Sam Tested, Carson Approved

One thing I have learned from living away from my parents is that I love to cook. I do not profess to be any sort of chef, but I am not too bad at following a recipe. I love getting new ideas for dinners so I thought I would share some of our favorite recipes.

These are all recipes that I have tried and that Carson and I have loved. Carson loves food but he is somewhat picky at the same time, so if a recipe is on my blog it has passed his test, which has to mean something right?

For today I will start will Carson's favorite - lasagna. This recipe is from my mom and it really is delicious, and not too complicated. One thing I like about it is that I can prepare it ahead of time and freeze or refrigerate it until I am ready to bake it. 

I am also not a food photographer, but this is really what it looks like

San Francisco Lasagna 

Ingredients:

• 4 oz lasagna noodles
• 28 oz Italian style peeled tomatoes
• 6 oz can of tomato paste
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp onion salt
• 2 Tbsp oil
• 1 cup onion, minced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 lb ground beef (I use ground turkey and Carson can't tell the difference)
• 3/4 lb ricotta cheese (I use cottage cheese instead because I like the taste better, but whatever you prefer)
• 1/2 lb mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 3/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Directions:

1. Simmer tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, oregano, pepper, and onion salt in sauce pan. 
2. In skillet, saute onion and garlic in oil. Add ground beef and cook until crumbly.
3. Add meat to the tomato sauce and simmer for 2 hours (you can do this uncovered for a thicker sauce or covered for a thinner sauce)
4. Before the 2 hours are up for the sauce, cook the lasagna noodles as directed and run cold water through noodles after cooking.
5. Cover the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with 1/3 of the sauce, 1/2 of the ricotta cheese, 1/3 of the mozzarella, and 1/3 of the parmesan (just estimate) and then cover with lasagna noodles. 
6. Repeat the process with sauce, ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan and noodles.
7. Finish the final layer with the last of the sauce, mozzarella, and parmesan.
8. Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes, until bubbly.

Enjoy!