Quo Just another WordPress weblog

Happy Easter

So, today was (is) Easter. Today we (I'm using "we" in a fairly loose sense seeing as -- at least I've been told -- I'm not really a Christian. I'm not really not a Christian... I'm just not totally sure. Also, for grins I would like to point out that I'm using the Royal We also) celebrate the resurection of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ from his 3 days in the ground behind a big, albeit semi-easily rolled, rock. I celebrated with (holy?) Pasta and (sacred?) Red Sauce. ..... and really good friends.

Ryan and Jen came over today at abour 2:30 this afternoon and stayed until around 8. It was a fantastic time. They got here right after I got the previously mentioned (I'm gonna go ahead and say that it's) Sacred Red Sauce on the stove all put together to simmer for 2 and a half hours. We hung out, talked, played with the new Lappys (Ryan got an iBook a few weeks ago), and genereally hung out. Then the sauce was ready, the Holy Pasta was then cooked (in not nearly enough water. Next time -- two batches), and the Lasagna of our Lord and Savior was put together. .. .... ..... I'm gonna stop with the religious referances in regards to my lasagna. I have the feeling I might eventually start to encroach on that "blasphemous" area, and I don't want to offend.

The two (yes! count them! TWO!) lasagnas were then assembled with different techniques and technitions on the various satations (the stations were: Sauce, Pasta, Cheese, More Cheese), and they were put in the oven for 40 minutes. Also to note: none of us could stop eating the sauce, because it was that damn good (if you want the recipe, here I'll put it at the end of the post -- and trust me, you want the recipe). When the lasagna came out, the garlic bread went in, 15 mintues later we feasted. It was fatabulous. The wonderful Ryan and Splediferous Jen also helped me clean my kitchen after the days long Cookfest '06. Jen is also surprisingly good at Super Mario World.

Yeah. I have nothing to say. This whole post was originally going to be some lead up to a joke about how I celebrate the resurection of the Lord with Pasta and Red Sauce, except I got carried away and put the joke at the begining and kept it going far beyond the point where it was funny while almost (but not quite) hitting the point where it was totally inapropriate. So. Go me for not being completely inapropriate. Or, maybe I was and didn't notice. I don't know. Alright, hope everyone's Easter was as good as mine was. I'll see ya'll later, and hopefully I'll have a better story to tell then.

-Jon

The Recipe (This is the recipe my Mom used to make Lasagna when I was a kid -- It's what I remember. I'm also listing the ways I changed it for today):

• Ingredients:
  • 4 8oz cans of tomato sauce -- I used garlic basil stuff, but any sauce from a can will do
  • 2 cans whole stewed tomatos -- I used sliced tomatos because I can't read. Whole tomatos are better
  • 3 cloves garlic -- I used 9
  • 3 teaspoons dried oregano -- 3 teaspoons is also known as a tablespoon, I guessed. I also added a few grinds of pepper and the same amount of dried basil
  • 2 lbs Ground Chuck -- I also added about 2/3 lb of italian sausage for that "authentic italian" flavor
  • 2 cups Diced Onion -- I used one and a half large onion, probably about 3-4 cups
  • 2 tsp. Salt - I don't know if I used quite that much... but I also added some extra when I was sautéing the onion, so it probably evened out
  • 1/3 cup Olive Oil -- it doesn't have to be good, it just has to be olive
  • Cheese -- I used less than half my Sam's Club sized Ricotta tub, about 3 cups shredded parm from Sam's and two full sized balls of Mozzarella. Those are the cheeses I suggest, but marscapone might be good along with monty-jack (pepper jack anyone?), or any other cheese you like really
• These directions are now no longer straight off hte recipe, ths is how I did it. First get a Big-Ass Pot. Put it over med-high heat and add the olive oil and onions. Sauté the onions for a while, then add the sausage. Since sausage takes a bit longer to cook, let it cook for a minute or three before adding the beef. Then add the beef. Let everything get nice and cooked (read: you don't see raw meat anymore), add the spices and garlic. Stir to combine and let cook for another minute. Add all the tomato-y goodness and the bay leaves, let simmer for 2 1/2 hours.
• 45 minutes before the simmer is over, bring a lot of water to a boil in a second Big-Ass Pot (TM) (you can't stop with just one). When it's fully boiling add 1/4 cup salt and 1 lb lasagna noodles (by the way, when I made this stuff, I doubled the sauce recipe and made 2 lbs of pasta. I still have over 1/2 the pot of sauce left -- so... there will be extra sauce, I just don't know how much when we're dealing with the original proportions. Fortunately, the sauce rocks so very hard that you won't have a hard time finding things to do with it: sauce over rice, sauce over garlic breat (super good), sauce over spaghetti, sauce in a bowl with some cheese and call it soup, whatever), cook to the manufacturers specifications. When you drain the noodles (and this is an important thing to do that we didn't), make sure you seperate them before they start to cool off and dry. They stick together, and that's not Good Eats.
• Assemble thusly: Sauce on the bottom of the pan to prevent sticking and to encourage the lasagna to be moist, dip the pasta in the sauce lay one full layer (Oh, yeah... 9x13 pan is helpful) of pasta. Spread a thin layer of the ricotta over the pasta, then hit it with some more sauce, but be easy on the sauce -- too much and your tower of pasta-cheesy-goodness will fall apart at the table (thanks to Jen for the ricotta first -- ricotta can be tricky to work with, spreading it before the sauce is down makes it much much easier). After the sauce hit it with the mozz and parm. Easy on the parm, it's strong, it's salty and it's expensive -- remember: a little goes a long way with parm. Have no fear of too much mozz (although, it will make the tower of cheesy-pasta-goodness fall apart some, it will be a cheesy fall apart as opposed to a slide over the plate fall apart that the too-much-sauce-debacle would have been). Then -- repeat as necisary.

We made two lasagnas today, one with five layers one with four. To put this in perspective, most have 3-4 layers (or so we all agreed here today), so these are some hearty lasagnas. One 3in x 5in piece was more than enough to fill a person up, so be careful with these things, they're not toys... give someone to much and you can do some damage. Alright, I've gotta hit the sack now. G'night.

P.S. No, I need help with the naming of the lappy. I asked for help, and yet instead of offering any suggestions or even words of encouragement, I get admonishment from the peanut gallery... for shame! I'M ASKING FOR HELP HERE PEOPLE!!! I NEED A NAME FOR THE LAPPY! Without a name, I don't know what kind of lappy I have. Is it a lappy that works for good? For evil? For bagels? I just don't know!