Long story short, promised this girl thats coming over for dinner tonight some lasanga. Never cooked that in my life. Tried to sway her to something else, but I just HAD to tell her 'I make the best lasanga ever. Better than your moms'. What was i supposed to say? She looked smoking in her halter top.


Looked online and theres like 87 million recipes. I want something tried and true.

Already got some ground beef, italian sweet sausage, tomatoe sauce in the frige. What else?

-Mac

I have the best italian sausage recipie... my husband swears by it:

Sauce:
1lb Italian sausage (DON'T USE GROUND BEEF IT'S SUCH A FILLER AND IT'S BLAND, IT DOESN'T ADD ANY TRUE FLAVOR)
1 medium onion chopped
1 clove of garlic ( I usaully say more garlic but since you're on a date)
2 tbs parsley
1 tps basil
1 tps sugar
1 can (14.5 oz)  Whole Tomatoes drained
1 can (15 oz) tomatoe sauce
1/2 tps cayanne pepper (optional, my hubby like's spicy food)

Ricotta filling:
1 container (15 oz) ricotta cheese
1/2 parmesan cheese
1 tbs parsley
1 1/2 tbs dried oregano

Assembly Ingredients:
8 uncooked lasagna noodles (I usually do the whole box just to be safe, besides noodles vary in sizeand if you don't use them all you can toss it, it's only like 88 cents and you can use the best noodles incase others break)
2 cups (8 oz) of shredded mozarella cheese ( you can always use more be flexible, cheese is good)
1/4 parmesan cheese

Kitchen Tools:
10 inch skillet
13 x 9 ince glass baking dish
Oven heated to 350 degrees


Sauce Preparation:
You can prepare the sauce a head of time to let the flavors set and also it will be easier to handle.
Plus you don't have to scurry to get the dish prepared before your date comes over.

Cook sausage & onion till sausages is no longer pink and onions have an opaque color, you can tell they are more tender but not too brown (this makes the onions sweet) then add the garlic.

Stir in Parsley, basil, sugar, tomatoes, and tomatoe sauce.  Heat to  boiling, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes uncovered, stirring occasionally. The sauce will thicken.

Filling Preparation:
Combine Ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, oregano & parsley

Assemebly:
Spread 1/2 of sauce on baking dish, top with noodles (slightly layering each noodle side by side), spread 1/2 ricotta filling, sprinkle 1/2 of mozarella . Repeat layers and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Cover & bake 30 mins, uncover and bake 15 mins  or until hot and bubbly. Let stand for 15 minuts before cutting.

Sam's Choice frozen 8 cheese Lasagna at Wal-mart..... Can't go wrong.

Look for a receipe online for Crock Pot Lasagna.

Here ya go

http://southernfood.about.com/od/crockpotgroundbeef/r/bl113c5.htm

You're screwed!

This girl's mom is old school italian. She learned to cook from her.  I think she would be able to tell.

Thanks for the recipe GrumpyBunny. Im off to the market .

You should have told her you had a good recipe for PIE! Would have been MUCH easier to cook pie than lasagna.

By the way, in case you didn't know, the way to a girls heart is through YOUR wallet, not HER stomach.  

Quoted: You're screwed!

LOL

Oh yes, she will be mine.

Quoted: I have the best italian sausage recipie... my husband swears by it: -snip-

Damn GrumpyBunny, can I come over for dinner?

Funny story (maybe not) my fraternity nickname was Bunny....

I thought you were offering PIE in exchange for a recipe.

GB's recipe looks excellent.  Here are some additional suggestions to consider:

I like to brown whole sausage (1/2 sweet, 1/2 hot) and add them to the sauce and let the whole thing cook, reduce down a bit.  Meanwhile I prepare small italian meatballs.  After the sauce is done, I remove the sausage and cut them into ~ 1/2" thick slices and return them, along with the meatballs, directly back into the sauce.  Yummy!!

I also buy a block of mozzarella and cut it into 1/2" square cubes.  When layering the lasagna, I add cubes of mozzarella along with everything else.  After baking, the cheese melts in blobs randomly throughout the lasagna.  Together with the sausage and meatball chunks, it is sort of a 'Chunky-style' lasagna.

I always use a lot of cheese (parmesan, ricotta, romano in the spread, mozzarrela as described above and also shredded on top).

Good luck this evening.  Get that sauce going ASAP.

Quoted: Sam's Choice frozen 8 cheese Lasagna at Wal-mart..... Can't go wrong.

No, no, really. I doubt she could tell. This stuff is rich and tasty.

MACHINE: Oldest trick in the book, she "sucker punched" you and you fell for it "hook, line, and sinker."

Let us know how the dinner went.

Making dinner for sex rather than making dinner to make her happy?  Sounds like a good relationship brewing there.

Quoted: Making dinner for sex rather than making dinner to make her happy?  Sounds like a good relationship brewing there.

And why not?  She started it, and MACHINE is going to finish it.

MACHINE: BTW-have plenty of candles etc, women just eat this stuff up, litterally.

I always make the sauce in a crock pot the day before.

Construction tips:

You do NOT need to pre-cook the noodles.

Mix the Ricotta cheese with an egg or two eggs and it is much easier to spread on the layers.

Let it sit and cool slightly prior to cutting so it holds together.


Sauce:  I use Italian sausage, typical italian seasonings, bay leaves, one chopped onion,  tomato puree and sauce, and I cook it at least 5 hours on slow in the crock.  Chopped mushrooms are optional.

After constructing, place in oven for 1 to 1.5 hours.  If you are unsure of progress, check the center with a meat thermometer to measure progress in the last half hour.  No need to look at it until the first hour is finished.  350 degrees is what I use in a conventional gas oven.

Make extra sauce to put over your slice of lasagna.

Lasanga + wine + few Yankee candles = Pie

I haven't had a night like that in a long time. It's nice when you can just click with someone. She just got out of a bad relationship a few months back so as she's leaving, she tells me she's not looking for a relationship just yet.

But she said she definetly wants to 'have lasanga' with me some more.

I feel so used....

Sure is a wonderful day today.

Get some good take out .

He shoots... HE SCORES.



Errr...   wait a minute.



In this situation it should be 'he scores... HE SHOOTS!"

Good Lasagna is harder then it appears . Recipes vary by taste , but
The traditional ones are all similar  . The real difficult part is getting
moisture content correct . Even with practice It's always better
after resting a day or two in the fridge .

The best advice I can give you is not to cook the pasta fully .
All you really want is to make it flexible enough work with , and
dry the pieces off by laying them out on paper towels .

I also alternate the direction of the layers and try and keep
the thickness of the cheeses uniform and evenly distributed
at about 60% coverage for each layer .

Lastly , I find that flat sided metal pan works better then a
sloped side or glass baking dish .

Quoted: Lasanga + wine + few Yankee candles = Pie I haven't had a night like that in a long time. It's nice when you can just click with someone. She just got out of a bad relationship a few months back so as she's leaving, she tells me she's not looking for a relationship just yet. But she said she definetly wants to 'have lasanga' with me some more. I feel so used.... Sure is a wonderful day today.

For round two may I recommend SteyrAUGs "Lose The Panties" Shrimp Scampi.



With any luck another old time board member will post it, I didn't save it and I'm too lazy to type it all out today.