Authentic Lasagna

Start to finish: about two hours Makes: 1 9x13 pan; 10-12 generous servings

Basic Red Sauce (you can use this sauce with any type of noodles)

1 small yellow onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 carrot, grated
1 celery stalk, grated
1-2 TBSP olive oil
1 lb hamburger (optional; if you want it vegetarian style, omit the meat)
Basil
Oregano
Parsley
Salt (a handful---Italians like their salt)
Pepper
1 29 oz can tomato sauce
1 8oz can tomato paste
½ cup water

Sauté onion, garlic, carrot, and celery in oil for a couple of minutes, then add hamburger and cook until browned.

Add tomato sauce, paste, and water as well as seasonings to taste. Use a generous amount of each. If you want to add a little spice, you can add some red pepper flakes.

Bring to a boil and then simmer covered on very low heat for 45-60 minutes.


Besciamella Sauce (this is optional as well, but it makes the lasagna taste so good)
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour

3 cups milk
Salt and pepper (it says to taste, but who wants to taste this, I don’t know)
Nutmeg to taste (optional)

Melt butter on stovetop and add flour. Stir constantly for 3 minutes. Avoid lumps.
Take pan off the stove and add all 3 cups of milk at one time and stir well. Watch out again for lumps. Put back on stove, bring to a boil and stir constantly for 10 minutes or until it turns to a gravy-like consistency. You have to keep stirring or the milk will curdle.

Layers:
On the bottom of a 9x13 pan, spread around a little red sauce so that it doesn’t stick.
Then:
Lasagna noodles (the Barilla lasagne oven ready kind that come with 15 sheets are best; lay out 3 per layer, they expand a bit)
Red sauce
Besciamella
Mozzarella cheese (I use 2 fresh mozzarella balls that you can buy in the cheese section. You should cut it up into very small chunks and divide it into 5 portions so that it lasts for all the layers)
Parmesan cheese

Repeat until all the ingredients are used. Make sure you cover the noodles well. It may look soupy, but the noodles absorb a lot of the sauces.

Bake at 350 for 35-50 minutes. It should brown a bit on the top, but not get too dark.

submitted by Cathi Harbertson