Give the Gift of Lasagna
September 30, 2008

OR
HOW TO MAKE AN AWESOME MEATSAUCE
I am sure right about now you are saying to yourself... "But Dannnnnn didn't you just recently make manicotti which has practically the same ingredients as lasagna? And didn't you also already show us how to make sauce in that very same blog entry? What can I possibly gain from reading today's post?!?" This may in fact be true, but looking back I noticed that the pictures and instructions I gave you last time for my sauce, well they just were not that good. And it wasn't even my perfectly ideal sauce variation anyway. I make about 5 or so different tomato sauce varieties, this one is similar to the manicotti sauce. And although lasagna does share many of the same ingredients as manicotti, it is different and special and it deserves its own post! I also wanted to take this opportunity to tell you that lasagna makes a great gift. It is easy to make a few at a time and then give one away. It tastes GREAT right from the freezer, it is fairly cheap, and people will always be grateful!
HOW TO MAKE AN AWESOME MEATSAUCE
This is how I like lasagna. People tend to put a bunch of unnecessary things into lasagna. I am all for a veggie/pasta bake, but use ziti please. Not to go on a snobbish rant, but here are some things I have encountered in lasagna that I would have been happier without:
Chicken (really?)
Broccoli
Spinach
Peppers
Sausage
Béchamel (traditional, but not my style)
Mushrooms (yuck)
Zuchini
An Absence of Ricotta
Now, if you are reading this thinking "Dan how COULD you! I served you lasagna last year with ALL of those things in it!" Don't worry! I liked the food. If I SAID I liked it, then I loved it! And I was especially happy that you invited me over. All I am saying now, is that had you called that dish baked ziti, instead of lasagna, things would have been different.
Anyways, now that I no longer have any friends, on with the post! Starting with the sauce of course. Now pay attention! This isn't a recipe you can make following a list of ingredients and a few steps, so I will not be adding them at the end. This is a recipe that can only be conveyed through the use of a few beautiful pictures with long carefully written captions. Which I happen to have right here! This is based off my mother and grandmother's recipes, and tweaked over the years after making it a bunch and getting tips from various places.


























