Last Christmas, I suggested that we have Italian for Christmas dinner with Mark’s family instead of the normal turkey and fixings. You know, the same elaborate meal we had (at three different family gatherings) a month before.
It’s not that I have anything against the traditional holiday meal. But for five adults, one picky kid and a toddler, a whole turkey carcass is a bit much.
I’m sorry. Is it wrong to say “carcass”? Believe me, I have nothing against meat. It’s the memory of turkey overload getting to me.
But anyway, Italian food is good. Specifically lasagne. Mark loves my lasagne. I’ve made it many a-time and have it pretty much down pat.
So of course, the logical thing to do would be to experiment with a new recipe.
I’d recently seen a recipe for lasagne on The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Ree called it the best lasagne ever, and more importantly, it looked easy enough to make.
And so, make it I did.
Friends, I hope you don’t mind if I tell you: There was raving at that meal. Mark’s family loved the fancy lasagne.
And by fancy, I mean it has sausage and sliced mozzarella.
I made it for the second time this weekend, and it didn’t seem quite as good. But just now, I had leftovers for dinner and Oh. My. Goodness. It was delicious!
Thank you to the Pioneer Woman for what is, yes, the best lasagne ever.
You can find the recipe at Ree’s site, but I did make a few changes. I used no-boil noodles, half as much parsley, mild sausage instead of hot, and instead of sprinkling the grated Parmesan on top, I mixed it with the cottage cheese mixture. Then I topped the lasagne with shredded mozzarella and a little bit of shredded Parmesan.
This post is part of Mouthwatering Monday. It will also be linked to Ingredient Spotlight at Eat at Home Cooks.
Spelling ‘lasagne’ with an ‘e’ on the end makes it seem even fancier. ;) And I thought it was good on Sunday (yesterday:), but of course I didn’t have it the first time or tonight as leftovers to compare. ;) Thanks for going to all that work for us! Sliced mozzarella, sheesh! :)
my hubby is italian and i’ve never had the nerve to make lasagna for him. i may try this one, though. i think i could do it. i’ll let you know! ;-)
I always love it when things get tastier with time:D And my family always has Mexican food for Christmas.
i love, love, LOVE homemade lasagna!!!
i tried a recipe for whole-wheat lasagna and it was good, but i really want to try this one now.
thanks for the link!
Pasta is one of my least favorite foods, but lasagne is probably my favorite pasta dish. My son would really like the lasagne with sausage, but my husband wouldn’t eat it. He’s really kind though and wouldn’t say anything, but instead, just pick the sausage out and set it aside. He’s a pretty healthy eater so I’m sure he’d like it plain or with spinach. The picture looks delish.
i’ll have to try that sometime, although i have to be honest: i’ll totally tweak the recipe! :-)
Chelley – you are quite welcome!
Peapod – Good luck! I’m sure he’ll love it! :)
Busy – Mmmm…Mexican would be even better. I don’t know if my family would go for that, though.
Coloraturajoy – You’re welcome. I bet you could use whole wheat pasta with this recipe!
Brenda – I was nervous about the sausage, because it doesn’t always, ahem, agree with us. But it was good! (And agreed just fine.)
Erin – Tweak away! ;)
I love PW, I am so going to have to try this recipe, thanks for sharing.
I have a question for you: I saw your comment on another blog (maybe Tam’s?) about some peoples posts not showing up completely in google reader. That got me wondering… can you read my posts completely? If not, I certainly am not doing it on purpose. Didn’t even know I had that power, HaHa! Please let me know. Thanks. :)
Brenda, I can read your whole post in Google Reader. Which I appreciate immensely. But it’s not actually a big deal with yours (for me), because I usually click over to comment anyway! :)
mmmm…thank you!!!
Okay, thanks Mary.
I luuuuurve the Pioneer Woman lasagna, but it is a weekend sort of endeavor–very time-consuming. And with just two adults, we have to eat it every meals for several days to get it all gone.
I don’t usually like hot sausage, but I find in this it doesn’t really taste hot, just gives a little extra flavor.
Looks great. I just love lasagna!
Hope you'll stop by my site for the Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash, December 14-18. Each day we'll have different events. (Recipes will be on Thursday, the 17th.) And we'll have prizes! Come by my site for more details.
I’m going to trust you on this, that it really is the World’s Best. I had a lasagna experience when I was young and I never got over it. I’ve never eaten it again either. Thanks for linking up to Ingredient Spotlight today!