Lasagna

It's been a while since I started planning my cooking blog. As soon as the idea came I started taking pictures of most of my creations. So, as I was thinking what my new post would be I went through the pictures and remembered a great lasagna recipe that I made few weeks ago. I borrowed the original recipe from My Lasagna Recipe and adjusted it a bit since I couldn't find some of the basic ingredients here. I think the result was pretty good. By the way, I think this lasagna tastes even better the second day!

INGREDIENTS:

For the meat sauce:

700gr minced beef
2 medium onions, chopped
4 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cans (800gr) diced tomatoes
4 tbsp tomato paste
150 ml dry red wine
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 tbsp dry oregano
1tsp dry thyme
8-10 bahari grains (allspice)
1 tsp hot boukovo (crashed chilly peppers)
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
salt and pepper to taste

For the cheese filling:

400gr Philadelphia or Philadelphia-like cheese. You could use either plain cheese or the one spiced with herbs. I like the garlic and dill flavor the most.
1 egg
1 tbsp grated nutmeg
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
1 tsp dry oregano
1 tsp dry thyme

Rest of the ingredients:

12 lasagna sheets
1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella
1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese

1. In a large sauce pan heat the oil. Add onion, garlic, bahari grains, boukovo and coriander seeds and cook until onions are tender.
2. Add the minced meat and cook on a low heat until the meat is brown.
3. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, wine, sugar and the remaining spices, cover and cook on a low heat for about 30 minutes
4. Meanwhile soak the lasagna sheets for about 15 minutes in hot water. Remove from the water and place on a clean kitchen towel.
5. Prepare the cheese filling by simply mixing all the ingredients together until the paste is uniform.
6. In an ovenproof pan, large enough to fit 4 of the lasagna sheets, pour some meat souce, just enough to cover the bottom.
7. Place the first layer of lasagna sheets over the sauce, in a way that they overlap a little.
8. Spread half of the cheese filling over the lasagna and sprinkle with 1/2 cup of mozzarella and 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese.
9. Spread about 1/3 of the meat sauce over the cheese filling.
10. Repeat the steps 7-9.
11. Cover with the remaining lasagna sheets and pour over them the remaining meat sauce.
12. Sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan, cover with foil, place in a preheated oven and bake at 200°C for about 30 minutes. At the end remove the foil, turn on the grill and bake just enough to make a nice crust on top.
13. Before serving let it cool for some time. Otherwise it will fall apart while you transfer it to a plate (trust me!)

This recipe is a bit time consuming but it is soooo worth it!