Snow White and The Killer Lasagna

I really love to cook.  I don't always have the time to do it as extensively as I would like, but nonetheless, I love to cook. Let me explain: I love to cook, as in, if I didn't have my sweet, wonderful, amazing, precious kiddos :) I would do what Julie did in the movie Julie & Julia.  Luckily for my wallet and my waistline, I DO have my sweet, wonderful, amazing, precious kiddos and therefore cannot be that obsessed.  But I would if I could ;)

That being said, tonight I made a MEAN lasagna.  And I'm sharing the recipe with you!  I didn't make the sauce.  And the noodles were the oven-ready kind.  I remember as a kid my mom would LOATHE making lasagna because the noodles always gave her a headache.  This recipe will not do that to you, I promise.

I'm not a photographer, but I did snap a few pictures.  This happened after I devoured my serving and thought, "Wow.  That was good.  I should share the recipe on the blog."  So there are no step-by-step pictures but it's pretty self-explanatory.

Here ya go:

Lindsey's Killer/Mean Lasagna

1 jar of Mid's Meat sauce (This is part of the yumminess.  Find yourself some Mid's at your local Kroger and thank me later. Photo below.)

1 box oven-ready lasagna noodles (I used Delallo.  I'm sure you could use your favorite oven-ready brand)

1 lb. ground turkey (I suppose you could use veal or beef here but we prefer turkey.)

2 zuccini, cut in to coins, and then cut the coins in half

1 white onion, diced

4 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

2 cups Italina blend cheese, shredded

1 small container ricotta cheese

2 eggs

salt and pepper

2 T. butter or EVOO

1 heirloom (yes, HEIRLOOM) tomato, thickly sliced in to 4-6 rounds (for the top)

3 T. fresh basil, roughly chopped (another thing not to skimp on.  The fresh basil on top is soooo good.)

The secret ingredients of yumminess.

1. Saute your diced onion and zucchini in a tablespoon or so of butter.  I salt and pepper these while they're cooking.  Cook until nice and tender, until the onions are translucent.  Remove from heat.

2. In a large pot, saute your ground meat until cooked through.  Add in the jar of Mid's sauce.  This sauce is thick.  I add in about a 1/2 jar of warm water with the sauce.  Remove from heat.

3. In a medium bowl, mix your small container of ricotta with 2 cups of Italian Blended shredded cheese.  Mix well, add in some salt and pepper, then mix in 2 eggs.  Add in salt and pepper to taste.  1/4 t. or so of each.  Set aside.

4. In a 9X13 pan (or a 10x10), put about 1 cup of meat sauce.  Then put a row of oven-ready lasagna noodles, about 1/4" apart.  Top the lasagna noodles with 1/2 of the ricotta cheese mixture.  Top the ricotta cheese mixture with 2 cups of mozzarella cheese.

5. Take your zucchini & onion saute and layer the whole thing on top of your mozzarella cheese.

6.Repeat, layering the sauce, noodles, the rest of the ricotta mixture & top all off with your Italian cheese blend.
7. Slice your heirloom tomato and place on top of the cheese layer.
8. Roughly chop your fresh basil and sprinkle it on top of everything.
9. Bake, covered with foil, for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.
10. Remove foil and bake for another 20 minutes or until lasagna is nice and bubbly.
11. Devour and enjoy every last bit.  Leftovers are amazing too :)

There ya have it!  Hope you add it to your menu in the coming weeks.  And if you do, please let me know how it turns out for you!

Oh!  And about Snow White.  She totally joined in on our lasagna meal.  She said it was the best lasagna she'd ever eaten, and that I was the bestest cooker in the whole wide world!  Such a sweet dinner guest ;)