What's cooking. Good looking.

As some of you may recall, Mr. O and I have designated Wednesday night as the one weeknight we set aside for ultimate quality time. Due to our love of Italian food and the hundreds of recipes Mr. O has accumulated from Italianfoodforever.com and cook books, the Wednesday “date night” has become our time to cook* yummy Italian food together.

*Coming clean: I must admit the last few Wednesdays we ate Olive Garden and Dignoro’s pizza (It really does taste better than delivery)… oops!

Last Wednesday, a culinary masterpiece was created in Mr. O’s kitchen. Not to toot my own horn, but, this recipe for lasagna will hands down produce the best “Italian layer cake” you will ever eat… EVAAAAAAH!!!hehe.

I took notes and pictures as we went along, here it is…

Future Mrs. O's Yummy Lasagna

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped fine

1-1/4 pound ground beef

1 pound ricotta cheese*

2 large eggs, beaten lightly
5 cups marinara sauce

4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese*
3/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese*
1 box of no-boil lasgana noodles

This recipe was created by yours truly so that meant more cheese!!!
(BTW, I am lactose intolerant but can’t kick my fiendish tendencies towards cheese)

1.Preheat oven to 375°F. Heat olive oil in a medium sautè pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until soft and translucent about 5 minutes. Add ground beef and cook until browned through about 10 minutes. Drain excess fat.

2. Place ricotta cheese and eggs in a bowl, and stir together until well combined.

(whip it. whip it real good.)

3. Spread 1 cup sauce over bottom of a 13x9-inch glass baking dish. Cover with a layer of 3 to 4 lasagna noodles, overlaping slightly to fit. Spread 1/3 of the ricotta mixture on the noodles, top with 1/3 of the cooked ground beef. Sprinkle 1 cup of the mozzarella over the ground beef. Top with 1 cup of the marinara sauce, sprinkle 1/4 cup of pecorino romano and top with a layer of lasagna noodles. Repeat this 2 more times. Cover the final layer of lasagna noodles with the remaining marinara sauce and sprinkle remaining cup of mozzarella on top.

4. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil, place in oven and cook for 60 minutes. Remove foil and cook until cheese is melted about 5 minutes more. Remove from oven and let sit 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

5. Enjoy with a nice cold beverage!

(Note to self: limit Mr.O's orange soda intake... 15 minutes after consuming this deliciousness he sang "Can't We Be Sweethearts" by The Cleftones, over and over again.)

BUON APPETITO!

Love,

~ Future Mrs. O