Grace's Lasagna

I pay serious homage to my dear friend and "other mother" Grace. She was an angel sent to comfort. Her cooking was fabulous and simple, feeding a large Italian family and later actually birthing one of the daughters in the station wagon. May she rest in peace.

They were real time, full of drama. The husband worked and provided but Grace, she was the savior, he never gave the recognition deserved.

This is a great recipe, I like sweet Italian sausage here. Mr.’Ps Deli has homemade sausage, cut the casing and remove, brown, set aside then add back to sauce for a rich flavor. Optionally, if you like a little twang crumble about 4oz of goat cheese into one of the middle layers.

This is made easier if you make the sauce the day before and let it chill in the fridge. Then put it all together the next day. Letting the sauce rest also helps to combine the flavors.

First make the meat sauce. Then boil the lasagna noodles. Then make the cheese mixture. Layer it thickly with lots of sauce.

Ingredients

Meat Sauce

1lb ground sweet Italian sausage, broken up into small pieces, browned, do not drain (substitute ground beef if you prefer)
1 med onion chopped
4- 6oz cans tomato paste
2- 28oz cans whole tomatoes
3 cups water
1 tsp crushed garlic
1/4 cup good red wine
1 tbsp Italian seasoning blend
salt and pepper to taste
4 eggs (optional)
1 lb lasagna noodles (Ive found that the "no-boil" lasagna noodles work good as well)

Preparation

Sauté onion in a little olive oil until translucent then add meat and brown, remove meat and leave some drippings, sauté garlic in a drippings until lightly browned.
Add tomatoes and tomato paste and remaining ingredients
Simmer for at least 4 hours, partially covered, stirring occasionally.
Optional- In the last 30 minutes eggs may be added by , just crack open and drop them in the sauce and DON'T stir, they will hard boil and be delicious.

Ingredients

Cheese Mixture

1 – 16oz tub ricotta cheese
16 oz grated mozzarella (reserve a cup for sprinkling on top)
8 oz grated romano cheese
8 oz grated parmesan cheese
4 oz goat cheese (optional)
1 egg
1 tbsp Italian seasoning

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix ingredients thoroughly by hand. Set aside.

Assemble the Lasagna

Boil lasagna noodles and drain, add a little oil. This will help keeping them from sticking. If using "no-boil" then just soak them in water for about 10 minutes and then layer them as usual, no boil required.
Use non-stick spray on large pyrex dish
Start with a little sauce in the bottom.
Alternate layers starting with noodles, then sauce, then cheese mixture.
Don’t scrimp on sauce or cheese mixture thickness, you should have about 2 or no more than 3 nice thick layers total.
Top with sauce, grated mozorella and sprinkle with Italian seasoning.
Bake on 350 for approx. 25 mins until bubbly around edges.

Urban Cowgill 1980 (updated 2024)