Guardarte la bella Lasagna
Moonstruck has been a fascinating cultural experience for me. I first saw it when I was in my early teens, maybe tweens, and I loved it (it's got Cher in it, how could I not love it?). Six or so years later, I attended Thanksgiving with my long-suffering partner's extremely Italian family, and I fell in love with Moonstruck all over again because oh my god they weren't exaggerating anything in the movie Italian-Americans really are this amazing. Then four or five years after that, I visited New York City for the first time and got a taste of the city in which Moonstruck is set (though 2010 NYC and 1986 NYC are vastly different places), and finally had all the pieces I needed to truly enjoy Moonstruck in its entirety.
(I still love Cher, don't be confused, but Olympia Dukakis as Rose is absolutely 100% the best part of that movie. "You've got a lovebite on your neck." I CAN'T.)
Now fast-forward to October 2016. We'd gone to see a play, and the lights had gone down, but something delayed the cast coming on stage, which meant the audience was treated to a long, awkward silence. The woman seated behind me said: "Somebody ... tell a joke." I responded with "Guardarte! Guardarte la bella luna! Why do you make me wait? C'mon, howl!" And without missing a beat, the woman behind me said: "Chrissy, bring me the big knife." So of course, I had to say: "I tell'ya I won't do it."
It was absolutely delightful. The play itself was great, too, but that? That was my favorite part of the evening.
THAT SAID, this is a lasagna heavily, heavily inspired by this simply INCREDIBLE recipe, and it holds the honor of being the first and only lasagna that I will hoover up with enthusiasm equal to my exceptionally Italian partner's. I've never even liked lasagna before, and yet here we are, with a lasagna so good that I won't make single batches anymore.
If you like lasagna, if you hate lasagna, you should give this a try. It'll rock your world.
Ingredients
Sauce
2 Tbs olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 medium garlic cloves, minced/crushed/smallwhatever
4 tsp Italian seasoning (2 tsp each oregano and basil would work just as well here)
28 oz diced tomatoes with juice
6 oz tomato paste
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt (Kosher or coarse is best)
Black pepper (the original calls for 1/4 tsp, I put in WAY more than that)
Lasagna
1/2 lb frozen spinach, thawed
7 to 9 oz ricotta cheese (if you need to go one way or the other, go over)
7 to 9 oz small curd cottage cheese (if you need to go one way or the other, go over)
1/2 lb dry lasagna noodles, not cooked because life is beautiful
4 cups shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat oil.
- Add diced onion and toss around until they start to brown and go translucent.
- Add the garlic and cook another minute or three.
- Add the Italian seasoning and toss it around 'til it coats everything.
- Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, salt, pepper, and parsley, and stir it around.
- Bring that to a bubble (not really a boil, it won't really have enough liquid for that).
- Reduce heat so it's just simmering, and simmer for 30 minutes to an hour.
Note: You can stop here and store your sauce in the 'fridge 'til you're ready to make the lasagna. Pretty baller, I know.
To make the lasagna:
- Preheat oven to 375*F.
- In a small microwave-safe bowl, thaw the spinach (maybe like 2 minutes in the microwave? idek)
- Dump the ricotta into the bowl and mix until the spinach is integrated throughout. You won't be able to taste it in the finished product, I promise.
- Smear some of the sauce across the bottom of a 13x9" baking dish. I used 1/2 cup sauce here.
Now for the layers. You want to make sure everything in each layer is pretty evenly distributed across the pan. There are three layers.
Layer 1:
- 1/3 of the lasagna noodles from the box (uncooked because life is still beautiful)
- 1/2 of the ricotta/spinach mixture
- 1/3 of the sauce
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Layer 2:
- 1/3 of the lasagna noodles from the box
- The other 1/2 of the ricotta/spinach mixture
- 1/2 of the remaining sauce (which is 1/3 of the total sauce, so confusing, I know)
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Final layer:
- The rest of the lasagna noodles from the box
- The rest of the sauce
- Only 1 cup shredded mozzarella
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, sprinkled gaily over the whole thing
- Slap that whole mess into the oven for 35 minutes, then cover it with foil and bake it another 10 minutes.
- Pull it out, put it on a cooling wrack, and try really, really hard not to get into it until it's at least stopped hissing at you.
I kid you not, the lasagna noodles will cook up to perfection, the sauce is divine, it's all kinds of full of cheese, and it just gets better each day it sits and thinks about its own awesomeness.
The only thing you can do to improve this recipe is to double it. True story. Goodnight.
(To double this noise):
Sauce
2 Tbs olive oil
2 onions, diced
8 medium garlic cloves, minced/crushed/smallwhatever
8 tsp Italian seasoning (4 tsp each oregano and basil would work just as well here)
Two 28 oz cans diced tomatoes with juice
Two 6 oz cans tomato paste
2 Tbsp sugar
3 tsp salt (Kosher or coarse is best)
Black pepper
Lasagna
1 lb frozen spinach, thawed
15ish oz ricotta cheese (if you need to go one way or the other, go over)
15ish oz small curd cottage cheese (if you need to go one way or the other, go over)
1 lb dry lasagna noodles, not cooked because life is beautiful
8 cups shredded mozzarella
1 cup Parmesan cheese
Lunch for two for two work-weeks, GET.
