Nona's Lasagna

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My grandkids love pasta. They REALLY love pasta. Of all the things I could make for them, the one that brings the smiles and, I'm not kidding, rejoicing is any kind of pasta with a red sauce.

My personal favorite Italian dish with red sauce is lasagna, and, if you can believe it, I didn't learn how to make it from my Sicilian paternal grandmother (who was uniformly recognized as not a good cook.) I learned how to make it from my southern maternal grandmother.

This was her recipe that I've adapted and modified over the years. It's pretty easy to make but does take a lot of ingredients.

First, we will start with the sauce. Now, yes.. I do use a jarred sauce for the Cheese and Pasta in a Pot recipe, but to do so for this one would be sacrilege. Seriously. Don't use a jarred sauce for this recipe. Make it from scratch and thank me later.

Here's what you will need for the sauce -

• 1/2 pound ground beef

• 1/2 pound ground pork

• 1/4 cup butter

• 1 28oz can of chopped or diced tomatoes

• 1 cup chopped onion

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• 3 cans tomato paste

• 2 cups water

• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt

• 1 teaspoon pepper

• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

Brown the ground pork and beef until no pink remains and then drain off the fat.

Combine the cooked meat and all remaining ingredients in a large sauce pan, bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cook for one hour.

Next, make the cheese filling -

• 1 32oz container of ricotta cheese

• 1/2 pound mozzarella cheese, grated (can also use shredded)

• 4 tablespoons romano cheese (can also use parmesan or parmesan/romano blend)

• 2 eggs

• 1/2 bunch fresh parsley, chopped

• large bunch of fresh basil leaves, chopped finely

• salt and pepper to taste

Mix all of these ingredients together well and set aside.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

To assemble the lasagna you will need a 1 pound box of lasagna noodles. No, you don't have to cook them. They will cook in the sauce in the oven.

To assemble the lasagna, spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Place a few spoonfuls of the sauce in the bottom of the pan an spread it out; then lay an even layer of lasagna noodles on top of it. Next pour 1/3 of the sauce on top of the noodles, and then spread 1/3 of the cheese filling on top of that. Repeat this process in that order for a total of 3 layers.

Bake for 30-45 minutes until hot, bubbly, and the edges have just started to turn brown. Remove from the oven, cover with foil or the dish's lid, and allow it to sit for 10-15 minutes before cutting. Serve with a green salad and fresh Italian bread.

The dish can be frozen, but it takes a long time to thaw.

Enjoy. This is cheesy, saucy, noodley goodness.. just like my grandma used to make.