Lasagne

My son was having his little friend for a sleep over tonight and I actually had the foresight to ask him what he likes to eat.  He said that lasagne was his "favorite thing in the world".  He was in luck because we haven't had lasagne in awhile and...I happen to make a mean lasagne.  It's my Dad's recipe and never disappoints! 

Pretty simple ingredients: hamburger, pork sausage, tomatoes, tomato paste, a couple different cheeses and a few spices.

Brown the meats separately, and then add in the tomatoes, tomato paste and all the spices.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes.

I have absolutely no patience for boiling lasagne noodles and then ever so carefully pulling them out of scalding water with tongs, just to have them rip apart as I am trying to lift them out.  No thanks.

 I buy these oven ready ones and they go straight from the box into the dish!  Just like the box says: 'cuts preparation time in half'!

Start with a layer of the noodles, then add some meat sauce, the ricotta parmesan mixture, and then a nice dose of the mozzarella.  Repeat three times.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes and let stand for 15 minutes when it's finished so it will firm up.

 There was only two pieces of this left when dinner was finished.  My son's friend said it was the best meal he'd ever had, even better than Mcdonald's.  That's a 7 yr old for ya!

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for the recipe

Fettuccine Bolognese

Pictures do NOT do this dish justice!  Although it looks like traditional spaghetti sauce, bolognese sauce tastes totally different, and I must say, everyone loved it!  There's a little bit of everything in this dish... wine, milk, red pepper, parsley and nutmeg to name a few.

The simple ingredients were inexpensive and most of them, I already had on hand.  Do use the fresh oregano over the dried.  I definitely think that had an impact on the taste!

 

The recipe calls for chopped pancetta.  I tried to chop it up with a knife... not so much.  The food processor is definitely the way to go!

Start by cooking down all the vegetables for about 15 minutes, then add the rest of the ingredients.  Talk about an easy dinner!

This made enough to serve four adults and two kids with a little left over.  It was so flavorful, I couldn't believe it!

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for the recipe

You can even make this sauce ahead and freeze it... perfect for those busy evenings!

Spaghetti with Tomato & Basil

This dinner is so easy to make and cooks up quickly!  It's a great meal for those busy evenings when you get home late and don't have alot of time to fix dinner. 

As you can see, the entire meal is just a few things: tomatoes, red pepper flakes, bread, salad, garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and basil.

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for the recipe

Start by boiling the water for the spaghetti.  While it boils, chop up the tomatoes and tear apart the basil.

Sautee the olive oil, garlic and red pepper flakes for just over a minute.  Add the tomatoes and cook, boiling, for 5 minutes more.  Add cooked spaghetti, toss.  Add basil, toss again, transfer to serving bowl.

The entire dinner took me 15 minutes to make!  The red pepper flakes give the noodles an unexpected pop.  As you can see, I served this with Caesar salad and French bread with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  I forgot to grab some wine, so ice water it was!