Meat Lasagna - European Style

The key to making a great European-style lasagna is your meat sauce, it has to be packed with flavor. Now you need a heavy-duty stockpot for this as you'll need to get this very very hot first, the oil will start to smoke, and a thin pot will have somebody call the Fire Department in no time. Get some nice white onions and dice them up rather small with a chef's knife, have some crushed garlic on the side and when that pot is hot enough put your onions in and a spoonful or two of the garlic. Now whenever any recipe calls for onions always sautee them first so as to bring out their flavor, 5 minutes or so. So you have your ground beef, not too lean 'cause you want that fat, and you put all that into your pot and mix it all up with a wooden spoon so it cooks thoroughly. Now you add your spices, salt and pepper, garlic powder, crushed oregano and parsley flakes, a few packets of Goya Sazon, really anything you can come up with, even some Italian dressing. When the meat sauce is almost done as it begins to turn brown add some cans of crushed tomatoes, some diced tomatoes, I like Del Monte with the basil/garlic/oregano blend, and a small can of tomato paste, depending on how much you're making you be the judge on how much. So the meat sauce takes a while but not too long either 'cause it's going to get cooked again when you put your lasagna in the oven. Meat sauce done so pour it into a colander over the sink but not too long, you want to save that fat, and when you're done straining pour it into a long hotel pan. Now you have another hotel pan and you ladle some marinara sauce on the bottom and spread it around, next I add my lasagna noodles, I tend to prefer the big industrial ones but no matter, and into your first layer you spread your meat around, then add your dollops of ricotta cheese in rows and then sprinkle in your shredded mozzarella and don't be bashful here, next spritz on some parmesan cheese, then add another layer of lasagna noodles and repeat the next layer as you did the first. When you're done adding your last noodles to form the top very important to spread some more marinara sauce all around else it will crack when you bake it and lastly spritz on some more parmesan, get a bakery sheet or parchment paper and put that on top and lastly some aluminum foil. If you don't add the paper some bits of the foil will flake off and you don't want that. You have your oven set to 350 or 375 degrees if you life and I bake it off for at least 50 minutes, better a little too long than too short, you want that mozzarella to melt. Take it out and let it cool on the side for about 1/2 hour before putting it in the 'fridge if you're not gonna eat it right away. A word about bay leaves which many chefs like to use when their meat sauce is simmering, when putting together your lasagna always take them out of your meat sauce as they're not really edible and people can choke, their use is purely for the flavor. Bon Appetit!