Italian Lasagna

  Lasagna-soon I'll do a step by step version
Ingredients
12 Lasagna noodles
12 ounces of ricotta cheese mixed with 1 egg
1 lb mozzarella grated
1 1/3 lb of 15 % ground beef
2-15 ounce cans of tomato sauce
1/2 tsp Salt
Few turns of Pepper
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Paprika
2 tbsp Basil
1 1/2 tbsp Thyme
2 tsp Oregano
2 tbsp Rosemary
1 small sweet onion, chopped up
4-5 roasted garlic cloves is a nice addition *

*This is done by oven roasting for 35 minutes at 350 degrees F.  Take the head of garlic, and remove some of the exterior papery leaves.  Cut off the top of the head, exposing the tips of the ends of the garlic cloves inside.  Next drizzle a little olive oil and salt and pepper on them, and cover tightly with foil. 

When done, use a paper towel, because they are hot, and squeeze from the bottom of the head, and all the cloves will fall out for use-much milder than fresh garlic.


Directions:
Saute the onions in large pan with olive oil, salt a little & pepper a little, then remove to a bowl.

Saute the burger in a pan large enough to hold entire sauce when you're done.  Cook until the meat is done.  Using a baster, use it to remove the excess oil from the ground beef.  Add the onions back in, plus the tomato sauces, garlic and the herbs.  Simmer for at least 20 minutes.

Grate your mozzarella.

Boil your lasagna noodles for 8-10 minutes in boiling water, remove, drain.  Normally I would not recommend rinsing your pasta, however, if left un-rinsed, they stick together, and they are too warm to work with as well, so I rinse, and have no problem in this recipe.

Now that all your ingredients are ready, you are ready to assemble.  

Place a small amount of the meat mixture in the bottom of an 8 inch x 8 inch square baking pan.  This is to keep the bottom noodles moist, and ensure it comes out clean.  The lasagna noodles are larger than the pan, so I use a pizza cutter to make them the correct length.  I use 4 noodles across the bottom.  Next add 1/3 of the ricotta and egg mixture, spread evenly over the noodles.  I find an offset spatula works well for this.  Next, 1/3 of the meat sauce is spread out evenly over the ricotta.  Then add 1/3 of the mozzarella that you grated-spread out as evenly as possible.  Now add more noodles, and press down a little to fill in any air holes.  Do 2 more layers like above.

This will give you a thick tasty lasagna.  At this point, it can be refrigerated until you're ready to cook it.

When ready, if refrigerated first, remove from refrigerator 15-20 before it goes in to come to room temperature.  Cover with foil, and bake at 350 degrees F for 45minutes to 1 hour.  During the last 1/2 hour, remove the foil.  When done, let cool for 15 minutes.

Serve with a nice salad and garlic bread-yummy.