Lasagna

Food to make the tastebuds happy.

Tonight I'm making lasagna. If you want to join in at home, here's the recipe.

You need:
Edibles:
28 oz. can Italian tomatoes (I prefer crushed; plain or seasoned is okay)
8 oz. can tomato sauce (not paste)
1 bulb fresh garlic
15 oz. tub ricotta cheese
1 can grated parmesan cheese
8 oz. package shredded mozzarella cheese
1.5 lb ground beef (at least 85/15; anything less is a waste)
1 package lasagna noodles (regular or oven-ready)
oregano
salt & pepper
olive oil

Equipment:
large frying pan with lid
9" x 13" pan (rectangular cake pan or similarly-sized casserole)
measuring cup
oven with stovetop
the usual gang of utensils

Peel apart the bulb of garlic and dice 2-3 peeled cloves (note: you can use more. It's not really possible to overdo garlic, if you like it as much as I do).
Brown the diced garlic in a dollop of olive oil over medium heat.
Add the beef; cook until brown. Drain the fat.
Reduce heat to medium-low, add tomatoes, sauce, tablespoon of oregano, whiff of salt & pepper.
Simmer 30-45 minutes. Kitchen, house will eventually reek (in a delightful way) of garlic.

Sit out the cheeses (especially the ricotta) so they can soften.

Noodles: if regular, boil and drain. If oven-ready, simply open box.

Lasagna construction:
In cake pan, from the bottom --
1 - 1.5 cups meat sauce
2 - one layer of noodles (3 if really wide, 4 if not)
3 - half of ricotta cheese
4 - 1/3 cup of parmesan
5 - 1/3 package of mozzarella
6 - another 1.5 cups of meat sauce
7 - another layer of noodles
8 - remainder of ricotta
9 - 1/3 cup of parmesan
10 - 1/3 package of mozzarella
11 - remainder of meat sauce
12 - last 1/3 of mozzarella
13 - at least 1/3 cup of parmesan (pile it on at will)

Bake at 350º F for 1 hour 15 minutes. Let stand 15-30 minutes before serving.

Refrigerate leftovers and enjoy again tomorrow, when the sauce has had time to congeal a bit, adding some mechanical strength with no loss of flavor.