To paraphrase Persian mathematician and poet Omar Khayyam:
“A pan of lasagna, a glass of decent Pinot, and thou” still more than holds up all these many years later.
Especially if the lasagna is one of my faves, a slightly spicier version of the one my mom used to make, with Swiss and cottage cheeses standing in (really, really well) for the more usual suspects, and the wine is, well a decent Oregon Pinot Noir.
INGREDIENTS
•Lasagna noodles*
•Two Pigs and a Cow Pasta Sauce
•Sliced Swiss cheese
•Small curd cottage cheese
*Go ahead and use regular lasagna noodles, this method still allows you to skip the need to boil them. I was making a small 8×8 inch pan, so used the smaller lasagna noodles.
Note: feel free to use your own fave pasta sauce; it’ll all work out fine.
Heat your oven to 350º.
Spread a layer of the sauce over the bottom of your chosen lasagna pan, then arrange a layer of noodles on top.
Spread another layer of sauce over the noodles, then cover that with a layer of the Swiss cheese slices.
Spread the cottage cheese on top of the Swiss cheese to cover, then top with another layer of lasagna noodles.
Spread pasta sauce over these noodles to cover, then tightly wrap your pan with foil.
Note: this tight foil wrapping is what will ‘cook’ your lasagna noodles in the oven.
Bake, tightly covered, for 90 minutes.
At this point, you have a choice…
Remove the lasagna from the oven, remove the foil, top with a layer of the Swiss cheese slices and pop back into the oven for another 30 or 40 minutes, until everything is melted and bubbly and mebbe just a bit crispity here and there.
Or…
Allow the lasagna to cool completely, then stash, covered, in the fridge overnight.
Note: I like this method, because the flavors have time to blend and settle, and like most casseroles, this tastes so much better the next day.
If you do the overnight rest bit, again heat your oven to 350º and remove your lasagna from the fridge to warm up on the counter while the oven is heating.
Remove the cover, arrange Swiss cheese slices on top, and bake for another hour or so, until nicely heated through and the top is melted and bubbly and mebbe just a bit crispity here and there.