Delicious Baked Lasagna

The Secret's in the Sauce

The basis of a good lasagna casserole is the Marinara sauce. It's important to let the sauce simmer long enough to develop a good flavor while finding the proper balance of spices, type of sausage, meat and other ingredients. The sauce can be used for spaghetti, manicotti, ziti, rotini, rigatoni or even on French bread.

If you watched The Godfather, you saw Clemenza cooking spaghetti for twenty guys. His secret ingredient was a little sugar and a splash of wine while it simmered.

Prepare Ahead of Time, Bake Later

Making lasagna at home can take a little time, but the end result is worth the effort. Usually, I make lasagna to serve on Christmas Eve or on the day before Thanksgiving, since that's when most guests visit our house. The casserole can be made ahead of time, refrigerated, and baked on the day it's to be served, making it the ideal meal for a family gathering.

It can also be frozen for later use; however, I would recommend using a metal baking pan rather than a glass pan when freezing the casserole. It's possible to line the pan completely with aluminum foil so that the foil package can be taken out of the pan to conserve freezer space and free up the use of your baking pan.

Marinara Sauce Ingredients

        • 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon onion, minced, fresh or dried
• 4 cans tomato sauce, 16 ounce
• 1 can tomato paste, 12 ounce
• 1 pound ground sirloin, or ground chuck
• 1 pound mild Italian sausage, ground or links cut up
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar

Instructions for Making the Sauce

1. Start with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot.
2. Add the garlic and minced onions and cook until they become transparent.
3. Add the ground beef and cook until it's brown. Spoon the cooked beef onto a separate dish and drain off any excess grease.
4. Using the same pan, cook the mild Italian sausage until browned and drain off excess fat.
5. Return the cooked ground beef to the pan.
6. Add the four cans of tomato sauce.
7. Add the tomato paste.
8. Add one or two teaspoons of granulated sugar along with the remaining spices.
9. Cover the mixture and simmer over low heat stirring occasionally for one hour or longer.

While this is simmering, prepare the other ingredients that will be layered in a casserole dish.

Ingredients for the Three Cheese Mixture

1. 1/2 pound (8-ounce) whole milk mozzarella or use pre-shredded mozzarella cheese
2. 1 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese
3. 2 eggs, scrambled
4. 1 (15-ounce) carton of ricotta cheese
5. 1 tablespoon dried parsley (optional)

Instructions for Making the Cheese Mixture

Stir together the ingredients for the three-cheese mixture while the sauce is simmering.
1. Shred the block mozzarella cheese or use ready-prepared shredded cheese.
2. Scramble two eggs in a medium sized bowl.
3. Add the ricotta cheese.
4. Stir in the Parmesan and mozzarella cheese.
5. Add the parsley if desired.
6. Cover the mixture with cellophane wrap and refrigerate it while you cook the lasagna noodles.

. Fill a large pan with water.
2. Bring to a boil and add 1 teaspoon salt.
3. Add the noodles slowly to keep the water boiling.
4. Cook the noodles until tender, following the package directions.
5. To make handling the cooked noodles easier, cook them 3 minutes less than the instructions say.
6. Drain the pan and arrange the noodles on a lightly greased cookie sheet for ease in layering.
If you prefer, you can use ready-to-bake lasagna noodles that don't require boiling before use.

Instructions for Preparing the Casserole

1. Start by spooning a thin layer of sauce into an oven-proof casserole dish. Make sure there's enough sauce to cover the bottom of the dish.
2. Place a layer of noodles across the top of the sauce slightly overlapping the edges.
3. Next, spoon a layer of the cheese mixture over the noodles. Smooth the cheese to evenly cover the noodles.
4. Repeat from step one by putting sauce on top of the noodles and continue to layer the noodles, cheese, and sauce ending with a layer of sauce.

Instructions for Baking the Casserole

1. Cover the casserole with a layer of aluminum foil with small holes poked in the top to allow steam to escape.
2. Place the casserole on a foil-lined cookie sheet to keep the oven clean in case it spills over.
3. Bake the casserole in a 350 degree (f) oven for around 45 to 55 minutes until it starts to bubble all the way through.
4. Remove the casserole from the oven.
5. After baking, remove the dish from the oven and allow the lasagna to rest for about 10 minutes before cutting to serve. Use a serrated knife and a spatula to dish out individual servings.
This dish can be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated for cooking later.

Before baking, cover the lasagna tightly with a cellophane wrap and refrigerate overnight. Cooking time is slightly longer if the lasagna has been refrigerated.

Leftovers are great warmed up the next day.

Quick Meals in Less Than 20 Minutes

Making a large batch of sauce takes care of several pasta-based meals. Freeze any remaining sauce in family-sized portions, usually about two cups per container. After the sauce cools, ladle it into the containers, remove the excess air and store them in the freezer until needed.

A homemade meal can be prepared as quickly as you can boil the water and cook any type of pasta you like such as spaghetti, rotini, elbows, or shells. Turn the frozen sauce out into a microwave-safe dish and cover the dish with wax paper.

While the pasta is boiling, microwave the sauce one minute at a time, stirring between times until it reaches the temperature desired. Served with a side vegetable or salad and garlic bread and you have an easy, delicious meal.

