My mom discovered lasagna in the late 1960s, about the same time she discovered another Italian dish – pizza. We said I-talian with a long “i” and the accent on the first syllable, our pizza assistant was Chef Boyardee, and mom’s version of lasagna culminated with pouring cans of Campbell’s condensed cheddar cheese soup over ground beef and lasagna.
After those heady days as Iowa’s I-talian cultural ambassadors, I experimented with a number of lasagna recipes that didn’t have cheddar cheese soup in the ingredient list. Gradually, I perfected my recipe. Not too long ago, Anne asked for my recipe, which she refers to as “Mom’s Lasagna.”
In deference to Anne, here is the recipe for this mom’s lasagna. But if you have a good one, I’m willing to give it a try. Just type it in the comment box if you like. Unless cheddar cheese soup is one of the ingredients. I know what that one tastes like, thanks to my mom’s lasagna. It was way I-talian.
Mom’s Lasagna
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork sausage
16 ounce can tomato sauce
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
12 ounces cottage or ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
8 ounces lasagna noodles
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown meat in a skillet. Drain and rinse to remove fat. Return to skillet and add onions and green pepper. Saute for 2-3 minutes. Add crushed garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and tomato sauce. Stir well and bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer uncovered.
While meat sauce simmers, cook noodles according to package directions. Drain in a colander and rinse with cold water.
Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray. Arrange 1/3 of lasagna noodles in bottom of pan. Spread with 1/3 of meat mixture, 1/3 of cottage or ricotta cheese, and 1/3 of mozzarella. Repeat two more times. Bake uncovered for 1/2 hour.
(I always make a double or quadruple batch and freeze several pans.)
