Marie's Famous Homemade Lasagna

Part II of my Cooking Experience with Marie:

Marie's Homemade Lasagna

I met Marie through her daughter, Cathy, pictured above.  Since starting this blog, I have wanted to cook with Marie.  Her dishes have graced the tables of family, friends, church dinners, and special occasions for many years. Marie has 9 children, four boys and five girls.  She entertains her family on Saturday nights, cooking steak and any one of her family's favorite desserts.  She has 13 grandchildren, and has four great-grandchildren with another on the way.  Her kitchen is a hub for holiday dinners and family get-togethers.  Her family has Christmas favorites, including cannolis. They will be in an upcoming Christmas blog.  

Cannoli

A basic cannolo .  Originating in Sicily.  A fried pastry dough with ricotta filling. (from Wikipedia)

In the meantime, come along with us as we begin.

Semplicemente Favoloso!

Homemade Marinara Sauce.

Marie's Homemade Meatballs.

Use the meatballs & marinara sauce from the previous blog, Marie's Fabulous Homemade Meatballs and Marinara Sauce.  They will make this Lasagna a culinary work of art.


Ingredients for Ricotta cheese mixture:

• 2 eggs
• salt
• dried sweet basil
• dried parsley flakes
• 1- 15 oz. carton ricotta cheese
• Three Cheese blend, Parmesan, Romano, Asiago
• milk or cream

If you are looking for exact measurements, you will not find them when following Marie's recipes.  Follow the pictures, and adjust amounts of cheese and herbs according to your family's personal tastes.  Marie has cooked for her family for years, and has acquired a skill  to know and feel if the recipe is "right."

Accompany us and experience this journey in cooking.

Ricotta Cheese Mixture:

Crack 2 eggs into mixing bowl.

Add salt.

Season with dried sweet basil.

Add dried parsley flakes.

Beat with electric hand mixer.

Add a 15 oz. carton of ricotta cheese.

Beat until creamy.

More cheese...
Add Three Cheese Blend of Parmesan, Romano, and Asiago Cheese.

Thin with milk or cream.  When on hand, Marie prefers cream for added richness.
Mix until all the ingredients are incorporated and smooth and creamy.

Most people use cottage cheese.
Marie emphatically states, "Not Me!"

Lasagna: A Brief History

Lasagna, one of the most celebrated of the Italian food staples, has a long and luxorious history. The term "lasagna" comes from the Greek word, "lasagnum," meaning dish or bowl. The ancient Greeks used baking dishes of that name, which they eventually transferred to the Romans. The Romans, who ended up using the same style of dish, also developed a type of food which they used the term "lasagnum" for: it was served in said dish, with layers of a pasta-like food with other fillings in-between. With the extent of the Roman empire, this new "lasagnum" dish spread all across Europe, eventually reaching Britain, where it was published in the very first cookbook.

After remaining dormant for many decades, the early form of lasagna once again surfaced. The early Italians changed the name from "lasagnum," to "lasagna," which is the current form. Over the years, the word "lasagna" began to change definitions; the word previously referred to the serving dish it was baked in, but began to simply mean the delicious pasta meal in the dish itself. In modern cooking terms, it now means layers of thin pasta, with meat, cheese, and tomato sauce squeezed in between. Lasagna sure has come a long way.
(from hershey.kucdweb.com)

Assembling the lasagna: 

Ingredients for layering lasagna:

• Marie's Marinara Sauce
• Marie's Meatballs
• Oven ready lasagna noodles
• Three Cheese Blend, Parmesan, Romano, Asiago
• Ricotta cheese mixture
• Mozzarella cheese, shredded

This is a family recipe that has been passed down from her grandmother and mother. Marie's grandmother was from Rome, Italy.  Marie said her grandmother used fewer seasonings, simply basil, garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper.  Marie's mother used thyme, fennel, basil, oregano, rosemary, parsley, and red pepper because you couldn't buy the mixtures in the stores at that time.  She used these spices to please her husband because Marie's father was from Sicily.  The seasonings were different, more of the Greek style, and they used more spices.  As a result of learning this recipe from more than one person, it is a combination  that has been perfected over the years.