Easy Breadsticks from Canned Biscuits

Winter days call for steamy bowls of hot soup or chili. Top those hearty dishes with breadsticks made from canned biscuits. Easy to do. Goes from the oven to the table in minutes.

Canned biscuits were a staple for a family meal when I was a child. They came packaged in cardboard with a blue wrapper and were economical for a family with three children.

The label peeled off to reveal a solid black line on the inner cardboard. We would draw straws to see who would give it a good whack on the edge of the countertop. The can would pop open and compressed dough would spill from the tube.

We'd separate the little orbs and arrange them on a cookie sheet. Into the oven they'd go, and after a few minutes, we'd have ready-made biscuits to go with our meal. Not as good as from scratch, but much quicker. We saved them for the end of our meal, topped off with syrup or honey.

To make the breadsticks pictured here, roll each raw biscuit between your palms like a rope of clay. Then, twist them slightly and stretch them across the baking sheet. Pressing the ends of the dough to the pan helps to hold them in place while they bake.

These bake in just a few minutes, turning  canned biscuits into delicious breadsticks. 

The aroma of baking bread is an enticing smell that brings family members or guests into your kitchen. When they spot these fluffy breadsticks rising in the oven, they'll rush to the dinner table. Tell the kids to set the table—these breadsticks will be golden-brown in moments.

What goes better with a hot bowl of chicken noodle soup or tomato soup than a couple of soft, warm breadsticks? With a little help from the refrigerated biscuit makers, you'll have these magic wands of dough stretched out on a tray and ready to pop in the oven in a little time. It really doesn't matter which brand you choose, whether it's the store brand or the most expensive kind, they turn out fine.

Once you've baked these, you'll see how simple it is to make them. And almost like magic, they disappear just as quickly.

• Separate the biscuits into individual pieces and roll each piece between your palms until they form an elongated shape.

For variety, sprinkle the raw biscuits with different seasonings before baking. For soup or chili, a light coating of flaked parsley or onion salt makes them tasty. Or brush a bit of melted butter over each and then sprinkle them with sesame seeds.

To make these for breakfast, sprinkle the unbaked elongated shapes with cinnamon and granulated sugar and add a variety of chopped nuts on top. The nuts can be rolled into the dough while they're being shaped.

How to Prepare the Biscuits for Baking

1. Preheat the oven to the recommended temperature on the package. Peel off the outside wrapper and pop open the can.
2. Separate the biscuits and shape them into an elongated form by rolling them between your palms.
3. They can also be rolled out on a lightly floured surface like a pastry board or a countertop.
4. Secure the ends of the rope by pressing firmly down after placing the dough strips crosswise on a non-greased cookie sheet.
5. Sprinkle a light dusting of garlic salt or onion salt, then, brush on a light coating of melted butter.
6. Optional: Top them off with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, Italian seasoning, or parsley flakes.

Use a spatula or kitchen tongs to move the baked breadsticks to a napkin-lined serving basket or bowl. Serve with a prepared vegetable or pasta dish. These go great with homemade chili or spaghetti.

The breadsticks in the video below are another way to prepare fresh breadsticks. Those are made with ready-made self-rising rolls, which have been thawed before they're rolled out and twisted into shape. The chef demonstrates an interesting method of twisting the dough to form pretzel-like shapes with little work. A little more time is needed for this type of dough to rise again after being formed into the desired shape before baking.

Spice up your everyday meals with a little help from the refrigerated biscuits or self-rising rolls in the dairy case. Or if you have the time, make a batch from scratch.

You'll love the home-baked aroma that fills your kitchen every time you make them.

Oven Baked Salmon in 20 Minutes

Fresh salmon is easy to make and cleanup is a snap. This oven meal is quick, nutritious and economical.

Whether you're on a budget or just looking for something new to fix for dinner, this meal is easy to prepare, requires little clean-up effort, and is economical. One fresh salmon fillet can easily make three main dish entrees for around $12.00.

Add veggies, bread, and a green salad, and you're ready to eat in 25 minutes.

If you've looked at the price for a nice salmon meal at a restaurant lately, you'll be amazed that you can prepare this meal for less than half of the cost. Clean-up is made easy when you line your baking pan with aluminum foil and bake this delicious salmon in your own oven.

Here's how to do it:

• Select fresh salmon from your favorite grocery store. I always find good choices at Aldi where they have ocean raised (not farm raised) filets.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Use kitchen shears to cut the fish into 4 ounce portions.
• Place on a foil-lined cookie sheet skin side down.
• Season with onion salt, pepper, powdered garlic and a tablespoon of butter.

• Bake for 20 minutes or until the fish flakes with a fork
• Separate the skin from the filet using a flat spatula and a fork.
• Leaving the skin on the foil, transfer the filet to a plate or the top of a salad.

Served hot or cold, this economical meal is easy and delicious.

Refrigerate unused filets in a covered container. The next day, in a bowl, use two forks to flake the fish.

• Add a tablespoon of mayonnaise
• Add a teaspoon of pickle relish
• Add a chopped boiled egg (optional)
• Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Use this as a salad topper or on a sandwich. Delicious!