Recipe – Happy Hubby Lovin’ Lasagna

Would you believe it if I told you that I had never made lasagna until just a few weeks ago???

I guess I’ve always been intimidated by it!  One time when the Happy Hubby and I were in college, his parents decided to drive up and join us in celebrating the Happy Hubby’s birthday.  When I asked the birthday boy what he wanted to eat for dinner on his big day, he announced, “Lasagna.”  And more specifically, his mom’s lasagna.

I emailed her right away and asked her to get me a list of the ingredients so that I could buy it all and have it ready for her when they arrived.  The ingredient list was like a page long and the entire meal took half a day to make!  I was like, “Woo boy!  That lasagna is a labor of love!!”

Anything over 5 ingredients and I start breaking a sweat.  In fact, I used to subscribe to Martha Stewart but stopped because her recipes (and crafts) were just way too involved for this fairy.

But then in March I discovered that there were still 2 weeks before the end of the month and I only had $5 of grocery money left!  Those are the moments where you just know God is going to start doing some pretty miraculous things!!  No doubt about it, my Happy Home friend, Abbie, dropped a bag of groceries on our doorstep out of the blue.  Thanking the Lord for His provision and sorting through the items, I pulled out a box of lasagna noodles and took a deep breath.  If God provided it, then I would muster the courage to do it!

Lasagna here I come!

I flipped through a few cookbooks (I was definitely not going to attempt my mother-in-law’s version.  Only she has the patience power to deliver that deliciousness!)  I found a recipe called Lisa’s Best Ever Lasagna.

Sounded good to me.

Anything with the word Best in the title has got to be a winner – I mean that’s taking a risk!

Let me just tell you, I whipped that baby together in no time at all – I didn’t even break a sweat!  And holy cow did the Happy Hubby LOVE IT!  He was practically leaping his whole body into the Pyrex dish for more.

So, without further ado (thanks for reading all this pre-lasagna-recipe-story-stuff)… 🙂

Happy Hubby Lovin’ Lasagna

Ingredients

• 2 (24 oz) jars spaghetti sauce
• 14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
• 10 3/4 oz can tomato puree
• 2 (3.8 oz) cans sliced black olives, drained (I didn’t have these on hand because this Happy Home isn’t a huge fan of olives, but thought mushrooms would be good, too.)
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1 yellow pepper, chopped
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 24 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
• 12 oz. shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 8 oz. provolone cheese, shredded (I didn’t use all the different specified cheeses – just what I had on hand.  I really like the 6-Italian cheese blend and keep a bunch of it in the freezer.)
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 16 oz pkg. lasagna noodles, cooked (I used the no boil lasagna noodles because that’s what our little grocery fairy gave us!)

Directions

1. Combine first 10 ingredients in a large stockpot over medium heat.
2. Simmer for one hour.
3. Mix together cheeses and set aside.
4. Spray TWO 13″x9″ baking pans with non-stick cooking spray.
5. Spread a thin layer of sauce mixture in pans.
6. Layer lasagna noodles, sauce and cheese.
7. Repeat layers for a total of 3 layers.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.
9. Take the 2nd lasagna to a neighbor or friend in need! 🙂

*Note – I sheepishly admit that I didn’t really read the instruction so well and I made the whole thing in one pan!  Can you believe that it didn’t spill out everywhere?!  It made for a really thick lasagna, but it gave us like 52 meals and helped us make it to the end of the month! :-)*

Happy Lasagna-ing! 🙂