From Scratch Lasagna

From Scratch Lasagna
Originally uploaded by L.TON

I have two amazing little twin cousins, Cindy&Nancy. Okay, they aren't little as in spunky 8 year old twins, they are actually the ripe age of 25 and going strong at a whole 4'& 10".

I love these two girls as if they are my own sisters. They are the funniest little things because they refuse to put anything green into their Pho (ie the cilantro, the thin sliced onions or the scallions) nor do they eat ground beef (or any ground meats in general). Nan also doesn't eat any vegetables. Apparently, Cindy’s gotten better and since the last time I saw her- has become practically a vegetarian.

So what the heck am I supposed to make? In bulk, making lasagna is the easiest thing ever and I make lasagnas all the time. This was a special occasion though- seeing the Tiny Twins. Of course I am also putting off massive piles of school work as I consciously make the decision to do this: Make a whole lasagna from scratch.

That’s right everyone, I made the ricotta, the mozzarella, the sauce and the pasta noodles. All components are super easy to make. It’s just the sacrifice of time really. Both cheeses (see ricotta cheese entry) take less then 4 ingredients each to make, and can really be done in less then 1 hr. The sauce, once everything is in the pot (mine was just a basic peppers, onions, garlic and tomato), just needs time to simmer and the dough, once formed (whole wheat of course!), just needs to rest and be rolled out.

I would have loved to put layers of vegetables- zucchini, yellow squash, egg plant, etc etc and incorporated some kind of protein (meat sauce or Italian sausage?) but over all, it was possibly one of the tastiest lasagnas and biggest labors of food love I have thus far done in my cooking career.