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How Lasagna Got Me Married
I wasn't looking for a husband, or even a relationship. I only wanted the perfect lasagna recipe.
Our stories started long before that but they were stories of two separate people who lived separate lives, in the same places at different times, even having the same doctor and not knowing it.
The timing was just never right. Our relationship would be a gift from above, but sometimes, when the timing's not right, you don't really appreciate it. It's like getting an umbrella on a sunny day. You have no idea how special it is until it starts to rain. So we led our own separate lives until one fateful day our paths met.
There are those who believe in love at first sight and there are those that don't. I had long since let go of that idea, thinking it was something in movies and fairy tales. Real life was much harsher and making due with what you had was much more realistic. Therefor I was in a relationship hiding from the world, letting time pass. The day he saw me, he knew. I thought he was crazy (and a bit arrogant) and went on my way, seeing him sometimes every day and other times months passed before I would see him again. Each time he would look at me with love in his eyes and most times ask me to marry him.
I was flattered as he was around watching me go through relationships and I was around and saw him go through a few as well....
Then one day, a strange thing happened. He walked in and my heart dropped. I couldn't explain it. I had known this man for years but all of a sudden I couldn't walk around him. I couldn't talk around him. I turned into a klutz (which isn't a very far way to go.) I noticed when he walked in and I really noticed if there were other women around that he talked to. I found myself staying later and later at work so I would be able to spend time with him.
I had no idea what was happening to me. I was ending a relationship and didn't have the time or the effort to start another. Besides, starting one this soon during a break-up was a sure was to be a pink slip in the making. There was no time in history that I was aware of when a "rebound" relationship could work, ever. This was a fact...
Something greater than myself or my deluded ideas about love was at work.
Dare I say, it was true love?.....
It was during this time that the sweetest and most special meal happened.
Dave's home was the picture of perfect bachelor-ism, complete without a proper working stove. I was unaware of his house's culinary status as he promised to make me lasagna and bring it in for me for lunch one day. The entire lasagna was make courtesy of a small toaster oven and an electric skillet.
It was the cutest (and saddest) piece of lasagna that I have ever seen. To this day, I remember the couple noodles held together with an orangey sauce. It reminded me of Charlie Brown's Christmas Tree in an odd sort of way. I saw the excitement in his big blue eyes and the anticipation, waiting for my approval. My heart melted and there, in front of me, was the most beautiful Charlie Brown Lasagna that I have ever seen.
I then did something that anyone else would do...brag about how good mine was and how I would make him my own special recipe. Competition's always a healthy thing.
There was only one problem with that. And to all of you reading this, the next few sentences are top secret, never to be revealed to the love of my life......
I had never made lasagna before. Shhhh
So, I scoured the Internet and found the most amazing recipe. I spent all day chopping and mixing and putting together the perfect lasagna. When it was done, the bubbling cheese, the creamy rich ricotta, the layer of meats and the tomato sauce...it was a work of art. I was actually shocked I was able to make a dish I had never tried to make and it turn out so well. Since then, I have made this recipe my own, putting in more meat and cheese until it was a towering, 20 pound lasagna that was not only huge and beautiful but pretty darn tasty too, if I do say so myself.
He loved it and talked about it for weeks on end then and still begs me to make it often now (as do our friends). It's definitely a winning recipe.
It wasn't long after that lasagna that we ended up moving in together and eventually getting married, but to this day, looking back, we were bonded together through our lasagnas.
So whose lasagna did I like better, comparing to two?
Hands down, Charlie Brown... It was made out of love.
I leave you with my lasagna recipe, the one I have adapted now and used for years. It's huge, heavy, big, fat and delicious and will leave you staying at the gym an extra half hour for a few days after you eat it but it's so worth it....especially when true love is involved.
My Big Fat Italian Lasagna
Ingredients
1 lb box Lasagna Noodles
Olive Oil
Meat Filling
1 Onion, Chopped
2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
1/4 C Fresh Basil, Chopped
1/4 C Fresh Oregano, Chopped
3 Bay Leaves
2 lbs Ground Meat
1 lb Fresh Italian Sausage
1 6 oz Can Tomato Paste
Ricotta Filling
30 oz Fresh Ricotta (2 small container or one really big one)
1/4 Cup Flat Leaf Italian Parsely, chopped
2 Tbsp Fresh Oregano, chopped
Salt and Pepper
2 Eggs, Lightly Beaten
1/2 C Freshly Grated Parmesan
Tomato Filling
1 28 oz Can Crushed Tomatoes
1 14 oz Can Diced Tomatoes
2 lbs Shredded Mozzarella
1/2 Cup Grated Parmesan
Chop, dice and grate.
Heat a small amount of olive oil in a pan over medium heat.
Add onions and garlic and herbs and sauté about 5 minutes.
Add the ground meat and Italian sausage.
Cook until no longer pink.
Drain any excess fat.
Add the can of tomato paste to the meat mixture and mix in completely.
Set aside to cool.
For the ricotta filling, mix the herbs, ricotta, parmesan and eggs.
Season with salt and pepper, tasting a bit to make sure it's properly seasoned.
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add lasagna noodles and cook only until they are pliable.
Drain and coat with a little olive oil to keep them moist and separated.
Set up your work station.
Start by coating the bottom of your lasagna pan with tomato sauce.
Add your first layer of noodles, also adding a noodle on each end of your pan forming a "collar" holding in the corners.
Add half of the meat mixture, then half of the ricotta mixture.
Add about 1 cup of the shredded mozzarella to the top of the ricotta.
Add tomato sauce on top of cheese.
Add another layer of noodles, the rest of the meat, more ricotta, shredded cheese, them tomato sauce.
Add one last layer of noodles and some tomato sauce.
Top with mozzarella cheese and grated parmesan.
Bake 1 hour in a 350 degree oven with a baking sheet beneath it just in case it leaks a little.
Let cool for at least a half an hour before cutting into it.
Serve over some homemade marinara with a side of garlic bread.
and maybe a glass of Chianti
and eat well, my friends!
Until next time.......
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