Oscar Lasagne ala Flo
I have been going to my friend Flo’s annual Oscar party for the past 33 years (we counted them up this year). It’s fun - she has her own rating system and there is a mandatory pool - $25 a ballot - and we all throw our money down on the table and watch. The standing rule is that you MUST be on site in order to win which means everyone stays until the bitter end. She has been making my mom’s lasagne all these years and over time has tweaked the original recipe (making it vastly better). I wanted to find the original recipe and hunted it down in an old recipe box that I had started in college. I think the original recipe is from a McCall’s magazine. Fun to go through the recipes. It’s one of those boxes with dividers and index cards. At one point I had painstakingly handwritten out all the recipes (This being before the computer age) as well as clipped articles and recipes from various magazines and news papers. A treasure trove of eating delights that harken back to a different era. I am planning on sharing more of those recipes. I just need time to make and photograph some of them!
My mom’s original clipping. This dates back to late ‘70’s from my recollection
Ingredients
Tomato Sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 can (2lb, 3oz) Italian tomatoes
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon pepper
If you are making it a meat lasagne, 1 lb of 80% grass fed lean ground beef or 85% chuck
1 Pkg (1 lb) lasagne noodles with curly edges
Cheese Layer
2 cartons (15-oz size) ricotta cheese
1 1/2 pkg (8 oz size) mozzarella cheese, grated coarsely
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese - I always have more on hand to serve with
1/2 pkg (the other half) mozzarella cheese, grated.
Directions
First the sauce - in hot oil in a 6 quart pot or dutch oven, , saute onion and galrlic until golden brown (about 10 minutes). Add undrained tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, 2 tablespoons parsely, 1 tablespoon salt, sugar, oregano, basil, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Mex well, mashing tomatoes with fork or with spoon against the side of the pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer, covered and stirring occasionally for 1 hour.
If you are making this a meat lasagne (which I highly recommend if you are not vegan or kosher) separately saute ground beef (Flo uses either 80% grass fed lean or 85% chuck. She prefers the chuck). Add this to your sauce after about 45 minutes of the sauce cooking.
Cook lasagne noodles as directed on package although I cook a little less than directed. The noodles do continue to cook in the oven. Additionally, you want that crunch or the noodles (or at least I do) and some people choose to not bother cooking them before assembling the lasagne.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Make cheese filling
Put a little sauce on the bottom of a 14 x 10 x 2 (at least) pan
Lay noodles across the pan so they are slightly overlapping. Flo now makes her lasagne in a deep dish pan and is able to make 5 layers. The original recipe calls for only 3 layers. I prefer the extra layers - Flo calls it a Mille Feuille style Lasagne.
Depending on the number of layers, use either 1/3 or 1/5 of the cheese on top of the noodles and spread it as best you can, then spoon on a layer of sauce.
Repeat this however many times your layers are.
On the last layer, spoon on the sauce and then slice the extra mozzarella cheese on top and sprinkle more grated parmesan. To be honest, I’m a cheese lover so I oftentimes use extra cheese. Also, this recipe used the old Kraft style grated parmesan. I would opt for freshly grated parmesan. Put foil on top,
Bake 25 minutes with foil over it - take off the foil and bake for another 25 - 40 minutes, depending on how crispy you like your cheese on top / noodles. Let sit for 10 - 15 minutes. Serve with extra sauce & fresh parmesan.
Mangia!
