Ciao Bella

My family is Italian, very Italian. There is nothing like a nice big Italian meal with the family. Though some Italian dishes don't take much work to prepare, our whole family is in the kitchen helping out. We make dishes from spaghetti and meatballs to homemade gnocchi. When we cook Italian we don't use a recipe we found in a cookbook, we use my grandmother. My grandmother is no longer alive but we remember her every time we smell garlic in the air. You can never have too much garlic. One of our favorite Italian dishes to make was lasagna. Lasagna is great because I think it may be even more delicious the next day for leftovers. Almost everyone enjoys a good lasagna and this one may be the best, and that's why I am going to share the recipe with you, it's truly amazing, you have to try it!

....and now I am craving it myself just thinking about it :P yummm

Lasagna Ala Paola (Susan’s Lasagna)

Serves: 8 – 10

1 lb Sweet Italian Sausage ( I prefer 1/2 lb hot and 1/2 lb sweet)

1 lb Ground Beef

4 Cloves of garlic – minced

1 Tbsp dried basil

1 tsp salt

1 large can of tomatoes

2 6oz cans tomato paste

½ cup dry red wine

8 oz lasagna noodles

2 Eggs

3 cups Ricotta cheese

½ cup parmesan cheese – grated

2 Tbsp parsley flakes

1/8 tsp black pepper

1 lb mozzarella cheese slices

Preparation:

Brown meat in heavy skillet.  Spoon off fat and add garlic, basil, salt, tomatoes, paste and wine.  Simmer uncovered 30 minutes stirring frequently.  Cook lasagna package and drain.  Beat eggs and mix with ricotta, parmesan, parsley, salt and pepper.  Blend.  Layer half lasagna in buttered 13x9x12 baking dish.  Spread half ricotta mixture, add half mozzarella cheese then half meat sauce. Repeat.  Bake in 375* oven about 30 minutes until bubbly.

Enjoy!