Kim's Essex County Famous Lasagna

Then I wondered if I should hold back an ingredient from you. But then I remembered that Everybody Loves Raymond episode where his mom gives Debra the spice bottle and Deb's recipe never turns out, and they find out she's put a label over the real label and used bad spices to purposely mess up Debra's food. And well I just can't do that to you guys.
 
So here it is in all it's glory, who knows, you may hate it and it's mine forever.As with all my recipes it's never been written down. And I probably never make it exactly the same. So I will try my best to get the stuff right but I don't measure spices so be forewarned. You can do this as a mild version or spicy, add vegies or different meats. You can add different cheeses. You could make your own sauce or buy ready-made. It's all up to you. I'll just tell ya what I do and you tweak from there. The only thing I'd say is a no-no is ready-made noodles. Hate them. Cook your own, just turn the water off slightly before they are done. They keep cooking after and you don't want them mushy.
 
Okay are you ready for this? I'll even tell you the easy peasy secret ingredient.

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Kim’s Essex County Famous Lasagna

Super easy to make, super quick to disappear from the pan!

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 1 pan

Ingredients

• 1 package lasagna noodles
• 1 can hunts thick n rich original sauce
• 1 can hunts thick n rich roasted garlic and herbs sauce
• 1 to 2 pound hamburger cooked (you can throw in more or less)
• Lots of Mozarella Cheese about 2 to 2 cups, grated ( I buy a huge one at costco, this is to taste so add what you like)
• Parmesan Cheese the secret ingredient,more on this later
• 2 to 3 tablespoons sugar the other secret ingredient,will explain this later
• Spices basil,oregano,bay leaves,chili powder,garlic powder,salt,pepper-more on spices later

Instructions

• Brown hamburger. Set aside.
• Boil large pot of water, once it's boiling add the noodles and cook them till they're not quite done.(i'm guessing ⅞ minutes)
• While noodles cook,or earlier in day(more on this later) pour sauce, cooked hamburger, sugar and spices into a pot, bring to a low boil and simmer for however long you'd like.
• Drain noodles and make sure they are dry before you start layering.
• Lay a layer of noodles. I go 2 deep for the most part. Here's another secret, throw some moz cheese on the noodles.
• Next add a layer of sauce. Here's the next secret, throw some parmesan on top, it boosts the flavor like you cannot imagine.
• Add a layer of mozzarella cheese.
• Then repeat however many times you can fit in your pan.
• Cook in a preheated 350 degree F oven for about 20-ish minutes.

Notes

Secrets- I was told eons ago by my Gramma that if you add sugar to anything tomato-y it absorbs the acid. No idea if there's any truth to that or not. But great if it does. Even better is the fact that it makes the sauce sweet and I love that. So do it to taste. I like a lot and would probably double what I've told you to be quite honest. But not everyone likes it that sweet so use your own judgement. Now the parmesan is just something I've added since I don't like cottage cheese. Wanted another cheese and most bother my tummy. Discovered that parmesan just adds such a nice taste and texture to it. So I've gotten into the habit of always adding it.

Spices- This is so to preference. I would guess ½ teaspoon for most of them.Garlic I would go 1 whole teaspoon but that is how I roll. You can also add diced garlic(costco in a jar in the spice section,grocery store in vegie aisle). You could also use fresh, I do this if I have it. I also like fresh and my sis send me her own basil and bay leaves. And there's little jars you can buy of basil, oregano and shallots in water. These things rock and the taste is spectacular. I often mince up fresh shallots and saute them then add them but I did not this time.Salt,well I like the Himalayan salt myself. Very little pepper, not a fan. Hope this helps.

Now cooking time varies. I sometimes use microwave(6 to 12 minutes depending on size of pan), sometimes stove at 350 degrees (15-25 minutes depending on size of pan).You can also cook this in the microwave but watch the time. Start with about 10 minutes then watch carefully from then on. You have to be careful of it getting those crusty bits. So monitor time carefully.

So hopefully I've helped and not forgotten any key ingredients of steps. The joy of listening to a cooking blogger who doesn't follow recipes right. Lol!

I like mine spicy and dripping with cheese, almost a bit goopy like pizza. This is how the Beaulieu clan rolls.

Hope you enjoy!

Toodles and Smoochies! xx