(I still love Cher, don't be confused, but Olympia Dukakis as Rose is absolutely 100% the best part of that movie. "You've got a lovebite on your neck." I CAN'T.)
Now fast-forward to October 2016. We'd gone to see a play, and the lights had gone down, but something delayed the cast coming on stage, which meant the audience was treated to a long, awkward silence. The woman seated behind me said: "Somebody ... tell a joke." I responded with "Guardarte! Guardarte la bella luna! Why do you make me wait? C'mon, howl!" And without missing a beat, the woman behind me said: "Chrissy, bring me the big knife." So of course, I had to say: "I tell'ya I won't do it."
It was absolutely delightful. The play itself was great, too, but that? That was my favorite part of the evening.
THAT SAID, this is a lasagna heavily, heavily inspired by this simply INCREDIBLE recipe, and it holds the honor of being the first and only lasagna that I will hoover up with enthusiasm equal to my exceptionally Italian partner's. I've never even liked lasagna before, and yet here we are, with a lasagna so good that I won't make single batches anymore.
If you like lasagna, if you hate lasagna, you should give this a try. It'll rock your world.
Guardarte la bella Lasagna
Sauce
2 Tbs olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 medium garlic cloves, minced/crushed/smallwhatever
4 tsp Italian seasoning (2 tsp each oregano and basil would work just as well here)
28 oz diced tomatoes with juice
6 oz tomato paste
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt (Kosher or coarse is best)
Black pepper (the original calls for 1/4 tsp, I put in WAY more than that)
Lasagna
1/2 lb frozen spinach, thawed
7 to 9 oz ricotta cheese (if you need to go one way or the other, go over)
7 to 9 oz small curd cottage cheese (if you need to go one way or the other, go over)
1/2 lb dry lasagna noodles, not cooked because life is beautiful
4 cups shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat oil.
- Add diced onion and toss around until they start to brown and go translucent.
- Add the garlic and cook another minute or three.
- Add the Italian seasoning and toss it around 'til it coats everything.
- Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, salt, pepper, and parsley, and stir it around.
- Bring that to a bubble (not really a boil, it won't really have enough liquid for that).
- Reduce heat so it's just simmering, and simmer for 30 minutes to an hour.
Note: You can stop here and store your sauce in the 'fridge 'til you're ready to make the lasagna. Pretty baller, I know.
To make the lasagna:
- Preheat oven to 375*F.
- In a small microwave-safe bowl, thaw the spinach (maybe like 2 minutes in the microwave? idek)
- Dump the ricotta into the bowl and mix until the spinach is integrated throughout. You won't be able to taste it in the finished product, I promise.
- Smear some of the sauce across the bottom of a 13x9" baking dish. I used 1/2 cup sauce here.
Now for the layers. You want to make sure everything in each layer is pretty evenly distributed across the pan. There are three layers.
Layer 1:
- 1/3 of the lasagna noodles from the box (uncooked because life is still beautiful)
- 1/2 of the ricotta/spinach mixture
- 1/3 of the sauce
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Layer 2:
- 1/3 of the lasagna noodles from the box
- The other 1/2 of the ricotta/spinach mixture
- 1/2 of the remaining sauce (which is 1/3 of the total sauce, so confusing, I know)
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Final layer:
- The rest of the lasagna noodles from the box
- The rest of the sauce
- Only 1 cup shredded mozzarella
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, sprinkled gaily over the whole thing
- Slap that whole mess into the oven for 35 minutes, then cover it with foil and bake it another 10 minutes.
- Pull it out, put it on a cooling wrack, and try really, really hard not to get into it until it's at least stopped hissing at you.
I kid you not, the lasagna noodles will cook up to perfection, the sauce is divine, it's all kinds of full of cheese, and it just gets better each day it sits and thinks about its own awesomeness.
The only thing you can do to improve this recipe is to double it. True story. Goodnight.
(To double this noise):
Sauce
2 Tbs olive oil
2 onions, diced
8 medium garlic cloves, minced/crushed/smallwhatever
8 tsp Italian seasoning (4 tsp each oregano and basil would work just as well here)
Two 28 oz cans diced tomatoes with juice
Two 6 oz cans tomato paste
2 Tbsp sugar
3 tsp salt (Kosher or coarse is best)
Black pepper
Lasagna
1 lb frozen spinach, thawed
15ish oz ricotta cheese (if you need to go one way or the other, go over)
15ish oz small curd cottage cheese (if you need to go one way or the other, go over)
1 lb dry lasagna noodles, not cooked because life is beautiful
8 cups shredded mozzarella
1 cup Parmesan cheese
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