Grandma's Homemade Lasagna

My Grandmother Rodriguez had endless recipes that she prepared for her family and, in time, passed them on to her daughters and eventually her daughters-in-law. Although I love all her recipes, my favorite was her homemade lasagna. This recipe is perfect for family meals, dinner parties and many other events alike. This dish is tasty both freshly made and as a leftover. This recipe can feed up to 8-10 people. These instructions will include the kitchen equipment needed, the ingredients, and the steps to create this delicious dish. I recommend this recipe for people with at least 2-3 years of cooking experience. I hope you find these set of instructions easy to understand and I hope you enjoy my Grandma's Homemade Lasagna!

Needed Kitchen Equipment

• Can opener
• Large cooking pot
• Large pasta pot
• Casserole dish
• Mixing bowls
• Knife
• Cutting board
• Spatula
• Mixing Spoon
• Large Colander
• Measuring cups

Meat Mixture

• 5 cloves of garlic
• 4 medium onions
• 1 pound of ground chuck
• 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil

Sauce

• 2-12 ounce Hunt's tomato paste
• 1-15 ounce Hunt's tomato sauce
• 4 cups of water
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of chili powder
• 5 drops of Tabasco sauce
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup of Heinz Chili Sauce
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons of Italian seasoning

Cheese Mixture

• 1 pound of Kraft shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1- 16 ounce container of small curd cottage cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon of parsley

Miscellaneous

• 1 pound of Barilla lasagna noodles
• 1/2 cup of Parmesan Cheese

Sauce

1. Chop the garlic and the onions into quarter inch pieces.
2. Place the chopped garlic cloves and onions into a large pot with Olive Oil.
3. Saute vegetables on medium heat until garlic and onions are tender, do not allow to scorch.
4. Add the ground chuck to the onion/garlic mixture and cook on medium heat until brown on the outside.
5. Use the large spatula, spoon the Hunt’s tomato paste and tomato sauce into the meat mixture.
6. Pour warm water into the sauce to keep it from becoming too thick from the cooking process.
7. Turn heat to medium high heat to begin cooking.
8. After sauce begins to simmer, add sugar, chili powder, Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, hot ketchup, bay leaves, and Italian seasoning.
9. Reduce heat to medium after sauce begins bubble.
10. Cook for two hours on medium and stir to avoid sticking/burning.
11. Remove the bay leaves using the mixing spoon
12. Set aside for the lasagna construction.

Cheese Mixture

1. In a large mixing bowl, Add mozzarella, cottage cheese, egg, and parsley into a mixing bowl.
2. Mix thoroughly.
3. Add water by the tablespoon to make it easier to handle, you should be able to spoon and spread the mixture.
4. Set aside for the lasagna construction.

Lasagna

1. Boil the lasagna in a large pasta pot until they are tender.
2. Drain the lasagna using a large colander and allow the noodles to cool before handling.
3. Carefully lay the noodles on a piece of aluminum foil to keep from sticking.
4. Set aside for the lasagna construction.

1. Before building the lasagna, turn the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Begin building the lasagna in a 9" x 13" casserole dish with a layer of noodles.
3. Add a layer of the sauce.Add a layer of the cheese mixture.
4. Repeat the layering (noodles > sauce > cheese).
5. Continue layering until the dish is full, ending with a sauce layer.
6. Top the lasagna with grated Parmesan cheese.
7. Cover with foil.
8. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour or when the edges of the lasagna are bubbling.
9. Stick a knife into the center of the lasagna and check that it is hot.
10. Remove the foil and continue to bake for 5-10 minutes to melt the top layer of Parmesan cheese.
11. Once the cheese is melted, remove the lasagna and allow it to cool for 10-15 minutes before cutting it.

This recipe can be doubled or tripled. Additionally, the lasagna can be put in the freezer to preserve it up to a month. If freezing, cover with wax paper or clear wrap before covering with aluminum foil. When baking frozen lasagna, take out of freezer and allow to thaw overnight before baking.