Lasagna

If you haven't been able to tell by now, I am a lover of Italian foods. Working at Amalfis, I still never got sick of the smell or taste of the delicious sauces. I am not even going to try and recreate their lasagna. I worked at the one in Statesville, NC (they now have two, that's how good it is). Here is the website to the one in Kernersville.

Sauce Ingredients:
1lb Hamburger
1lb Sausage (I used Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage)
1 Medium Onion, diced
2Tbsps Minced Garlic (I used the pre-minced in Olive Oil)
2 8oz Tomato Sauce
2 6oz Tomato Paste
1 28oz Crushed Tomato
2Tbsps Italian Seasoning
2tsp Basil
1tsp Salt
2Tbsp Sugar
1/2tsp pepper

Cheese Ingredients:
23oz Ricotta Cheese
1 Large Egg
2tsp Italian Seasoning

Other Ingredients:
12 Lasagna Noodles
1lb Mozzarella Cheese


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. In dutch oven/stock pot mix together Sausage, Hamburger, Onion, and Garlic. Cook through.



3. While that is cooking, get all tomato sauces/pastes ready and pour out the correct amount of sugar, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and basil to add to pot.





4. When meat is done and well blended, add in sauces and spices.





5. Let simmer for 1.5 hours (if you only have an hour, go ahead)

6. Mix together Ricotta cheese, 2tsps Italian seasoning, and large egg. Mix well.



7. In a large pan, place lasagna noodles to soak, for 25 minutes, in hot tap water.


8. In the pan you will cook the lasagna in, place a layer of meat sauce on bottom, to keep it from sticking.



9. Place down first layer of Lasagna noodles, covering pan (usually 6 noodles in the average 9x13 pang)



10. Add a nice layer of the Ricotta cheese mixture (about half)



11. Cover with Mozzerella Cheese. About 1.5 cups



12. Add another noodle layer (darn me forgetting to take a picture!)

13. Cover with meat sauce



14. Drop remaining Ricotta mixture, in "globs", and sprinkle Mozzarella cheese



15. Place on Final noodle layer



16. Cover with meat sauce and remaining Mozzarella cheese (forgot picture, sorry!)

17. Cover with tinfoil, bake for 25 minutes

18. Uncover after 25 minutes, and back for additional 25 minutes



19. Let set for 15 minutes before serving!

Easy Italian Meatballs

Who doesn't love meatballs? Who actually cooks them at home? Over the years, I have realized that some people find meatballs to be confusing and hard to make (by people I mean me. Matt remembers my first attempt at baking them...). In reality, it's not any harder than making meatloaf. I promise you.

Ingredients
1 pound Hamburger meat
1 package of Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage
1 Small onion, chopped
3/4 Cup of Italian Bread Crumbs
1tsp Garlic Salt
1Tbsp Italian Seasoning
1Tbsp Minced Garlic
2 Eggs, Beaten

1. Mix hamburger and sausage together in medium sized bowl



2. Line baking pan with wax paper



3. Add eggs to Hamburger and sausage mixture



4. Chop onion



5. Measure out Garlic Salt, Italian Seasoning, and Minced Garlic (you can mince fresh, I am out, so I used my jar)



4. Add Onion, Garlic Salt, Italian Seasoning, and Minced Garlic to meat mixture



5. This is important: HAND MIX. This is the best way to make sure that everything is mixed well. You're going to have to use your hands to roll the balls, so go ahead and get them dirty!




6. Roll mixture into golf ball sized balls, and place on baking sheet.



7. Place baking sheet into fridge for at least 1 hour. I did this at 12pm and am not going to be adding them to the pasta sauce until about 4pm. You can even do them the night before it needed. If your day is going to be busy, do it! Prep makes life so much easier. Here are the balls fresh out of the fridge:



8. When ready, heat frying pan with 1Tbsp of olive oil. Fry meatballs on each side, lightly browning, but not cooking through.





9. Add Meatballs to pasta sauce, which should be cooking on low heat in a crock pot, or med-low heat on stove.



10. Cook for 2 hours, or until cooked through.



11. Serve over spaghetti noodles!