Nonna's Lasagne
slightly adapted from "We Called It Macaroni"
serves 10

3/4 pound of lasagne noodles (we use the Barilla no boil ones-just over one box)
olive oil
salt
1/2 pound ground beef*
1/2 cup breadcrumbs*
1 egg, lightly beaten*
fresh ground black pepper*
3 to 3 1/2 cups of your favorite sauce (Barr uses meat sauce-recipe is in the book)
1/2 pound ground Italian sausage, sautéed until browned
3 hard boiled eggs, cut in thin slices (yes, really!)
1 pound ricotta cheese
3/4 pound mozzarella, grated
1/2 freshly grated parmesan

*We usually double the meatballs. If you decide to as well, double the beef, bread crumbs, egg, and salt and pepper.

First off, about the Barilla no boil noodles. I always find that they need a little pre-soak in warm water to soften them up, otherwise, you get some uncooked parts. Is that just me? Anyway, when you're ready to assemble, put a stainless steel bowl or pan of warm water on the stove over low heat, and soak about 3 noodles at a time, for about 2 minutes. The proceed with building your lasagne, soaking noodles as you need them.

Mix the meat, breadcrumbs, egg, salt and pepper and blend well. Make meatballs the size of a walnut, and them fry in a bit of oil until browned. Drain and set aside. (Billy likes to slightly flatten the meatballs in the pan for faster and more even cooking.)

Heat oven to 375. Brush a rectangular baking pan (9 x 13", or in this case, 10 x 14") with olive oil.

Assembly:

1.Spread a bit of the sauce over the bottom of the pan.
2.Put a layer of noodles over the sauce, slightly overlapping them.
3.Next, cover the noodles with a layer of sauce.
4.Over the sauce, sprinkle some of the sausage, meatballs, and egg slices.
5.Dot the top of all of that with large spoonful's of ricotta.
6.Sprinkle with mozzarella and parmesan.
7.Add another layer of noodles and continue building until all ingredients are used.
8.The top layer will be just sauce, mozz and parm.
Bake for 45 minutes or until browned and bubbly. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

See the egg slices in there? Don’t leave them out--they taste great!