Lasagne

My husband often says that I do not make lasagne. My response is that it takes a long time.  Also, he likes meat in it and I do not - that is way too much work for something I will not eat.  But I have found a solution to this issue and it is called fresh lasagne sheets.  I found the fresh lasagne sheets at my local Uncle Guisseppe's and I knew this was the way to go.  Before this, the only way to make lasagne was to make homemade lasagne sheets or to use dried pasta that has to be boiled and drained.  Since I always have homemade tomato sauce on hand this recipe was easy to make and it came out great - even with the meat the hubby wanted.  Even I ate it!  In my photos I am using 2 small aluminum trays that are each a half of a half size tray.  This allows me to make two dinners for four people.  The entire recipe makes dinner for eight.

Ingredients:

3 lbs bulk Italian sausage or links with the casings removed 

2 quarts tomato sauce, homemade preferred

3 whole fresh lasagne sheets 

32 oz ricotta cheese

2 eggs

1 TBS Dried Italian seasoning

Salt and pepper

24 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 cup Parmegiano Regiano cheese or Asiago cheese, shredded

Here's now:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Brown the bulk sausage in a large sauté pan over medium heat, until the pink is just cooked out, about 7 minutes. 

Remove the sausage from the pan, drain the fat out and set it aside.

Now prepare the ricotta.  Combine the ricotta, eggs, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper in a bowl, mixing to incorporate everything completely.  

Now it is time to put the lasagne together.

In a deep casserole dish or an aluminum half tray, pour in 1 cup of sauce and make sure the bottom is completely covered.  

Add one sheet to the tray on top of the sauce and completely cover the bottom.  Use more sheets, or pieces of the sheets if needed to cover.

Top the sheet with 1 cup of sauce and spread it to cover the sheet completely.

Top the sauce with 1 1/2 cups of the ricotta mix and spread that out completely.

Top with 2 cups of sausage.

Top with 1/2 cup of Parmegiano or Asiago.

Top with 1 cup of Mozzarella.

Coninute layering as above with a sheet of lasagne, 1 cup of sauce, 1 1/2 cups ricotta mix, 2 cups sausage, 1/2 cup Parmegiano or Asiago and 1 cup Mozzarella.

Top with a lasagne sheet.

Top this last sheet with. 1 cup of sauce, then 1/2 cup Parmegiano or Asiago and 1 cup of Mozzarella.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil.

You can stop here and refrigerate or freeze the lasagne for later.  Defrost the lasagne for baking if freezing.

Place in the oven on a cookie sheet (to protect the oven from spill overs and to support of the bottom of the pan).  

Bake for 15 minutes.

Remove the foil and then continue baking for 30-45 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the lasagne is hot in the middle.  If it gets to browned on top, cover with the foil again.

Remove the lasagne from the oven and let it sit for at least 15 minutes to let it set up.  

Serve with extra sauce on the side.

Christmas Tree 2013 - Woodland Themed Christmas Tree

Each year I do a different theme for my Christmas tree.  This year I chose Woodland.  The tree has a bird house as the topper, cranberry garland, pine ones intersparsed, leaf ornaments, deer antler ornaments and woodland creature ornaments like birds and bears.  I also only use white lights, I think it makes the decorations the star and not the lights.  I buy my ornaments after Christmas when they are up to 90% off so it does not cost me a lot of money to do the different themes.  Here are some pictures and how to ideas.

I star with a ribbon that goes with the theme.  Here the red gives it a pop of color and the green gives it a natural feeling.  The birdhouse as the topper gets the theme going.

Next I add the cranberry garland in between the ribbon.  This adds the natural feeling as well as bringing in more red. 

Next I add some sparkling things that you can get at the craft store like glettered twirls, flowers, sprays, berries, etc.

 

Next I added some butterflies on a thin wire I found at the craft store.

Then I added some ceramic ornaments in the shape of leaves.  I like to use some large items like these to have a repeated Patterson the tree, this prevents it from looking cluttered.  You want some repetition to make it cohesive.  

Lastly, I add the ornaments that are varied: birds, bird houses, acorns, pinecones, dear antlers, bears bridnesrs and other woodsy items.

Then I step back and make sure everything is evenly spaced and there are no blank spaces.  Overall, I am happy with how it came out.