Lasagne adapted from Jam it, Pickle it, Cure it.
Tomato Sauce: Heat 1/4 cup oil in a pan. Add one very thinly sliced yellow onion. Cook 6-8 minutes, until translucent. Add 6 thinly sliced garlic cloves, 3 chopped anchovy fillets, and 1 tsp red chili flakes. Cook another 2 minutes. Add 1 cup dry red wine and bring to a simmer. Add 1 28 ounce can of whole italian tomatoes, one tomato at a time crushing them in your hands before adding. (Use San Marzano tomatoes, they are worth the extra cost). Simmer 15 minutes. Add 2 tsp kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Let cool.
Meat cheese and spinach filling: Cook 10 oz frozen spinach in microwave with water sprinkled on it for 1 minutes. Stir and cook another minute. Cool. Drain off all of the water. Set aside. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil. Add one thinly sliced yellow onion with one tbsp salt. Cook 6-8 minutes. Add 3 sliced garlic cloves. Cook another minute. Remove from pan. Add 1 pound ground beef to the unwashed pan and brown the beef with another tbsp salt. Drain off any excess fat. We used grass fed beef, so there was no extra fat in the pan. Add 2 tsp oregano, 1 tsp crushed fennel seed, 1 tsp sage and 1 tsp red chili flakes. Stir. Add the onions and garlic back into pan, along with the drained spinach. Stir to combine and cook another 3-5 minutes, making sure any excess water from the spinach is cooked out. Turn off the heat. Fold in 2 cups ricotta cheese. Add 2 tbsp chopped parsley, along with the juice from half of a lemon. Allow to cool.
Pasta: Put 3 1/2 cup flour into a bowl. Add 1 tsp kosher salt. Whisk. Make a well. Add 4 eggs and 1 tbsp olive oil. Stir to incorporate. Put in kitchenaid with a dough hook and knead for 10 minutes. (or you can do this by hand). Let rest in damp towel for 30 minutes. Roll out dough to form lasagne noodles. You can do this by hand, or I used a pasta roller.
To make the lasagne: Preheat oven to 350. Put a cup of sauce in the bottom of the pan. Place a layer of noodles over it. Add 1 1/2 cups meat mixture. Add another cup of sauce and a sprinkling of mozzarella cheese. Repeat until you have 4 layers of noodles and 3 layers of meat. Rub a little olive oil over the top of the last noodle. Cover with foil and back 40 minutes. Remove foil, add some more mozzarella on top and cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes.
