Lasagna

Red Sauce:
½ cup finely chopped carrots – approximately 2 med. carrots
1cup fresh diced onion – approximately ½ lg. onion
4 ½ teaspoons fresh minced garlic
½ Tablespoon olive oil

In a large sauce pan, heat olive oil, add carrots, onion, and garlic and sauté till onion is translucent, carrots will continue to cook as sauce simmers.
Add: 2- 28oz. cans whole tomatoes
4- 8oz. cans tomato sauce
2- 6oz. cans tomato paste

Stir till tomato paste is mixed in. Then stir as needed.
Add: 2 teaspoons dried basil
1½ teaspoons dried oregano
½ teaspoon Tabasco sauce

Stir till mixed, then simmer till tomatoes are cooked down. I transferred it into a crock pot and slow cooked on low for about 6 hours.

White Sauce

½ cube butter
4 or 5 tablespoons flour
1½ cups warm milk

Melt butter in a medium sauce pan. Add flour, while whisking, till butter-flour mixture starts forming into a ball.
Add milk, continuing to whisk, till white sauce is smooth and a gravy-like consistency. Continue to stir till hot and
bubbly. (Keep warm and mixed.)

Stir in: ¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon nutmeg

16 oz. lasagna noodles cooked
8 oz. freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 ½ lbs. freshly grated mozzarella cheese
16oz. ricotta cheese

In a 9x 13 casserole dish, thinly spread red sauce to coat bottom of dish, about 2 ladles full. Layer other ingredients in this order:

Noodles
Red sauce, about 3 ladles full
Ricotta cheese, several little “clumps” dropped evenly across layer (approximately ¼ tsp. each clump).
White sauce drizzled randomly
Parmesan cheese thinly spread
Mozzarella cheese liberally spread, covering everything well.

Repeat layering 2 more times
Bake at 350 degrees till cheese is melted. This recipe makes two 9x 13 pans. It freezes very well.

Submitted by: Susan Martineau