Hoss's Famous Lasagna

Oh what an experience this was.  I turned into his um, kitchen workhorse.  He had never measured out his ingredients before so I was writing and the man who HATES to have his photo taken, suddenly went into supermodel mode and wanted to pose for pictures of every step.  I would have been annoyed at his demands had I not been laughing so hard pretending to have to take second and third photos just to get him to stand in his "pose" a little longer.  Since this will be a blog, full of photos, let me get started on the instructions.

This recipe is HUGE.  We make an aluminum turkey roaster pan and a 9x13 pan.  We like lots of leftovers since we only make this once or twice a year.  When you marvel in awe or disgust at the ingredients, remember this is a ONCE in awhile treat, nothing we eat regularly, so no comments, you got it?

(DISCLAIMER: This is my husbands recipe and he had it long before me, so I am not touching it!)

I will list the ingredients you need in a list.  The ingredients will most likely need to be divided among the different parts of the lasagna.   This is just a master list.....and boy is it a master list alright!

Meet my husband George, aka Hoss or (Geo)

3lbs ground beef
1.5 lbs mild/hot Italian sausage
3 jars spaghetti sauce of your choice
1 can whole tomatoes (use your clean hand to smoosh)
1 box Pomi strained tomatoes *or any crushed tomatoes*
6 eggs
3 lbs ricotta cheese
4.5 lbs shredded mozzarella
3/4 grated Parmesan
2 boxes of dried lasagna noodles (I recommend NOT using the "no boil")
Dried - Italian Seasoning, Basil, Oregano
1/2 cup sugar

Boil noodles.  Drizzle them with oil and lay out in a single layer, cover with foil and lay more on top, etc.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To make bolognese:
In a large pot, empty your jars of sauce.  Add a little bit of water to each jar and swirl around to get all of the sauce out and thin your sauce.  Add in 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup dried Italian seasoning, 1 tbsp garlic salt, 1 tbsp basil, 1 tbsp oregano and pepper to taste.  You can add red pepper flakes to taste if you like.  While it simmers...

Brown ground beef and Italian sausage in large skillet. Season it with...
1/4 cup dried Italian Seasoning
2 tbsp garlic salt

Make sure to break it into very small bits.  You don't want large chunks of meat in your sauce.  Well YOU might but not mine!

Drain ground meat but DO NOT RINSE, you will rinse off all of the flavorings!! Pour into your already simmering sauce.



Your spoon should stand up in it, that is when you know it is perfect!

Simmer sauce for as long as you can on a medium low temperate. Be sure to stir often as the sugar will burn on  the bottom.  Try to let simmer up to 2 hours.  This sauce simmered for 2 hours.

Showing off his um....2 handed egg whisking skills.

Cheese Layer:
3lbs ricotta
6 eggs
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/4 grated Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp dried parsley

Combine until creamy and everything is mixed completely



Sauce

Add a ladle full of sauce to the bottom of both pans.  This keeps the pasta  from sticking.  Then layer as follows:


Noodles



Sauce

noodles 

mozz cheese

sauce
noodles

ricotta mixture

mozz cheese

sauce                                                                                   

noodles

mozz cheese

grated parm

This is just my suggestion, you can layer it however you choose to.

Put larger pan on a cookie sheet for stability.  The large one will take 1hr-1.5 hrs in the oven. Keep covered until the last 20 minutes.  The small one will take 30-45 minutes, keep covered until the last 15 minutes.  After removing from the oven, let sit 10-15 minutes before cutting!

Sauce

Only missing its top layer of cheese!

Here he is in his sprinkling glory.  We had a great afternoon cooking.  Nothing can replace simple time together, laughing, singing, and laughing some more!  Thank you honey for making lasagna for my blog.  You are my best friend and my coolest buddy ever!

Happy guy eh?

This is not cheap to make but when  you consider the amount of food you get, it really works out.  You can also make 3- 9x13's. Great from the freezer!  Let thaw in the fridge overnight and pop in the oven for dinner!  We just served it with the usual suspects, salad and crusty bread!

I hope you enjoyed the photo shoot my husband roped me into.  Disguising it as a lasagna blog was clever.........he totally has an inner supermodel!!  I adore this guy...xoxo

Your "wife of a lasagna making supermodel" chefwannabe

Chris

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