Pot Luck: Lasagna

Our little Pot Luck Club got together at our house on Saturday for some Christmas merriment filled with delicious food and the funniest yankee swap ever.

Upon arrival prosecco was served and we enjoyed Sara’s Devils on Horseback (bacon wrapped dates stuffed with gorgonzola cheese). Can I just say: yum? The sweet and salty all mixed together in a decadent bite.

Everyone stayed in the kitchen, as they usually do when we entertain. I think there is something about standing up, munching and chatting around the island…

Next up we enjoyed Gemma’s homemade Rosemary Bread and a salad filled with strawberry, spinach and blue cheese. Heather made roasted zucchini and roasted asparagus which were both delicious.

My husband made his famous lasagna. I love Luke’s lasagna more than my mom’s. Dare I say that? Gosh, she reads the blog, so hopefully she doesn’t mind. My mom’s lasagna was a staple growing up especially when having people over. My mom always used ricotta and Luke doesn’t. He makes a white sauce, which I just think is lighter. If you want to make Luke’s Lasagna, here it is:

Luke’s Lasagna

Ingredients for the Meat Sauce:

2 lb Beef (turkey if you prefer)

Onion

Couple of cloves of garlic

Pat of butter

Olive Oil

Sliced Mushrooms

Pepper, chopped

Your favorite Sauce (2 jars)

– Sautee onion in butter and olive oil until soft. Add chopped garlic and continue to cook for a couple of minutes.

– Add the beef and brown (you may need to add more olive oil to stop it from burning). Once that is cooked, add the peppers, sauce and then mushrooms. Simmer over low heat for about an hour.

Ingredients for the White Sauce (there are easier ways of making, but this is the Silver Spoon way):

Butter (1 stick)

All Purpose Flour (1/2 C)

Milk (4 1/2 C)

Cheddar Cheese (or mozzarella) (2C)

– Melt butter in a sauce pan and whisk in the flour.

– Add all the milk. Whisk continuously until it comes to a low boil. Make sure to scrape the bottom corners so it doesn’t burn.

Chef Conor helping Daddy make the white sauce.

– Once it is boiling, turn heat to simmer for at least 20 minutes. Stir at regular intervals to prevent sticking and burning.

– Add 2 cups of grated cheese and stir.

Lasagna

Ingredients:

Meat Sauce (above)

White Sauce (above)

Lasagna (no cook) pasta

Grated cheese

2 boiled eggs, sliced (optional)

– Place meat sauce into the bottom of a lasagna pan until it is about a half inch thick.

– Cover with the lasagna pasta.

– ladle white sauce over pasta to cover. Add some grated cheese.

– Add sliced eggs (if using).

– Repeat steps one through 3 until you’ve used the ingredients up. White sauce should be the top layer.

– Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 45 minutes, or until golden on top. Half way through add some grated cheese.

Assembling lasagna

And here is the finished lasagna:

Enjoy!

For dessert we enjoyed Ciao Bella Gelato Squares and Italian Roast Coffee. By the tree we had our Re-GiftingYankee Swap and it was so funny. These gifts have been in peoples’ basements / attics / pantries collecting dust possible for years! The whole idea of a re-gifting party is to give gifts that you received, but don’t need or don’t want and wrap them up and re-gift them. There were winter themed serving dishes, large candles with the historic buildings of Boston, rainbow colored champagne glasses and rose prints. We laughed ’til we cried! A truly lovely evening of good food, good drink and good company.