Recipes

Mexican Lasagna

Main Dish  Misc. One Dish  Oven  Pasta 

• Cooking Time: 45
• Servings: 8
• Preparation Time: 45
• 9 curly edged extra-wide lasagna noodles
• Meat Layer:
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion
• 1 cup sliced white mushrooms
• 2 teaspoons seasoning salt
• 1 Tablespoon dried oregano
• 2 Tablespoons dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground Tellicherry peppercorns
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed in a garlic press
• 1 Tablespoon dried parsley
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes, undrained
• 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 cup water
• Cheese Layer:
• 1 (15-ounce) container ricotta cheese
• 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 Tablespoon dried parsley
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground Tellicherry peppercorns
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
• 2 large eggs
• Topping:
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Bring water to a boil in a 12-quart stockpot. Cook noodles.

Meat layer: In a 5-quart saute pan, brown the beef in oil over medium heat. Add onions and mushrooms; cook 10 minutes.

Measure seasoning salt, oregano and basil, into a mortar and grind with pestle. Add to meat with pepper, cayenne, garlic and parsley. Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce and water. Cook 5 minutes, remove from heat or the sauce will dry out.

Noodles should be done; drain and cover with cold water.

Cheese layer: In a medium bowl, mix ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, parsley, pepper, garlic salt and eggs.

Place 3 drained noodles in the base of a sprayed with non stick spray 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Pour half the meat sauce over noodles. Top with half of the cheese mixture. You won't be able to cover every inch of the sauce. Top with more noodles and the rest of the sauce and cheese. Finish with the last 3 noodles. Sprinkle with toppings. Bake in preheated 350 oven 30-45 minutes.

Lasagna is a classic, versatile dish which can be made ahead of time and frozen. Cayenne and Tellicherry peppercorns provide the heat for this spicy version. Freshly ground peppercorns release essential oils which enhance the flavor.

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