Prepare baking dish by brushing bottom, sides, and rim with olive oil.

Spoon sauce into bottom of oiled pan.
Liberally sprinkle more of the Three Cheese blend of Parmesan, Romano & Asiago Cheese.

Break the lasagna noodles in half.  These noodles are oven ready.
There is no boiling required.
Layer the noodles on top of the layer of sauce.

Add more sauce.

More noodles.

More sauce.

Then, spoon the ricotta cheese mixture.

Sprinkle a layer of shredded mozzarella cheese.

Spread all layers evenly.

Add more noodles.

More sauce.

More Three Cheese Blend.

Additional layer of shredded mozzarella.
Marie likes "lots of mozzarella."

Add the meatballs around the sides of the dish.
(Marie doesn't always add the meatballs).
Then, sprinkle an additional layer of mozzarella cheese.

Ready for the oven.

Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes.

This recipe makes another dish of lasagna.
Prepare it in the same order as the first pan.
Marie is making me my own pan of lasagna!

Is it done yet?
Carefully remove from the oven.

Bellissimo!

This is a masterpiece of melted browned cheeses, noodles, meatballs, marinara sauce.

A great mother, daughter cooking team.

Thank you, Cathy & Marie for a great cooking adventure!

My take home lasagna.

Amare!

Delicio. Grazie, Marie.

Marie's mother made turkey for Christmas, but also made it a tradition to serve her homemade lasagna and meatballs every Christmas.  Marie follow her Italian heritage and also serves her Lasagna and Meatballs for her family.

Marie's Family Photos

Cathryn Liberto
Marie's Mother

Mom-Dad Hammett
Marie's Grandparents
Mom Hammett was from Rome, Italy

Mom-Dad Liberto
Marie's Parents
Her Dad was from Sicily

Marie at three years old with her brother, Tony.

Val-Marie

Val-Marie-Kids

Marie's first 6 children

Marie's Fabulous Homemade Meatballs & Marinara Sauce

Marie's Fabulous Homemade Meatballs & Marinara Sauce

Marie with her daughter, Cathy.
Grandma's Kitchen, Made from the Heart.

Gather all the ingredients and recruit a good Sous-Chef.

 Making the Meatballs:

Pat 2-3 lbs. of ground beef into the bottom of a large pan.

Season with salt.

Season with black pepper to taste.

Marie's Tip: Use good seasonings.  Graziano Bros. Italian  Seasoning.
If you can't get good spices like Graziano, you can use fennel or fennel seed 
along with your spices.

Sprinkle liberally over the meat.
Marie's Tip: "I like to season the meat so the seasonings cook in.  That gives it flavor."

Break off 4-5 cloves of garlic from the bulb.
Mince the garlic.
Marie's Tip: A tip Marie learned from Rachel Ray, use a hand grater to mince the garlic.

Marie's Tip:  Use good sausage.  Graziano Italian sausage is a must, if at all possible.
You can get this now at Hy-Vee stores.
Add 1-1/2 lbs. to the ground beef.

Your freshly washed hands are the best tools to mix the meat.
Mixing things with your washed hands is the best way to feel things .  
You will memorize recipes with your fingers as much as with your mind.  
You come to know what the texture of the mixture should be.

Mix thoroughly.

Set half of the meat mixture aside for the marinara sauce.

Add a handful of Italian bread crumbs, we used Progresso.

Measure and add a handful of  Three Cheese Blend, Parmesan, Romano, & Asiago.

Shake a little dry minced onion flakes and a little dried oregano over the meat.
This recipe varies.  Marie learned this recipe from more than one person.
  Marie says her Grandmother used fresh onion in her mixture.
(Marie does not use onion in her meatball mixture.)

Chiffonade, means "elegant ribbons", the basil.  Stack several basil leaves.  
Roll the leaves into a tight tube and cut across the rolled leaves.
Marie's Tip:  While you naturally put the basil into the meatballs and then cook them,
 the flavor is released by this process.  
Some cooks add fresh herbs to the sauce after the dish is prepared.  
The flavor does not go all through the dish.

Add two eggs.
(Add 1 egg per lb. of meat).

