Meatloaf Lasagana-Pregnancy craving gone terribly right

For my friend Sheri.  Love you girl.

I know I already did a couple of post this week, but this was a matter of great importance.  My friend Sheri has just gotten past the morning sickness stage of pregnancy.  She posted on Facebook today that she was craving 2 things and couldn't  decide which one to have for dinner.  Her cravings were Meatloaf and Lasagna.  I suggested her Husband, Ray a chef, make her Italian meatloaf lasagna. But it got my brain firing.  So we are having meatloaf lasagna for dinner.  It looks and smells yummy so far. I have full recipes for everything at the bottom but you could substitute, store bought sauce, your meatloaf recipe, or your cheese mixture.  It is pretty fixable so have fun and enjoy.

First start the sauce.  To start my homemade sauce, I chop up 1 medium onion, 4 cloves of garlic, a carrot, a stalk of celery,
and 4 mushrooms in about a teaspoon of olive oil.

The carrots and celery give the sauce a little sweetness and a little robustness.  Not to mention that is some vegetables and vitamins that the kids won't even notice.

6 pints (or 6 16 oz cans) of Tomato sauce Some parsley, oregano, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes with the vegetables from before.  Simmer on medium low for about an hour.

I learned this sauce from an Italian when we were living in Germany.  It is yummy but the traditional sauce takes a couple of days.  I shorten the process.

As the sauce cooks down and the flavors condense and meld together your sauce may look like this.

Next you need to make your meatloaf and get it in the oven.  Use your meatloaf recipe because everybody has a different idea of meatloaf, but a drier meatloaf is a little better. But instead of adding tomato sauce or catsup to the mix add about 2/3 a cup of your sauce to give it a little more of an Italian flavor.  It just adds a little something to it.

The filling mixture is Ricotta, Parmesan, and Mozzarella cheeses with an egg, a couple of mushrooms some oregano and parsley.  And to boost the vegetable factor I dice up some spinach. 

Cut up your meatloaf into strips for easy layering.

Now to assemble the layers and bake. After that Yummy time.

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Cover the top with  the rest of your sauce.  Then sprinkle some cheese on top.  Throw it in the oven for about 45 minutes.

When it is bubbly and done pull it out of the oven and let it rest for about 5 minutes.  Then cut and serve.

Looks so good.  It would be a great date night dinner for you and your husband.  

How good does this look?

Homemade Pasta Sauce

• 6 pints or 6 16 oz cans of tomato sauce
• 1/4 c sugar
• 1/4 c your favorite wine
• 1 carrot, 
• 1 celery stalk
• 1 onion
• 4 cloves garlic
• 4 mushrooms (optional)
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp parsley
• 2 tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp of red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp of pepper

Dice the vegetables and saute them in the olive oil.  In a dutch oven or large sauce pan add the tomato sauce, vegetables, wine, sugar and seasonings together. Simmer on low medium heat for at least an hour stirring every few minutes.

Cheese mixture for Lasagna

• 16 oz Ricotta cheese
• 3/4 c Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 c Mozzarella cheese
• 1 Egg
• 1 cup shredded Spinach
• 4 mushrooms diced
• 1 tbsp parsley
• 1 tsp oregano

Mix them all together and layer into what ever Lasagna your wish.