Tangible Jesus: love & lasagna

Most every special occasion growing up was marked with my mom's delicious lasagna. Lasagna is a labor of love. I remember my mom speeding most the day in the kitchen carefully simmering the marina sauce from scratch. The tedious task of boiling noodles to tender perfection all while trying not to tear or break a single one. Blending together three luxurious cheeses and then finally laying everything in perfect proportion. I loved the way the smell filled our home and we could barely wait to taste the ooey-gooey goodness.

Lasagna is my love language. My mom's recipe is still my favorite of all time. But now that I'm a mama of four littles it's simply not possible for me to be in the kitchen all day for a single meal. So I've come up with a 'cliff note' version of this classic dish. Easy. Simple. Delicious. That's my kind of meal.

Easy-Peasy Lasagna

Side note: I'm so thankful for the Pioneer Woman.
Honestly how did we ever make recipes without pictures?

Ingredients

1 to 1 1/2 lbs of ground beef

1 (24oz) jar of marina pasta sauce

1 (15oz) container ricotta cheese

4-8 slices of provolone cheese

1 cup whipping cream

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

I box of over ready pasta noodles

1 box (or at lease 12) oven ready (or no-boil) lasagna noodles

1 (16oz) package shredded mozzarella cheese or Italian blend cheese

1 heaping handful of fresh parmesan cheese (optional)

*NOTE: If you plan to freeze this lasagna you will have to buy regular lasagna noodles & boil them. Oven baked noodles will NOT work for freezing.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook ground beef in a dutch oven or skillet over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until meat is no longer pink. While the meat is cooking I add a little bit of salt, pepper, and Lawry's seasoned salt. I like to add layers of flavor as I cook. Be careful not to over season. Break up the ground beef into pieces while cooking. Drain; return to pan.

2. Reduce heat to medium-low. Stir in marina sauce; cook, stirring often, 5-10 minutes.

3. In a small bowl, stir together ricotta cheese, whipping cream, and eggs until smooth.

*If you get the exact quantities for these ingredients your kids can literally poor everything into a bowl and you don't have to measure a single thing. Also less dishes.

4. Spoon in a little less than half of the sauce mixture into a lightly greased 13- by 9-inch baking dish, making sure the sauce coats the bottom of the baking dish evenly

5. Top with 4 lasagna noodles in a singe layer

6. Top with half of ricotta cheese mixture

7. Top with one single layer of provolone cheese

8. Top with one-third of shredded mozzarella cheese

9. Add the remaining meat sauce mixture

10. Repeat steps 5-8

11. Sprinkle the top with a little bit of fresh Parmesan cheese (optional)

12. Cover with aluminum foil. *lightly spray the foil with cooking spray & the cheese won't stick to the foil.

13. Bake for 45 minutes covered. Uncover and bake 15 more minutes until cheese is bubbly and golden brown. Let stand for 20 minutes before serving.

*Make ahead recipes are my favorite, so here's what to do: Assemble lasagna, including covering with foil, and chill for up to two days before baking. Simply add 20-30 minutes to the cooking time.

I'm so thankful my kids LOVE cooking with me. Here are my adorable little sous-chiefs...

(my 1960's kitchen doesn't have great lighting so I had to switch to b & w.

I know inquiring minds were wanting to know. Good thing my babies look good in color and b&w :)

and the final product right before baking...

Heavenly perfection every time!

I'm including my mom's delicious lasagna recipe. I love original handwritten recipes. I think the "I use a lot of cheese" is the reason it's so good. And of course because it's made with so much love.