Lasagna with Ragu Bolognese

I love lasagna. Seriously, LOVE it. When I was a kid, it was my favorite thing my mom made. Granted, her lasagna was not authentic, gourmet, or healthy- it was more like this:

Cheesey (yes, even cottage cheesey), bubbly, comforting.

Well, I married a bit of an Italian food snob (not just a bit, actually) and apparently, lasagna with cottage cheese, powdery Parmasan cheese and cheddar cheese is not "authentic". Whaaat?!! What's that about? So when we were first married, I came across this recipe from Martha Stewart Living for a lasagna with Ragu Bolognese.

There's three parts to the lasagna: the ragu:

 Bechamel:

 the lasagna noodles and some Parmigiana Reggiano

This recipe takes a while to prepare, but it's so worth it. I sometimes double the recipe and make an extra to freeze.  It won a "pretty authentic" from my husband, too!

Ragu Bolognese

adapted from Martha Stewart Living

serves 10-12

Makes about 3 quarts.

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 onions, cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 3 stalks celery, cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 3 carrots, cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 2 pounds ground sirloin
• 2 pounds ground veal
• 1 quart whole milk
• 1 quart Homemade Beef Stock, or two 14 1/2 -ounce cans
• 1 cup tomato paste
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1. In a large cast-iron or enamel pot, heat butter and olive oil over medium heat.
2. Add onions, and cook until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add celery and carrots, and cook until the vegetables are tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Add ground sirloin and veal, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is no longer pink. Add milk, and cook at a gentle simmer, skimming fat from surface, until the liquid has reduced by half, about 50 minutes.
3. Add beef stock, tomato paste, salt, and pepper; simmer gently until sauce thickens, 40 to 45 minutes. If using for lasagna, set aside to cool slightly before assembling. The sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for 2 months.

 Bechamel

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, plus more for baking dish
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 cup milk

To assemble

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, plus more for baking dish

1. Make the Bechamel Sauce: In a small saucepan, combine butter and flour. Stir in nutmeg, and season with salt and pepper. Place over medium heat and stir in milk. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and continue cooking until the mixture begins to thicken, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, and set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 13-by-9-inch baking dish. Spoon a little of the meat sauce into the bottom of the prepared baking dish, and spread to coat. Then, layer with lasagna sheets, one-sixth of the bechamel sauce, one-sixth of the meat sauce, and a little Parmesan. Repeat the layers five more times. Top with remaining Parmesan and pieces of butter. Bake until cheese begins to turn golden brown, 30 to 45 minutes. Serve warm.

Easy Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches

This is something my mom has made since I was younger and I've always loved it. It only requires three ingredients and about 5 minutes prep time. It's flavorful and delicious comfort food, but most importantly, quick and easy!
Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches
Serves 4-6
2-2 1/2 lbs beef roast (I've also used London Broil and it's fabulous)
1 packet onion soup mix
water

French or hoagie rolls, for serving

Place meat in the pot of a slow cooker. add soup mix and 1-1 1/2 cups of water. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or high 3-4 hours. Add more water if you need for dipping. Shred meat with forks. Serve on rolls with juice for dipping.

Talerine Beef Casserole and Molten Chocolate Cake

We had the missionaries over for dinner last night. For those of you unfamiliar, imagine a couple of young men, left to their own devices (in the food arena) for a couple years. You'd enjoy a home-cooked meal, right? Well, actually in our area, the missionaries have a place to go for dinner almost every night so they get a lot of home-cooked meals. I saw this casserole recipe at Simply Recipes and thought it sounded good. When I planned this meal, I didn't know it would be 87 degrees, but it was still homey, comfort food. I've never heard of Talerine Casserole, but apparently it's been around for a while. It came together relatively quickly and was simple and delicious.I used a food processor to finely chop the red bell pepper, onion and garlic. I didn't think my kids would eat them if they were chunky at all. They melted wonderfully into the tomatoes. I also cut back on the cheese a little as well.
For dessert I threw together a simple Molten Chocolate cake made from a box cake mix (gasp!) and instant chocolate pudding (double gasp!). It's really good, trust me.

Talerine Beef Casserole Recipe
adapted from Simply Recipes
Ingredients
12 ounce bag egg noodles
1 medium white onion, peeled and chopped
1 bell pepper, seeded, ribs removed, chopped fine
3 minced clove of garlic (I used half these amounts and processed in a food processor)
Grapeseed oil or olive oil for sautéing
1 1/2 pounds ground round beef
Salt (I used grill seasoning)
4 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 28-ounce can tomatoes
1 1/2 cups frozen corn (can use canned corn or creamed corn)
1 15-ounce can of black olives, strained and chopped
1 pound cheddar cheese, grated (I used about 1 1/2 cups of cheese)
Method
1 Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the egg noodles.
2 Heat 2 Tbsp of oil on medium high heat in a large, heavy bottomed pot. Add the onions and bell pepper and sauté until softened. Add garlic and cook for a minute more. Add the tomatoes, breaking them up with your fingers or a knife, if you are using whole canned tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and let cook for 10 minutes. Lower the heat to warm.
3 In a separate skillet, heat to medium-high. Add a couple of tablespoons of oil to the pan and brown the meat, working in batches. Break up about half of the ground beef into the pan. Do not stir, but let sit and cook for a minute or two until brown. Sprinkle a little salt over the meat while cooking. Once brown on one side, stir the meat a little to get the other sides browned. Once the meat is thoroughly browned, use a slotted spoon to remove the meat from the pan and put it in with the tomatoes, onions, and peppers. Brown the second batch of ground beef the same way.
4 Using the same pan that you had used for browning the beef, sauté the mushrooms in the remaining oil and beef drippings. Once browned, add the mushrooms to the beef and tomato mixture.
5 While the mushrooms are cooking, add the egg noodle pasta to the boiling water. Cook as directed, about 4-5 minutes. Strain when cooked, but still a little firm (al dente).
6 Add egg noodles, corn, chopped olives, and about two thirds of the cheese to the large pot of beef and tomato mixture. Gently mix in.
7 Transfer mixture to a large casserole dish, or to two casserole dishes if you don't have one that is large enough. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top of casserole(s). Place in the oven. Cook for 30 minutes (can go as long as an hour).

Molten Chocolate Pudding Cake Recipe
1 pkg. Devil's food cake mix
1 pkg. (12 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 cups Cold milk
1 pkg (8-serving size) Jell-o chocolate pudding & pie filling

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 13 x 9 pan.
Prepare cake mix as directed on package (I use butter instead of oil and milk instead of water). Stir in half of the chocolate chunks. Pour into prepared dish; set aside.
Pour milk into large bowl. Add dry pudding mix. Beat with wire whisk 1 min. or until well blended. Pour over cake batter, starting from the center and spreading our; sprinkle with the remaining chocolate chunks.
Bake until cake appears baked in the center, about an hour. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.