Tuesday, March 20, 2012

{Tasty Tuesdays...and the Hubby's Birthday!}

My Husband and My Mom's Lasagna 
(Yes, these two definitely go together)

Look what I found this morning...


Happy Birthday to my wonderful, hansom, caring, loving, striking, charming, encouraging, funny, and perfect husband!  I love you!

Yup, today is the hubby's 27th birthday.  In fact, we had a fantabulous St. Patty's themed birthday party for him on Saturday that you'll get to hear all about later this week, but I just couldn't pass on Tasty Tuesdays this week because you are all in for a real treat.

In light of it being the husband's birthday, I knew exactly what he wanted for his birthday dinner (honestly, I can't think of many things that are more exciting than your own birthday dinner, where you get to pick out everything on the menu and someone else makes it for you. SCORE!).  But it was obvious...

My mom's lasagna.

Now, once I have kids, we'll definitely be calling this Grandma's Lasagna in our house, but for now, we're sticking with Mom's Lasagna, because it sounds a little weird saying Grandma's Lasagna when there aren't any grandkiddos running around our apartment.  

Meet my Mom...


(Oh and that's my baby sister, Jamie, but we'll meet her another day.  Hi Mames!).  

Isn't she beautiful?  She raised 7 children (yes, I am #5 of this seven) and did a mighty fine job if I do say so myself.  She cooked, cleaned, spanked, hugged, drove us to practices, school, and did absolutely everything to make our lives wonderful.  She is a saint, people.  

But one thing I have begun to ask her as I have started learning to cook is, "How in the world did you cook for a family of 9???"  And here is one of her secrets...

Lasagna.  

Most of the time two lasagnas.

And my mom's lasagna is better than yours.  Yep!  This lasagna is raved about wherever it goes and is perfect for dinner parties because everyone loves it.  And I mean everyone.

My mom would probably say it's no big deal, since it's a very simple recipe and she's way too humble, but it was developed after altering an ordinary lasagna to satisfy the seven little taste buds of her crazy household.  Talk about super mom!

But enough of the chatting and let's get to the lasagna.  

Here is what you'll need:

1 lb ground turkey
1 large onion, diced (or onion powder)
Lots of garlic, minced (or garlic powder)
Salt & Pepper
1 small can of Tomato Paste
2 cans of Tomato Sauce

 

Italian Seasoning
Basil
Thyme
Oregano





2 lb block of Monterey Jack cheese, sliced
12-15 lasagna noodles







1.  In a large skillet on medium heat, brown the turkey with the onion, garlic, and a little bit of salt and pepper to taste.  You can use as much garlic as you want, my husband and I like lots of garlic so I used 3 cloves and put some extra garlic powder.









2.  When there is no longer any pink in the turkey, Drain the meet. Then add the tomato paste and the two cans of tomato sauce (you do not need to add the entire can of tomato paste if you don't feel like it needs it).  Next, add generous portions of the spices (Oregano, Thyme, Basil and Italian Seasoning).  Stir and taste to see what you may need more of.






3.  Turn the heat down, cover, and let the sauce simmer for a half hour to let the tastes marinade.












4.  While the sauce is simmering, make the noodles.  Follow the instructions on the box in order to cook them appropriately.  When they are done, drain, and prepare to assemble.










5.  You will need a 9"x13" baking dish to assemble the lasagna.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Place your noodles, sauce and cheese in a central area for assembling. 










6.  Begin with a scoop of sauce at the bottom of the dish.  












7.  Then place three noodles in the dish.













8.  Next, is the cheese.  I place three slices on each noodle.  Continue this process until you run out of ingredients.  Sauce, noodles, cheese; ending with a generous portion of sauce on the top.  You may need to be careful and ration out the sauce so that it lasts.








 9.  Once your lasagna is set, cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes.

10.  You will know it is done when the cheese is bubbling at the top.












(One of my favorite parts is you get to scrape the extra noodles you may have on the bottom of the sauce pan as a little treat while it's baking.)


Voila!  The husband's birthday dinner is all done!  This can serve 8-12 people depending on how hungry your guests are.  It's amazing and will trump all other lasagnas.  

Thanks, mom!  My husband and our future children thank you as well. 

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