Day 7: Mom's Lasagna

Cooking hasn't always been easy for me. Growing up, mom hated to cook. She cooked because we needed to eat to survive. As a result, I didn't learn much about techniques or spices or anything cooking related. When I got married, if it came out of a box or a can I could (kind of) cook it. I can't tell you how many refrigerator biscuits I burned. I didn't know the first thing about cooking from scratch. I was the one that could burn water. After a few years of tater tot casserole (yuck) I got my hands on a great cooking magazine. I slowly learned to cook healthier and better tasting meals. I realized how much money I could save by cooking from scratch. And in the process, I learned to love to cook. It is exciting to add new spices, try new recipes and modify old ones so they taste even better. I still have a lot to learn, and chef school is in the plans in a few years.

This lasagna recipe is a favorite of my family. Mom's original recipe was very basic. It used ground beef, lasagna noodles, pasta sauce and some cheese. Over the years, I have added to it and I think the flavor is very good. If you like a meaty, cheesy, hearty lasagna then this one is for you. I don't really measure the ingredients, especially the spices. I figure if it smells good it will taste good. So here goes....

Mom's Lasagna

12" dutch oven

2 lbs. ground beef

1 onion, chopped

4 cloves minced garlic

2 jars spaghetti sauce

lasagna noodles (oven ready)

1 lg. carton cottage cheese

1 egg

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Italian seasoning

Mozzarella cheese, shredded

In your D.O., cook the ground beef, onion and garlic until the meat is no longer pink. I used about 25 coals. Remove the meat to a bowl, drain off the grease and add the spaghetti sauce to the meat; mix well. While the meat cooks, mix the cottage cheese, egg, Parmesan and Italian seasoning; set aside. Put a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of the d.o. Put a layer of lasagna noodles next. I just broke them to make them fit in the pan. Next add a layer of cottage cheese, a layer of meat and a layer of mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers in the same order (noodles, cottage cheese, meat, mozzarella). Bake with 10 bottom coals and 14 top coals for 45 min. to 1 hour.

The Finished Product

What I Learned

I learned that Kingsford briquettes are the ones to use. I finally ran out of the store brand that I had been using and bought Kingsford. They light better, are ready faster (15 minutes instead of 30), and they hold their heat longer. I think the charcoal I was using has been some of the problem I've had with heat. I have also never cooked with charcoal until this month, so I didn't know what it was supposed to look like when it was ready to cook with. Slowly but surely I am figuring all this out! :)

The review

I have to confess, this recipe is one of the very few I have used in a D.O. before, so I knew it worked well. It is great with Parmesan bread sticks or rolls, which I will try in the D.O. next time I make this lasagna. The D.O. really adds to the flavor of this dish. This recipe is also really easy to reduce. I cook for an army, but it could easily be made in a smaller D.O.