(Excuse the poor quality of the cell phone pictures. I've decided I'll start using a real digital camera from now on)
The quick and easy Valentine's Day dinner this year consisted of lasagna, garlic bread, red wine, and fruit tarts for dessert.
In case you weren't aware they now sell lasagna pasta noodles that need no prior boiling before layering a baking. Thus, making life easier and dinner is more quickly made.
Lasagna:
What you'll need:
- 1 box of Barilla no bake lasagne noodles
- 1 lb of lean ground sirloin
- 1 spicy italian sausage
- 15 oz. Ricotta cheese
- 4 cups shredded Mozarella
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan
- 2 eggs
- 2 jars of marinara sauce or italian baking sauce or preferred pasta sauce
To do:
- Preheat oven to 375
- Open casing of italian sausage, squeeze out meat and brown with ground sirloin. Drain.
- In large mixing bowl beat 2 eggs, mix in ricotta, 2 cups of mozzarella, and parmesan.
- In 9 x 13 x 3 inch baking dish spread 1 cup of pasta sauce along the bottom.
- Layer 4 pastas, overlapping across bottom layer of sauce.
- Spread 1/3 of ricotta cheese mixture, 1/2 of the meat, and 1/2 cup of pasta sauce across the pasta layer.
- Layer another 4 pastas across the mixture.
- Spread another 1/3 of ricotta cheese mixture and 1 cup of pasta sauce.
- Layer an additional 3 pastas across the mixture.
- Spread remaining ricotta cheese mixture, remaining meat, and 1/2 cup of pasta sauce on top of noodles
- Layer the last 4 pastas
- Spread remaining sauce, and remaining 2 cups of mozzarella.
Note: If using a 9 x 13 x 2 dish, adjust layers so that there are 3 layers instead of 4 to avoid boiling over.
- Bake at 375 degrees covered with foil for 50 - 60 minutes, until cheese is melted.
- Uncover, lower temperature to 350 degrees and bake an addition 5 - 10 minutes, until cheese is thoroughly melted with browned edges.
Garlic Bread:
What you'll need:
- 1 sourdough baguette, halved lengthwise
- 5 large cloves garlic, halved
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
To Do:
- Preheat the oven to 350
- Cut the baguette halves into thirds for 6 large pieces of bread.
- Rub each piece with garlic and brush with olive oil.
- Sprinkle with cheese.
- Place on a baking sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned.
For dessert, bite sized fruit tarts were purchased at Andronico's super markets, but such treats may be purchased at local bakeries and grocery stores. We had also purchased a mini lemon cheesecake, but were too full to dig in!
Red wine served was Teusner Shiraz Riebke '06.
Side note: For my lasagna I used an italian sausage pasta sauce mixed with a roasted garlic pasta sauce.
