A love for lasagna

Filling:

1. Mix the mozzarella, 8 ounces Parmigiano Reggiano and Ricotta in a large bowl. Add eggs and parsley. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Boil the sausage for 10 minutes and shock in cold water. Remove the skins from the sausage and crumble into small pieces and set aside.

3. Crumble the meatballs and set aside.

Note: All preparations to this point can be done two days in advance.

4. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta till al dente and shock in cold water.

To Assemble:

1. Pour 1 cup of meat sauce in the bottom of 8 x12-inch baking pan.

2. Cover tomato sauce with a layer of pasta sheets, cut the sheets if necessary to fit.

3. Spread 1/3 of the cheese mixture over the pasta. Spread 1/3 of the crumbled sausage over the cheese. Spread 1/3 of the crumbled meatballs over the sausage. Top the meatballs.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 two more times. You will have four layers of pasta and three layers of filling.

5. Spread the remaining cup of tomato sauce over the top layer of pasta and sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese over the sauce.

6. Bake the lasagna in a 350 preheated oven for 1 hour until the top is golden brown and the sides are bubbling. Remove from the oven and let stand for 15 minutes to let the lasagna set up. Cut the lasagna into six pieces and serve.

1 1/2 cups pure olive oil (to sauté the meatballs)

1. Place the bread in a bowl and sprinkle with the hot water and let stand for 10 minutes.

2. In a large bowl mix the chop meat, egg, parsley, garlic, and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

3. Squeeze the water from the bread and pick the bread into small pieces and mix into the chop meat mixture.

4. Divide the meat mixture into six potions and roll into meatballs.

5. Heat the oil in a medium sauté pan and fry the meatball until golden brown on all sides. Remove from the oil and drain on paper towels.

Tomato Sauce to Cook Meatballs

1. In a medium sauté pan heat the olive oil and sauté the garlic until lightly golden. Add the pureed tomato, basil, parsley, and crushed red pepper to the pan and bring up to a simmer taste the sauce and lightly season with kosher salt.

2. Add the meatballs to the pan of sauce and simmer the meatballs under cover for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool the meatballs in the sauce.

Béchamel:

1. In a small saucepan combine milk, shallots and nutmeg. Bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes.

2. In a separate pan, melt butter over low heat, add flour and stir with a wooden spoon until flour is absorbed by the butter making a rous. Stir for 2-3 minutes while mixture boils.

3. Slowly pour the hot milk into the rous, whisking to avoid lumps.

4. Bring sauce to a boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Season with salt.

5. Remove from heat and strain.

Note: Can be made two days in advance and stored covered in the refrigerator.

Filling:

1. In a medium pan sauté onions with butter over medium heat until onions soften and begin to caramelize. Season with salt, remove from heat and chill.

2. In a sauté pan, heat olive oil and sauté spinach for 1-2 minutes until very wilted. Season with salt, drain on paper towels and when cool, chop roughly.

3. Combine mozzarella, ricotta, eggs and parsley with salt and black pepper.

Note: All preparation up to this point can be done two days in advance.

To Assemble:

1. Pour 1 cup of tomatoes into bottom of 8x12-inch baking pan.

2. Cover tomato with uncooked fresh lasagna noodle, overlapping slightly (cut sheets to fit if needed).

3. Spread 1/3 of the cheese over the pasta.

4. Spread remaining Béchamel and tomato over top layer of pasta and sprinkle with remaining Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

5. Bake the lasagna in a 350 preheated oven for 1 hour until the top is golden brown and the sides are bubbling.

To Prepare the lasagna:

1. Squeeze as much moisture out of the cooked spinach as possible and chop very finely.

2. Prepare the pasta dough, incorporating the very finely chopped spinach into the dough with the eggs. Shape the dough into a ball and set aside to rest for about 1 hour, wrapped in plastic wrap (cling film).

3. Prepare the meat sauce. (See bolognese recipe below)

4. Roll the pasta dough out and cut into rectangles measuring 6 inches by 4 inches.

5. To prepare the béchamel sauce: melt the butter and stir in the flour.

6. Remove from the heat and gradually add the hot milk while stirring continuously. Return to a very low heat and continue stirring with a wooden spoon as the sauce cooks for about 5 minutes.

7. Bring a very large saucepan of water to a boil, then add the salt and the tablespoon of oil (to prevent the sheets of lasagna from sticking to one another). Add the lasagna and cook for 2-3 minutes.

8. Drain the lasagna and spread them out on clean, dry cloths to dry off for a few minutes.

9. Spoon a thin layer of the meat sauce over the bottom of a fairly deep, rectangular ovenproof dish and cover with a layer of lasagna. Spread with a layer of béchamel and sprinkle with Parmesan. Repeat this process until all the ingredients are used up. The top layer should be lasagna, covered with béchamel sauce and sprinkled with the remaining Parmesan.

10. Dot with the last measure of butter and bake in a preheated oven at 375F for 30 minutes.

11. Leave to stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Bolognese Sauce:

1. Heat oil in a large, heavy pot over medium heat. Sauté onions, celery, carrots and garlic until tender, about 10 minutes. Increase heat to high and add veal, pork, sausage and pancetta; cook until meats are evenly brown.

2. Stir in tomatoes, chicken broth, milk, parsley, basil and thyme. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 2 1/2 hours; stir occasionally, breaking up tomatoes with spoon as you stir. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add fettuccini and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.

4. Serve lasagna topped with the sauce and Parmesan cheese.

To Prepare:

1. Slice eggplants and zucchini into 1/4-inch thick pieces. Set the zucchini aside. Fill a bowl with lightly salted water, add the eggplant (only) and soak for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

2. Add the flour to a shallow bowl. In another bowl, beat the eggs with a fork until blended. In a third bowl, mix together the bread, cheese, parsley, salt and pepper. Arrange the bowl on a work surface so that they are lined up next to each other.

3. Carefully dip a eggplant and zucchini into the flour, making sure both sides are covered, dip into the egg mixture and finally dip into the breadcrumb mixture and coat both sides very well while gently tapping off any access. Transfer to a serving plate, season with salt and pepper and set aside while repeating with the remaining vegetables.

4. In a large, heavy skillet, heat extra virgin olive oil over medium heat. Add zucchini and eggplant and sauté on both sides until golden brown. Make sure that they are cooked all the way through. Remove from pan and place on paper towels to drain excess oil.

Ricotta Cheese Mixture:

In a bowl, mix ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, parsley and eggs. Mix well and season with salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate briefly to make the mixture firm.

1. Combine apples and sugar in saucepan. Cook until sugar melts and apples begin to exude liquid. Add cornstarch, cook until slightly thickened, add spices and remove from heat.

2. Place 1 cooked pasta sheet in the bottom of a 4-quart baking dish. Top with 1/3 of the apples, then 1/3 of the cheese and repeat process two more times and top with fourth pasta sheet. Sprinkle with streusel topping and bake in preheated oven at 350F for 35 minutes.

Streusel Topping

Combine dry ingredients and cut in butter.