Contributed by Barbara (NightMist )
This is a rather plain slightly acidic sauce, that also goes well with vegetable parmagianas and ravioli.
Heat your olive oil in a good evenly heating saucepan or Dutch oven (you might want to go non-stick, depending on how good a cook you are and how good the pan is). I usually do this on medium high heat. Saute the onions until they are translucent and just starting to brown, then take them from the pan and set them aside.
Put the tomato paste into the pan and stir madly. Keep the paste moving, and keep scraping it off the bottom of the pan, until the paste has darkened, you can actually brown it quite a bit, but do not let it scorch or stick.
When the paste is quite dark, push it to the side of the pan and add in the basalmic vinegar in the bare spot. let it spit and steam , then stir the lot together. Add in the onions, and the diced tomatoes, stir it all together. Add the wine and stir. Now add the water rinsing the tomato paste can works here, about one or one and a half cans full usually works for me. Stir it smooth, when it starts to burp at you, turn it down to a bare simmer.
Stir in the herbs and the garlic, cover and let it simmer stirring frequently for at least half an hour.
If you like you can add in cheese after it has simmered a bit, but be careful, as too much or too soft a cheese will cause it scorch unless you stir constantly during the simmering process.
.I combine ricotta and cottage to get a moist but not sloppy cheese layer.
Drain the cottage cheese. Drain the ricotta. Beat the eggs. Stir it all together. If you like you can add in a bit of garlic or some complementary herbs, depending on how fancy you feel.
Shred the spinach and the mushrooms in the food processor (or just chop them as fine as you have patience for) Toss with the lemon pepper and cheese. Sometimes I toss in a can of drained black olives.
Boil up about a pound and a half of lasagna noodles. keep stirring gently so they don't stick to each other. When still verdi (just before they are al dente, the point when you would be telling spaghetti to hurry up and get done) drain them, and rinse them in cold water till they are comfortable to handle. If any are stuck together, run cold water over the place they are stuck, while gently pulling them apart.
Spoon a very thin layer of sauce into the bottom of the lasagna pan. put a layer of noodles over this. Then a layer of spinach, spoon sauce lightly over the spinach. Another layer of noodles, then a layer of cheese, another layer of noodles, repeat until you either run out of ingredients or run out of room in the pan, try to finish with a spinach layer. Spoon sauce over the top (noodles)generously and spread with shredded mozzarella (or just lay sliced over all).
If you are generous with the mozzarella at the edges of the pan and working in, it will help to seal the pan against overflow and spills in the oven.
Bake at 350 for half an hour to an hour, depending on how big you pan is. My cheap lasagna pan (aluminum, about 10x14x3) takes half an hour-45 minutes, my good lasagna pan (stainless steel, 10x15x4.5)takes an hour or more. In the case of the latter pan, I usually don't put the mozzarella on 'til half way through the cooking.
If you have ingredients left over, you can layer them into a simple casserole and just bake till the cheese layer is set. If you end up with leftover spinach, just throw it into the fridge and have salad tomorrow :) .
This page last updated 10/19/2001