Lela's Lasagna - The Recipe

Again, with the complaining about not having all the things I need to cook something.  To be fair we really never have lasagna.  I am not patient enough for the noodle boiling.  But I got some really lovely whole wheat NO BOIL noodles from DeLallo (online).  Anyway, before this gets too complicated we don't have any mozzarella.  An Internet search, three different recipes and I think I finally came up with one the family will eat.  So the mashup receipt is.....

What you’ll need:

9 No-boil whole wheat lasagna sheets
1 jar of marinara
1 pound of Italian sausage
1 cup of Ricotta cheese
1 egg
Fresh Basil Leaves cut into strips
1 cup of Parmesan cheese
2 cups of milk
3 1/2 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons of flour
Sprinkle of nutmeg (optional)
Salt & pepper to taste


What you’ll do:

Preheat that oven of yours to 350.  Get out your 9x9 casserole dish and spray it generously with some oil so nothing sticks, I find this easier for noodle retrieval and clean up.

First I  cooked the sausage, then I put in the store-bought marinara-heated to bubbly.  While all that is happening, I put in the ricotta, egg, salt & pepper to taste, oh and before I forget.....I also added some fresh basil from my window garden.  Delish-I used about 10 leaves-julienned them and set the mixture aside.

I heated the milk in the microwave for three minutes, meanwhile, in a separate saucepan, I melted the butter and added in the flour.  Let that cook for a few minutes then added in the hot milk and whisked like crazy until it was thick and bubbly.  Added in the cheese, salt & pepper-done.

Now comes the fun part.  Building the lasagna.  I first started with a ladle of the sauce mixture, then put down three sheets of pasta-side by side, then the ricotta mixture-then the hot cheese sauce & repeat-two more times.  I did have a few mozzarella balls-so I put them on top.  Cover in foil and bake for 40 minutes.  Remove foil, bake an additional 10 minutes.  I let this babysit for about 7 minutes before I couldn’t stand it anymore and had to eat it.

I must say, it was the best lasagna I have not only had but also made.  Billy agreed-and he would know because he loves lasagna and has had way more than me.

Okay well, I am not a professional cook, recipe maker, or blogger.  But I love food, so I am sharing this.

Lela xoxo