Parade Day at Julie's

Sunday, March forth!

We have much to celebrate, so Julie invited us, Kathy, and Russel over to all laugh it up together.  We started with a toast in sparkling wines (Freixenet and Korbel) while snacking on olives, hummus and chips, and grape tomatoes.

When we came to the table, Julie brought out one of the prettiest and tastiest sausage lasagnas we'd ever seen/tasted.  We asked how she did it, and she said the recipe was just the one on the back of the box of Barilla no-boil lasagna noodles.  We need to remember that, so here it is:

Sausage Lasagna

9 ounce box of said no-boil noodles

2 eggs

1 (15 ounce) container ricotta

4 cups shredded mozzarella

½ cup parmesan

1 lb. mild Italian bulk sausage, browned

2 jars (ca. 6 cups) Marinara sauce

Preheat oven to 375.

In bowl, combine beaten eggs, ricotta cheese, half of the mozzarella, and the parmesan.  Set aside.

In a greased 13x9x3" pan, spread 1 cup of sauce on bottom of pan.

Layer 1 then goes in this order: 4 lasagna noodles (overlapping), then 1/3 of the ricotta mixture, half the browned meat, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, and 1 cup of sauce.

Layer 2: 4 lasagna noodles, 1/3 of the ricotta mixture, and 1 1/2 Cups sauce.

Layer 3: 4 lasagna noodles, remaining ricotta mixture, the remaining meat, and 1 cup of sauce.

Top layer: 4 lasagna noodles, remaining cup? of sauce, and remaining 1 cup mozzarella.

Bake covered with foil for 50-60 minutes.  Uncover and continue cooking until all the cheese is melted on the top (5-10 minutes).

Let stand at least 15 minutes before cutting and serving.

Lasagna is so unctuous, you need a salad to supply a bit of bite, so Julie accordingly supplied one (a salad, not a bite).

Then for dessert, she made a lime kiwi tart, which unfortunately was not quite gelled, but nicely tart and sweet enough to make us lick the plates anyway.

Though we had to wrap it up early due to work and school the next day, it was such a fun, delicious, and laugh-filled evening - thanks, Julie!