Ellie & Elizabeth

Lasagna. Oh, how I love you. With garlic bread on a cold night. But only my momma's recipe will do.

Hubby has always loved it and it was the very first meal I cooked for my in-laws when Hubby and I had them over for dinner just after we married. Everything was perfect.

I just didn't account for the glass shards.

I really wasn't trying to kill my father-in-law. OK, 'killed' might be a little dramatic, but you'll get the picture...

I had just started cooking and could only make three recipes. My kitchen was the smallest, ugliest kitchen you could ever have but I loved it because it was all mine. I had scrubbed the white metal cabinets (all 3 of them) until they shined and vacuumed the old brown carpet in the dining room/breakfast room/family room (ok, there was only one room). The only table we had was set. The TV (which sat on a 2 x 4 board balanced on two paint cans hidden by a piece of fabric) sat across from our white couches that we were able to buy when we sold one of our cars. (No one said that the baby that would arrive a few years later would not be so kind to white couches). We had no curtains, no pictures on the bland vanilla walls, not much of anything in that little two bedroom apartment, actually, but we didn't care.

To outside eyes, the place was probably pitiful, but to me, it was our first home and I was so happy to have it.

In the rush to make everything 'perfect' for our dinner, I turned too quickly and an empty glass bowl slipped out of my hands. It broke into a gazillion pieces. Shew, good thing I had a spare to put the salad in! I quickly cleaned up the mess just as my in-laws arrived. Everything was going fabulous and the lasagna was divine.

Until.

New father-in-law had a major 'crunch' going on in his lasagna.

Lasagna should never be crunchy.

His eyes got a wide as he spit out a piece of glass.

Oh dear. My eyes got wide too.

It seems that when that bowl shattered in that tiny kitchen, a few pieces of it flew into the lasagna.

And ended up in my father-in-law's mouth.

You really can't play off a piece of glass in someone's lasagna. I mean, I had no kids to blame it on yet, no pets.

It's really not like an 'oopsie, sorry that I about lacerated your esophagus' kind of moment.

Thankfully everyone laughed it off since there were no injuries (as they slowly backed away from the remaining lasagna). I mean, really, if you think about it, that could've ended up REALLY BAD. Needless to say, it happened over 20 years ago and I still get kidded about it two or three times a year.

So, if you are brave enough, here is the recipe that has been talked about for decades...just omit the glass please. :) Without it, it truly is delish and is what I usually make for birthday and Christmas Eve dinners. I think the secret ingredient is the sour cream...

INGREDIENTS:

LASAGNA NOODLES (Mom's directions say 1/3 package...you'll need 9 noodles layered in a 9 x 13 pan, I always have some noodles that fall apart so I cook extra just in case)

SOUR CREAM - 1/2 PINT (I never know how much a pint is, just buy a small container)

MOZZARELLA CHEESE - (I BUY 3 PACKS OF THE 6 OZ. SLICES) ENOUGH TO COVER 3 LAYERS OF NOODLES

PARMESAN CHEESE

SAUCE:

1 LB HOT SAUSAGE

1 ONION (you can buy the frozen version already chopped!)

1 CAN DICED TOMATOES (14 oz) - I love Hunt's Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes

1 CAN TOMATO SAUCE (14 oz)

1 TBSP SUGAR

1/2 TSP. SALT

1 TSP. BASIL

DASH OF GARLIC

***IF YOU ARE IN A HURRY AND DON'T WANT TO MAKE YOUR OWN SAUCE, I SOMETIMES CHEAT AND USE 1 JAR OF BERTOLLI'S OLIVE OIL AND GARLIC SPAGHETTI SAUCE AND I ADD A CAN OF TOMATOES AND THE COOKED SAUSAGE TO IT. INSTANT SAUCE!

DIRECTIONS:

Brown the sausage and onion; Add the tomatoes and tomato sauce, sugar, salt, basil and garlic; Cover and simmer. Give it time, it's more yummy that way.

Cook the noodles according to the package directions.

Make three layers in a 9 x 13 glass pan: Start with 3 noodles (or however many you need to cover the bottom of the pan), smooth 1/3 of the sour cream onto the noodles as if you are generously buttering bread; Layer mozzarella cheese slices over the noodles and sour cream. Add 1/3 of the tomato mixture on top of the cheese, then sprinkle sauce with parmesan cheese. Repeat three times.

Cook @ 350 degrees for 30 minutes uncovered.

I usually serve with garlic bread and a caesar salad. So good.

I hope you have time to try it.

Love,

Elizabeth

P.S. - I hope to get a system in the future where if you comment and I answer you, you will get an email letting you know. Right now, unfortunately, you just have to check back to the post you commented on if you want to see my response. I tried emailing everyone my answers, and it soon got so time consuming that I couldn't consistently do that. Sorry for the trouble, I hope down the road it will be more efficient. Have a great day!