Add 4 slices of white bread.  Marie does not dry them in the oven
and then  pulverize them in a food processor.

Instead, she wets them by running them under cold water.
Then, she wrings them dry with her hands.

The bread is then mixed into the meat.

Marie's Tip: Taste the meat mixture for seasonings.  In the "old days" you could taste the meat.  Now, with the E. coli scare, cook the meat.  Avoid tasting raw meat.
Make a sample meatball.  You can save a dish by correcting and tasting at every stage.

Cook the meatball in the microwave for 45-60 seconds.

Taste the sample meatball to adjust the seasonings.

A second opinion never hurts.

And a third opinion is great.  (I just wanted to sample it.)

Roll meatballs into uniform balls.
Add to heated skillet with olive oil to prevent sticking.
Brown meat over medium heat on both sides.

Marie's Tip: Frying the meat first gives them more flavor than adding to the sauce raw.
That is the way her Grandmother made the meatballs.

When browned, remove from the heat.

Making the Marinara Sauce: 

Chop l large yellow onion.

Saute the onions over medium heat.
Add to the pan the remaining half of the meat mixture that was set aside .

Mince 3-4 cloves of garlic.

Add to pan.

Add 2- 6 oz. cans of tomato paste.

To make tomato paste, the tomatoes are first cooked for several hours to reduce moisture, are strained to remove the seeds and skin, then are cooked further to reduce them to a thick, rich concentrate.

(from Editors of Easy Home Cooking Magazine @ recipes.howstuffworks.com))

Cook the tomato paste to take the raw edge off.
Tomato paste, developed in Italy, has its own taste, and will remain in the final sauce.
It adds its own deep savory notes and enhances the other flavors of this dish.

Add the homemade broth saved from cooking pork ribs from a different meal.
We used 12 ozs. of broth.  If you do not have broth, thin out sauce with water.
Marie's Tip:  Save broth or drippings when cooking pork dishes to add flavor to sauces.
Freeze until ready to use.
Marie said she got this idea from an Italian lady that lived up the street from her.
She used pig's feet broth, so Marie decided to use the broth from pork ribs to add flavor.

Add a 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes.
Then, add a 24 oz. can of tomato sauce.
Each type of tomato (whether sauce, puree, or crushed)
adds a different dimension of flavor to this sauce.
Continue to taste the sauce to adjust the seasonings and flavor.
Cook over medium heat so it doesn't burn.

Marie's Tip: Use fresh basil in this dish, along with dried herbs.
It is one herb that really shines when it is fresh. 

Add more Graziano Italian Seasoning.

Good quality seasonings make the difference between a good sauce and
an extraordinary culinary experience.

Sprinkle about 1/8 cup of white granulated sugar into sauce.
It "takes the edge off" or helps to counteract the acid in the tomatoes.
It can also enhance the sweetness of the tomatoes.
(If you prefer to add red wine instead of the sugar,
you would add it after you brown the onions, the meat, and the tomato paste.)

Continue to season the sauce by adding garlic powder.

Stack basil leaves, roll them up, and cut.

Put basil into pan and cook it so it can flavor the sauce.
Don't just sprinkle it on top before you serve it. 

Return meatballs to sauce and cook on medium heat.

Continue to season.  Add some red pepper flakes for a little heat.

Upon tasting, it also needs a little more Graziano Italian Seasoning.
Cook the seasonings to incorporate flavors.

Sauce tastes Great!

A good Sous-Chef  (and daughter)!

They look irresistible.

These meatballs and sauce are the foundation of Marie's Famous Lasagna.
(the blog following this one)
Make it a goal to master this recipe.
This sauce would make an old leather boot taste good!
Marie has been making this sauce and meatballs since she was 6 years old,
helping her mother in the kitchen.  She has been cooking this for over 70 years.
They are as good as they look.

Grazie! Marie & Cathy, for a wonderful adventure.

Marie's Family Photos

Val-Marie

Val-Marie-Kids

First 6 kids

Cathy in 1963 when she was three years old.

Family Photo

Marie and Kids

Marie with Cathy holding the birthday cake
and Marie's son, Randy.  All three celebrated July birthdays.

Marie and Sisters

Marie and her Family