The Foodist: Homemade Rosemary Lasagna

This is my homemade lasagna in the oven

I decided that I wanted to try to make a lasagna as much from scratch as was possible. I made the tomato sauce, ricotta, mozzarella, and cottage cheeses, and homemade lasagna noodles. The tomatoes and herbs came straight from the garden and the canning pantry.

It was so good. Now that we have rebuilt the kitchen at Mezzacello Urban Farm after I destroyed the last oven, having a new oven is awesome. So I am making the foodist homemade rosemary lasagna.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 18 fl oz jar canned tomatoes

• 2 Tbsp tomato paste

• 1 8 fl oz jar canned red peppers

  • You can substitute pasta sauce here

• 1 lb ground beef

• 1 lb ground lamb

• 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary

• 5 sprigs fresh oregano

• 5 leafs of fresh basil

• 2 onions chopped

• 4 cloves garlic

• 32 oz ricotta cheese {recipe here]

• 32 oz mozzarella cheese [recipe here]

• 32 oz large curd cottage cheese [recipe here]

• 2 lemons

• 4 Tbsp vinegar

• 2 tsp chili pepper

• salt

• pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Prep herbs with a fine chop for the herbs and rough chop for the vegetables.

2. In a large pan, add chopped onions, garlic, and red peppers in olive oil. Add salt to the onions, garlic, and peppers and sweat them down. You can alternatively prep your pasta sauce, then add the meat.

3. In another skillet, brown the hamburger and lamb and lightly brown the meat. Drain the oil and preserve. Add the drained hamburger and lamb to the onions, chopped tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste and 1 cup of water. Stir and reduce the sauce down. After the sauce has cooked down a bit, add the herbs and salt and pepper. Allow the sauce to simmer for 15 minutes and it will be ready.

4. Prep the oven to 350F.

5. Prep the three cheeses by combining the cheeses into one bowl. Here you can add the minced rosemary for added flavor.

6. In a glass 8’ x 13” pan add a ladle of the sauce to the bottom of the pan. Layer the lasagna noodles.

   • I highly recommend using lasagna with filled edges, as it will add a lot of texture and air to the pasta.

7. Add a ladle of the homemade cottage cheese, homemade ricotta, and the mozzarella. Repeat the lasagna, meat sauce and cheeses until you run out of ingredients.

8. Top the lasagna with basil leaves and parmesan cheese.

9. Bake the lasagna for 45 minutes until the sauce and cheese are hot and bubbly.

10. Let it cool, cut and serve!