Sloppy Lasagna

While sitting at home one afternoon watching the Food Network (one of my favorite TV shows btw) I saw Rachel Ray cooking up what looked to be such an easy recipe for lasagna. I decided then and there that I wanted lasagna for dinner that night! The picture to the right is the final product, and the picture below is a good cheap vino blanc that I bought at Wal-Mart that complements the dish quite nicely. I had to call my mom to tell her how great this turned out. It felt like a sin to eat it because it was soooo good!!

There's actually a funny story that goes along with this Sauvignon Blanc... So, when a recipe calls for wine, I usually leave it out. One. Because I don't drink wine. & Two. It can be expensive. This time I decided to be fancy and include the wine. I got home, started cooking up the sauce, and when it was time to add the wine, I picked up the bottle and started to screw off the top. SIKE, this bottle had a cork and I didn't think to get a bottle opener. Ugh... I tried a knife, a screw.. nothing  worked! I took my pot off the stove, grabbed my keys, jetted off
to the nearest store, and picked up the first wine bottle opener I could find. I got back home and proceeded to open the bottle. Little do I know about opening a wine bottle... I tried and tried, and after feeling less intelligent than the day before, I looked up directions on the web as to how to open a wine bottle with a wine bottle opener.  Geeze.. finally open... and measured one cup and stirred it in. I saved the cork as a souvenir, but by this time I had to pour myself a glass... and breathe!

Of course I never, and I repeat, NEVER follow a recipe verbatim. You can find Rachel Ray's Sloppy Lasagna recipe on Food Network.com. But if you want to feel the same way I felt after tasting my lasagna for the first time, then follow my recipe below. ENJOY!

Ingredients

1 pound curly edge lasagna noodles

Salt & Pepper

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1.5 pounds ground beef or chicken or turkey

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 small carrot, grated or finely chopped

1 tablespoon minced garlic

10-14  oz can spaghetti sauce, garden variety

10-14 oz can chopped spinach

10-14 oz can chopped tomatoes

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp paprika

2 pinches ground cinnamon

1 pinch nutmeg

1 pinch cayenne pepper

1 cup white wine (Sauvignon Blanc)

4 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella

8 oz fresh ricotta cheese

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium heat. Break all of the pasta sheets into irregular, larger than single bite-sized pieces. Salt the water, then add the pasta and cook to a little shy of al dente. Drain and set aside in a large bowl.

Heat the extra-virgin olive oil in a heavy bottomed pot or large skillet over medium heat. Brown the meat, stirring for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the onions and grated carrot. Stir and cook a few minutes to soften, then add the garlic, oregano, paprika, cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne pepper and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for a couple of minutes, then stir in the spaghetti sauce and tomatoes, let simmer for a few minutes then add the wine. Reduce the heat to a simmer.

While the sauce simmers, in a medium sauce pot, melt the butter over medium heat and whisk in the flour. Cook for 1 minute, then whisk in the milk, and season with salt, pepper, to taste. Let cook for a couple of minutes to thicken, whisking continuously, then stir in 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese and ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese, turn off the heat.

Heat a broiler.

Add the meat sauce to the bowl with the pasta and toss. Layer half of the pasta into a lasagna pan (9x13) and scatter with dollops of fresh ricotta cheese. Next scatter a layer of Spanish and top with half of the white cream sauce. Top with remaining pasta. Pour the white sauce over the pasta and scatter the remaining 1 cup of the grated Parmesan and mozzarella over the top. Put under the broiler to brown and bubble. Remove from the broiler and serve.