New Year’s Day Lasagna

It was New Year’s Day and we thought, What would be fun to make today? Sous vide steak! Off to the butcher we went for a good cut of beef, but it was closed. New plan: lasagna with meat sauce.  We could get everything we needed at the supermarket. At home, we assembled all the ingredients.

 Annie put on her goggles so that her eyes wouldn’t water when she cut the onions.

The lasagna was awesome, Liza thought, and put aside her crocheting to have a big piece.

Annie said she’d rather have scrambled eggs.

–Liza and Annie

Martha Stewart’s Lasagna with Meat Sauce

https://www.marthastewart.com/1532365/lasagna-meat-sauce

Ingredients

Meat Sauce

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3/4 pound 85-percent lean ground beef
• 3/4 pound sweet Italian sausage, removed from casing
• 1 medium onion, chopped (1 1/2 cups)
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped (3/4 cup)
• 2 celery stalks, chopped (3/4 cup)
• Kosher salt
• 6 garlic cloves, minced (2 tablespoons)
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 cans (28 ounces each) whole peeled tomatoes in juice

Cheese Mixture

• 24 ounces whole-milk ricotta (3 cups)
• 1 cup whole milk
• 3 large eggs
• 4 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated (1 1/4 cups)
• 1 pound low-moisture mozzarella, shredded (4 cups)
• 3/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Assembly

• 18 dry lasagna noodles

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Meat Sauce: Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high. Add beef, sausage, onion, carrots, celery, and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring occasionally and breaking up meat into bite-size pieces, until vegetables soften and meat has browned, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, and red-pepper flakes; cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Add tomato paste; cook 2 minutes more. Puree tomatoes in a blender or food processor; add to pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced and thickened slightly but still very loose, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Cheese Mixture: In a large bowl, whisk together ricotta, milk, eggs, 1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, 2 1/2 cups mozzarella, parsley, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
• Assembly: Spread 2 cups meat sauce evenly in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, preferably ceramic or enameled cast iron. Arrange 3 lasagna noodles over sauce (space noodles evenly; they will expand as the lasagna cooks). Spread 2 cups cheese mixture over noodles; top with 3 more noodles. Repeat layering of meat and cheese mixtures between noodles twice more. Spread 2 cups meat sauce evenly over top layer of noodles. Sprinkle evenly with remaining 1 1/2 cups mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano. Loosely cover with parchment-lined foil and transfer to a rimmed baking sheet.
• Bake until noodles are tender but still al dente (easily pierced with the tip of a knife), 40 to 45 minutes. Uncover; continue baking until bubbly and puffed slightly along edges and golden brown in places on top, 20 to 25 minutes more. (There may appear to be a lot of liquid in the dish. It will be absorbed as the lasagna cools.) Transfer dish to a wire rack and let cool slightly and set, about 20 minutes; cut into squares to serve.