Is The Best Lasagna Made By Mom ?

Once in awhile my mom needs to be reminded to bring her A game in the kitchen.  When visiting my parents a few years ago, they were set to host my cousin Chelsea and her husband Chad (pre-two babies).  My mom mentioned she was thinking of making hamburgers and I frowned.  She asked what I should make and I said one word: lasagna!

My mom and dad both agreed lasagna would be an excellent choice.  There are hundreds of recipes out there for lasagna, including this one.  I used to be afraid to make lasagna – it looked so hard with all those layers.  That afternoon, my mom proved to me it is easy.

After my mom made her sauce, I came in the kitchen to help her get the lasagna ready. Let’s start with the noodles.  She likes to use cooked noodles that were patted dry.

We decided to make a large pan of lasagna and soaked it with cooking spray to start.

We then mixed together the filling.  My Mom doesn’t believe in buying grated cheese for lasagna.  She said with a smirk, “it’s not for me, too dry.”

We made a station to get ready.  First, a layer of sauce.  After we patted dry the noodles, we put them on the sauce.

We then added a layer of the white sauce and added a layer of grated mozzarella cheese.

Before we moved on to the second layer, we added some pepperoni. My Mom said it’s one of her secret ingredients.  We then started making layers over and over again.

Layer upon layer of lasagna noodles, cheese and sauce!

I then asked my mom to talk about making lasagna.  The commentary in the background was from my dad! They have been married for 58 years in August so they know how to rib each other!

We put the lasagna in the oven for about an hour and a half at 350.  As she described in the video, she puts the leftover noodles on the top to keep it from drying out.

The first piece I ate!

To top off the lasagna, my mom also served her award-winning carrot cake!  Look at that cream cheese icing!  It makes you want to lick the screen doesn’t it?

Great visit, great food, great family!  After lunch, we headed straight to the beach to begin to walk off the calories!