I got the recipe from Michael Chu who ran a once very popular website named Cooking for Engineers. In its heyday there were some really great articles and community threads. The testing on cooking bacon and the discussion that followed stand out. The website still exists. Participation is way down. When it fails from time to time it takes a while to come back up. Archive.org works. The core recipe is here
The recipe card that Michael developed (shown at the bottom) is brilliant. He hold and maintains the copyright so I shan’t copy it. I’ve asked. He said no.
My modifications to the posted recipe are pretty minor. I puree (per Jacques Pepin) the garlic rather than mincing it. In my market the “mild Italian sausage” is really hard to get out of the casing, so I use Jimmy Dean mild bulk sausage. Sometimes I use 50/50 mild and hot, as I do when I make pasta sauce. I use lowfat half-and-half instead of heavy cream. Puree tomato is not readily available to me so I use sauce, usually Hunts. I have a rotary cheese grater that produces something between grated and shaved. In summer I use fresh basil, otherwise fresh basil dehydrated at home. I do NOT use oven-ready lasagna pasta; I don’t like it. I cook mine. Accordingly I lay out the pasta in assembly and spread the ricotta mix on as a separate step. Grating mozzarella, especially fresh, is frustrating to me so I do a fine dice. I don’t buy pre-grated cheeses - I don’t like how they come out. Fussy Dave. The recipe calls for 15 min covered and 25 minutes uncovered. I do 20 min and 20 min. I think the product is a little better. In the end, I cook until I get little bubbles around the edges and it looks right.
As I noted earlier, this recipe like most is for a 9x13 casserole. That’s a lot of lasagna for two people. Double the recipe makes three 9x9 casseroles about perfectly. It makes four 8x8s but the last one will be a little deficient. For feeding the freezer I use disposable aluminum foil tins.
Lasagna is not really all that hard. I get the meat sauce started. I cook a double recipe of onion/garlic/beef/sausage/cream in a 14" skillet. That goes into a stock pot with the tomatoes and set to simmer. That isn’t time sensitive at all. The noodles get started and I make the ricotta mix. Everything will hold for a couple of hours if life gets in the way. Total contact time for a double batch is about two hours. That’s stretched out over as much as six hours for me when I have other things going on.
The 8x8s were an experiment. I’m going back to 9x9s. They work better. I use kitchen shears to trim the noodles to size.
Note the layer diagram is for the top at the top and the bottom at the bottom, so you assemble from the bottom of the diagram up.
For deep freezers and a fridge at USDA temps it takes more than a day to defrost in the fridge. 36 hours works. 48 hours is great. For reheating individual pieces I prefer a covered skillet with a little water in the bottom. The steam seems to reheat more evenly. A microwave isn’t a good answer for me. Doesn’t work well for pizza either. grin
I hope you like it. I take it along on deliveries when we leave from Annapolis or close by and my crews enjoy it. My wife likes it. Her very Italian family likes it. Her secretary likes it. If something doesn’t make sense just holler. Information is power when shared.
Friday, we shall be heading back home to Barcelona from Madrid Capital on the HIGH SPEED AVE Train. It is a nice 2 hour and 20 minute ride. The four of us (my parents and dear) had come to attend the Madrid Fusion 2021, dine out and do some retail therapy and see some dear old friends.
Had taken quite a number of photographs with a digital 35mm and so when we get home we can label them.
We just had this discussion last night over dinner! I had taken a break from mac and cheese to practice plain bechamel. Having never considered it a standalone sauce, my last few batches have changed my perspective. The kid even requested bechamel and pasta for school lunch today. Now we’re thinking about using bechamel instead of ricotta in our lasagna next time. (Has anyone used cottage cheese?) Our lasagna would take us all day before, but we have it down to about 4 hours now.
When I was a kid in the ‘burbs of Connecticut the grocery stores were very basic (no ricotta) and my mom used cottage cheese in her lasagna. I thought it was really good but I was a little kid, so. Now? I love any lasagna if it’s good, but my fave is with béchamel.
BF made BLTs tonight (sweet roll for his/rye for mine), with his homemade fries, cole slaw, and doctored up my black beans as sides. All good but all i needed was the BLT and the fries.
Last night was pastichio which I have posted pics of several times before. I did photograph pre-dinner drinks outside on a beautiful evening after a busy day though. A Last Word for me, Twisted Tea for him.
Tried a new vodka tonight. Not going to lie, I’m a sucker for a nice label. For the vodka fans out there, this is made with corn like Tito’s and has a similar taste-- just more of a bite. Enjoyable, but for the same price as Tito’s, I probably would not buy again.
To eat (yes, there’s finally food in this post) was quesadillas! Grilled chicken, onion, and a Mexican cheese blend. Delicious. Used cooking spray instead of oil. Trying to cut down on grease due to my GI issues (though what I eat does not seem to matter). Still a healthier alternative, even in a meal loaded with cheese. There was also chips, queso, salsa, and guacamole (from Costco-- we were feeling lazy).
Tonight we revisited younger nephew’s history project (GF) Mac and Cheese - in honor of the assignment finally having been completed.
Accompaniments were garlic green beans, roasted cauliflower, and air fried chicken and fake chicken dunked in highly seasoned mayo and yogurt and then breaded with panko and GF panko.
Everything was delicious!
I also made a big batch of GF bagels today for the freezer. There was a small taster bagel made - of course - to check how the batch came out - excellent!
Taco night, courtesy of leftover rotisserie chicken, tortillas I needed to use, and a jar of Doña Isabel aji amarillo paste I had tucked away.
I boosted the veggie content with quick pickled onion, radish slivers, sliced avocado, and chopped cherry tomatoes added to jarred salsa. Would make again.
I mean no disrespect, but “wow” - where is the time going? You say “we” so what is the time consumer? I have a genetic desire to help. If it’s good family time then certainly fine, but four hours is a long time. Are you counting time to watch a movie? grin Cook time? How can I help?
For entertainment value, I once changed the oil in two cars while lasagna was cooking. Mise en place works for auto mechanics also! grin
Well, we cook the ground beef like Pakistani-style keema but without all the spicing. That takes a while. Then cooking the vegetables separately. Cooking the sauce. Bake time. Small things take up time, too, like washing and drying the vegetables (bell peppers, mushrooms, etc.) Also, cleanup takes a while. I’m sure our process can be streamlined further.
, green salad, herbed sauteed asparagus. The kiddo ate veg! 
