ricotta Cheese

Crack two eggs into a bowl, add the ricotta, and sprinkle Italian Seasoning over and stir it all up.  Put aside.








3)  Mix the Sauce

Add all the sauce to a big bowl and stir it up.  Put aside.  Growing up my parents used to mix Ragu and Prego together when making spaghetti and meatballs.  So I continue the tradition, but I found the Newman's Own Socarooni sauce and it has a bunch of ingredients I decided not to cook with and has a nice flavor, so I decided to go with it.  

4) Add the Layers

First Layer

Add sauce to bottom of the pan and float 3 sheets of Lasagna on it.

Add a layer of Ricotta across the pan

Add a layer of Mozzarella

Add a layer of Hamburger
Add Mushrooms

Layer 2
Add sauce and float 3 more pieces of Lasagna

Add a layer of Mozzarella
Add a layer of Sausage and Mushrooms

Add a layer Asiago and Parmesan

Layer 3
Add sauce and float 3 more pieces of Lasagna

Add a layer of Ricotta across the pan
Add a layer of Hamburger

Add Mushrooms and Mozzarella

Final Layer 
Add Sauce and float final 3 pieces of Lasagna
Add more sauce on top of Lasagna

Add a layer of Mozzarella, Asiago and Parmesan to finish off the top

5)  Bake

Cover in Aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Remove Cover and cook for an additional 10 minutes until the top layer of cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly.

Special thanks to my 2 year old assistant Gabby who emptied out all the grocery bags (and my purse) one item at a time and handed them to me, and to her parents for the use of their kitchen. (And for cleaning up my mess!)  Much Appreciated!


And, as Always, Thanks for reading my Blog!