The Cookbook Experiment: Aunt Lauretta's Lasagna

Sunday's cookbook experiment is courtesy of a lovely lady named Martha Lee Cash! I have known her and her husband and family for almost forever. Don and Martha Lee are two more heroes of faith that I greatly admire.  I grew up with a few of their children and love them all very much.

This recipe is from her Aunt Lauretta.  I had to try it because....oh my, here comes the confession! My last name (married) is Maurizi. That is Italian! My husband was raised Italian around all these amazing women who could cook. Conquering good Italian cooking is a passion of mine. What I would give to spend time in the kitchen with Nick Stellino! But, anyway, here is the confession: the first time I ever made lasagna was almost six years ago. It was a total flop! So bad a flop I never attempted it again. This cookbook experiment and a recipe coming from Martha Lee, I decided to try it again. I am glad that I did! It was wonderful and everyone loved it.

Aunt Lauretta's Lasagna

(2 1/2) cans Italian tomatoes
(4) 8 ounce cans tomato sauce
(2) teaspoons salt
(3) teaspoons dried oregano
(1/4) teaspoon onion salt
(2) cups minced onions
(1) cup Parmesan cheese
(2) cloves garlic, minced
(1/2) cup olive oil
(2) pounds ground chuck or round steak , ground
(1) pound lasagna noodles
(1 1/2) pounds Ricotta cheese or cottage cheese
(3) packages Mozzarella cheese

In large saucepan, combine tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt, and oregano.  Simmer uncovered. In skillet, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until lightly browned. Add ground meat. When meat loses color, add to tomato sauce.  Simmer 2 1/2 hours. Cook lasagna as directed on box. Drain. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In bottom of two baking dishes, place few spoonfuls of sauce. Top with crisscross layers of noodles, then half of ricotta; top with 1/3 of mozzarella and 1/2 the Parmesan. Repeat again ending with sauce. Top with mozzarella and bake until bubbly.

My take-a-ways for this recipe:

• I knew I would not use the 1/2 can of leftover Italian tomatoes so I used all of the 3 cans.  
• I did not know what size the cans of Italian tomatoes were to be so I used the regular 14.5 ounce ones.
• I really like a hint of basil in my tomato sauce so I added this with the oregano.
• Please do not buy cheap Parmesan. There was an article recently about all the "wood pulp" some manufacturer's use to keep the grated cheese from sticking together. I used Murray's Parmesan Reggiano and grated it myself while the sauce was bubbling away.
• I should have realized that the lasagna noodles were going to be VERY HOT and VERY STICKY! I used a cookie sheet sprayed with a little cooking spray to spread out my lasagna noodles so they would not be stuck together. I used a set of tongs but still burned the mess out of my fingers! I'm sorry Aunt Lauretta but next time I am going to use no-boil noodles! Does that make me "wimpy Italian"? I hope not.
• I was not very good at splitting up the ricotta cheese on the fly. I should have separated it before I needed it. And truthfully, I think I would have liked a lot more on it than I put on it.
• There was no size for the Mozzarella cheese packages. I thought I would be okay with one large bag that they have at Kroger but sadly I was wrong. I needed at least two of them.
• This recipe was AMAZING! Thanks to Aunt Lauretta and Martha Lee I am no longer afraid to make lasagna. I can only improved from here!

Chicken Caprese Pasta

One of my favorite Italian dishes is a caprese salad. I decided it was time to take that salad concept and turn it into a healthy and yummy dinner dish. Here is how I did it.

Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees.  In a glass baking dish put some boneless chicken (I used sliced chicken tenders). I used approximately one pound of chicken tenders.  To this I added 7 cloves of smashed and chopped garlic. Next I squeezed some fresh basil paste onto the chicken.  It is your preference how much as to how much basil you like. I used almost a tablespoon.  I sprinkled some red pepper flakes on top as well and put it into the oven to bake.

 This is the basil I used. It was in the fresh produce department and is a wonderful tool.

While the chicken is baking, use a small saucepan and melt two tablespoons of butter (not margarine) and add one medium yellow onion, sliced and chopped.  To the onion and butter add two medium zucchinis chopped small.  Sprinkle with a little bit of salt to sweat out the zucchini.  Saute until soft.

Prepare one pound bag of macaroni, boiled al-dente in salted water. Assemble the pasta like this:

Place your finished chicken tenders that have been chopped in the bottom of your bowl.
Next add the sauteed zucchini and onions.

To the top of this, add your drained hot pasta.

On top of the hot pasta, squeeze approximately three tablespoons of the basil. More or less to your taste preference for basil.  After you add the basil, add the following:

(1) pound of FRESH mozzarella cheese, chunked
Murray's Cheese

(6) medium size Roma tomatoes, chunked

Give this all a really good stir so that the basil gets blended in well, the chicken and tomatoes and cheese are distributed evenly as possible.

This dish was so fresh and flavor-able I almost slapped MYSELF! I hope you try it. My whole family enjoyed it!