Lasagna; from Holiday to Everyday!

I went to see my hairstylist, Sir Charles the other day. That dark haired cutie has a nice svelte little physique that makes him appear to live on nothing but fish, chicken and veggies. However, when I asked him what his favorite food was he said, “Pasta baked with lots of cheese” and being the foodie that I am, he got me thinking about my comfy sweats, nesting with my husband on what was to be a rainy Sunday; a little wine, football and a big pot of sauce… what could be better than that? How about my 3 cheese spinach & sausage Lasagna? Now, you know that I pride myself on easy entertaining but Lasagna is such a long process and therefore I am not ambitious enough to make it very often. My mom (the one who doesn’t cook) used to make it when we were kids; always for our Christmas dinner. Therefore, it always seemed like “Holiday Food” to me.



With the smell of simmering meatballs & a rich, thick sauce swimming around my senses yesterday, I started to get a little lazy. “There must be an easier way to make the Lasagna”, I thought. Now some things you just don’t tamper with; they now sell “no boil” pasta sheets which are very thin, taste like paper and extremely expensive. I like my Lasagna noodles sturdy enough to stand up to the mountains of cheese & spicy crumbled sausage so these no boil gizmos are not for me. Then it came to me… why did I have to boil the Lasagna noodles anyway? Maybe I could just use a little extra sauce and bake it just a smidge longer. And that I did… No standing by the huge pot and continuously stirring so they don’t stick together or the incessant testing to make sure not to overcook them. No lining my entire counter top and kitchen table with them while waiting to build my masterpiece. I just layered them uncooked with the sauce, cheeses, spinach and sausage like usual, covered it tight with foil, baked it at 375° for an hour & a half, uncovered and baked it for another 30 minutes and voila’… it was my best Lasagna to date! Just ask my husband… and the other 20 people that benefited from the fact that I cook for an army!


So, although I didn’t elaborate entirely on my recipe (why would you buy the cookbook if I did?) I did, however, give you a tip that will save you so much time & effort while preparing this Italian classic as hearty and delicious as your great grandmother’s was… NO NEED TO BOIL... MANGIA!