Lasagna

I made this dish for some friends Axel, Ryan and Joe. I taught Axel how to make it so I hope he tries it again soon. Ryan made us drinks and joe just ate haha. It was a blast to hang with everyone and teach someone to cook. Then we got to enjoy our meal and then play some halo. It was a good night. haha

Ingredients:
1 jar tomato sauce
1 package of lasagna noodles (make sure they are the pre-cooked or no boil kind)
1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, rough chopped
salt, pepper, 1 tsp red chili flake, 1 tsp. onion powder, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp paprika (you need salt and pepper but the rest are optional)
1 small container ricotta cheese
5-8 basil leaves, chopped (reserve some for garnish)
squeeze of lemon juice
2 cups of packaged of shredded mozzarella
1 cup parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Place some olive oil in a large saute pan. Add onion and season with salt and peppper. Saute until soft and translucent. Add ground beef and seasonings. Cook over medium high heat until beef is browned.

2. Preheat oven to 350. Add jarred sauce to beef and stir to combine. set aside.

3. Place the ricotta in a bowl. Add half of chopped basil, squeeze of lemon, and some salt and pepper. Mix. make sure to taste and check seasoning/balance.

4. Prepare a 9 x 13 casserole dish by rubbing butter around the outside. Now add a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of the pan. Layer noodles (takes about 4) over sauce. make sure layers slightly overlap. Add a few spoonfuls of ricotta cheese (about 1/3). Spread all over noodles because any dry part of noodle will stay hard and crunchy after cooking. Sprinkle mozzarella and parmesan on top of ricotta. Spoon on some sauce. Add noodles. Add cheese layers. Repeat this pattern sauce, noodles, cheese until you get to the top of the casserole. Don't put any ricotta on the top layer and only use the parm and mozz so you get a nice crust on the top.

5. Cover with foil (make sure it doesn't touch cheese or it will take off the layer. you can spray the foil with some non-stick spray) and cook for 20 minutes. Uncover and cook another 20-25 minutes or until top is melted and slightly browned. Let set after cooking for 10 minutes. (this is a good time to cook garlic bread) Then just slice it up and serve!