Sundried Tomato Lasagna

 

*needs perfected. Maybe save all the sun-dried tomatoes for garnish. 

If you can handle the prep, which is thoughtless, if you just follow the steps, the cooking is a breeze.

Use noodles that don't need parboiled, and it's even easier!

Makes two 13x9 inch cake pans worth of lasagna. Serves about 18.

Ingredients for the meat sauce layer:

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp EVOO
• 1 onion, diced
• 1/4 cup dry white cooking wine
• four 8 ounce jars sundried tomatoes, like "Mezzetta" 
• 28 ounce can diced tomatoes.
• 6 ounce can tomato paste, like "Hunt's basil, garlic & oregano"
• 1 cup water
• 1 ounce fresh minced oregano
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 grated carrots
• 2 celery ribs, diced
• 1 tsp salt

Ingredients for the white sauce layer:

• 1 can spinach
• 3 ounces fresh basil
• 2 packages grated parmesan cheese, like "Bella Rosa"
• 16 ounces Ricotta cheese, or 1 recipe homemade cottage cheese
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tbsp garlic powder

Assembly:

• 2 pounds lasagna, like "Stonewall Kitchen" Montebello, or "Bionaturae" 
  

Topping:

• 1 pound shredded mozzarella

Equipment:

• Large magic bullet
• several small and medium bowls, or deli containers (for prep)
• two 13/9 inch nonstick steel cake pans with plastic lids
• large cutting board
• sharp knife
• Measuring spoons
• Measuring cups
• large pot to boil noodles
• A colander and a large bowl for straining noodles
• A pasta spoon server
• large ceramic-coated cast iron skillet for frying
• birch spatula for sautéing
• 2 large bowls for holding meat sauce and white sauce
• enough aluminum foil to cover both of the cake pans

Prep: (very manageable. don't be afraid).

1. add your butter and EVOO to the skillet, but don't turn on the heat.
2. Peel, trim and grate the carrot and place it into a medium bowl. set aside.
3. rinse, trim and slice the celery. add it to another medium bowl, and set aside.
4. peel and dice the onion. add it to another medium bowl. set aside.
5. rinse and de-stem your basil. add it to a separate bowl. set aside. 
6. rinse and de-stem your oregano. add it to a separate bowl. set aside. 
7. open and drain your spinach. set aside. 
8. open your tomato paste, and diced tomatoes. set aside. 
9. in individual containers, measure out your white wine, cream, and water. set aside. 
10. in one container for the meat sauce, and one container for the white sauce, measure out your dried spices (they're both the same). set aside.
11. open the parmesan and pour it into a medium bowl. set aside. 
12. Get out the Ricotta, or cottage cheese, and your 2 jars of sundried tomatoes. Open the containers. Drain the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes. Set aside. 
13. Divide the mozzarella into two 8 ounce portions, and place it into separate bowls. set aside. 
14. open your box(es) of lasagna. set aside. 
15. in a magic bullet, blend the spinach and basil into a puree and place it into a medium bowl. set aside.
16. in a large magic bullet, blend the sundried tomatoes, oregano and 1 cup water, and place them into a medium bowl. set aside. 
17. open the beef and place it directly into the skillet for frying.

Directions for the meat sauce:

1. fry the beef, onion, celery, carrot, butter, and EVOO on medium-high heat (stirring occasionally), for 15 minutes. 
2. deglaze the pan with wine, water and tomato paste. Stir well. Remove from heat.
3. In a large bowl, add diced tomatoes, and sundried-tomato/oregano mixture.
4. add the meat sauce and the dried spices. Stir well. 

Directions for the white sauce:

1. In a large bowl, combine the spinach/basil mixture, along with the Ricotta (or cottage cheese), parmesan cheese, cream, and spices. Stir well. 

Directions for the lasagna noodles:

1. If you're using the Stonewall Kitchen noodles, you don't have to parboil them. Otherwise...
2. In a large pot, bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. 
3. add lasagna and boil for 4 minutes (or according to package directions). 
4. scoop out the noodles with a pasta spoon, and transfer them to a colander over another bowl to catch the excess water. 
5. carry the colander of noodles (with bowl underneath) to the sink. Remove the under bowl, and allow cold water to run over the lasagna noodles through the colander into the sink. 
6. empty any pasta water that ran into the under bowl, and transfer the lasagna noodles to it. 

Assembly:

1. In each of the cake pans, spread 1/2 cup of meat sauce all over the bottom for your first layer. 
2. Then add 3 lasagna noodles to each pan.
3. for the next layer, add 6 tablespoons of the white sauce to each of the pans. spread gently. 
4. add 3 more lasagna noodles to each pan. 
5. repeat until all of your pans are full, or until all of your ingredients run out. Note: Try to plan it to where your last layer has meat sauce on top of the white sauce with no lasagna in between.
6. If you have excess meat sauce, you can scoop it into the edges (as space permits), and down the cracks.
7. Top each lasagna with 8 ounces of shredded mozzarella cheese.

Bake:

1. cover each lasagna with aluminum foil, and bake (not preheated) at 400 degrees for 50 minutes. 
2. Remove foil, and broil until cheese is lightly browned. 3-5 minutes.

Serve:

1. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
2. cut each lasagna into 9 even pieces. 
3. serve immediately. 
4. allow remainder to cool completely before covering with plastic lids and storing in the refrigerator.