I Got Bit

So, imagine this:

It's the hottest day of the year so far.

The chill (and snow) of Winter is gone.

You're in the time where you don't need the heat, you can go without air conditioning & you might need a fan.

And you get bit.............by the cooking bug.

That's what happened to me this week folks. And I'm now just realizing just how long this week was because it felt like I cooked last week.  But it was Monday...and today is Friday.

Anyway, the first thing I cooked was a deconstructed lasagna.  I've never cooked lasagna before, primarily because it just seemed like too much work.  But a few months ago I saw someone on Food Network do an un-layered lasagna & they just broke up the lasagna noodles & put them in the baking dish. NO LAYERING.  So I decided then that I would do one like that.  I hadn't had lasagna in years so it was the perfect way to do it so that I could cook it myself and manage what went into it.

So, as I have said before, I measure nothing. Here's what I used (off the top of my head because I did this 4 days ago):


EVOO
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground sausage
1/2 onion
garlic
oregano
basil
S&P
reduced fat ricotta
fresh parsley (mixed in w/the ricotta)
1 jar of Ragu tomato sauce (tomato & basil, I think)
large fusilli pasta
some pasta water used to loosen up the sauce

I cooked the meat, & added the seasonings, then added the onion & a pinch of salt & couple grinds of pepper, waited a few min & added the garlic. Once the onions were translucent I added the Ragu. Then I mixed the ricotta and parsley in a bowl and added a little salt to that and stirred that into the mix.  Then I drained the pasta & reserved about a cup of the pasta water.  I added that to the sauce to get a consistency that looked decent to me. Then I folded in the pasta and let it cook a little on the stove top.

Then I poured it into a baking dish, topped with shredded mozzarella & Parmesan cheese & baked until the cheese melted.

Here's the finished product:

 



 

And it is mighty tasty!!! Since I used beef & pork, I can't share this with my mom, so I froze about 2/3 of it & the remains of the other 1/3 is in my fridge right now.

 

 

Next post:  Meatloaf