Birthday Lasagna and the Magic Big Blue Pan…

With both kids having birthdays in a matter of days we decided to have a birthday dinner at the house for my family. After eating chicken spaghetti, (see previous post) the last thousand get togethers, I decided to make my World Famous Lasagna.

I am now going to share my world famous recipe with the world… 
First you need a good sauce. I begin by chopping up an onion and sauté it with some garlic and mushrooms.
(My brother, Scott hates mushrooms so I have to chop them up very tiny!)

Then I brown some good ol ground round into the mix,
(health conscious cooks can choose ground turkey) and drain the fat.
(Oops is that a mushroom!?) 

 
Now, there are many ways to make a good sauce base, you can add tomatoes, tomato sauce, oregano and the whole cast of characters to the meat……. 

 
Or you can be a big cheater and use these…..(I’ll let you guess which one I did…) 

 
Mix it all together and let the sauce simmer for at least an hour or so. 
Then you want to mix the following ingredients together. I use Ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, parmesan cheese and my favorite secret ingredient
SOUR CREAM!
(oops don’t forget the egg!) 

Now comes the fun part, take our your MAGIC blue pan,
( or a reasonable facsimile)
and begin to layer your ingredients….
(The magic pan has special powers which enables it to produce as much food as there are people that show up)Add your sauce….and PAY ATTENTION I am sharing one of my few cooking secrets…….

 Now I know that some of you very carefully boil your lasagna noodles in advance
OR maybe you purchase the no boil noodles.
BUT I have an earth shattering announcement….
YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THAT ANYMORE! 

Just take them out of the box…. and layer them over the meat sauce.
(THEY WILL COOK JUST FINE)
 Now it’s time to add the creamy cheesy mixture on top of the noodles.
Followed by a layer of mozzarella cheese.  (Don’t be scared, put on lots!)

Repeat the process until the pan is full.. BEWARE, it will bubble in the oven, so unless you want to have a black mess in the bottom of your oven and a smoky kitchen like I usually do, give it some room!
NOW, put it in the oven and bake at 350 degrees until bubbly. (In the magic pan this takes 90 minutes) Once it has cooked, remove from the oven and let it sit for a few then serve.
A Simple salad and garlic bread is always yummy.
 

THIS WILL MAKE YOUR FAMILY VERY HAPPY

 They will dance around and show off their tattoos…….

 They will make you happy you slaved for hours in the kitchen to cook one of their favorite meals……..