Yummy Lasagna

This recipe for lasagna is the best I have found so far. It is really good homemade lasagna. Feeds a lot of people though so the recipe can easily be halved. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 pound sweet Italian sausage
3/4 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
12 oven ready lasagna noodles
16 ounces ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced or grated
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

1.In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning,salt and pepper to taste, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

2.In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

3.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

4.To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
5.Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Buffalo Chicken Chili

This is another Rachael Ray favorite of our family. If you like chili and chicken wings, you will like this. It is spicy hot so keep that in mind. Delicious though.

Ingredients:

•2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
•2 pounds ground chicken
•2 large carrots, peeled and finely chopped
•1 large onion, chopped
•4 ribs celery with leafy tops, finely chopped
•4 cloves garlic, chopped
•1 tablespoon smoked sweet paprika or chili powder
•1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
•Salt and freshly ground black pepper
•2 cups chicken stock
•1/4-1/2 cup hot sauce (depending on how hot you like it)
•1 can tomato sauce (15 ounces)
•1 can stewed, fire-roasted or crushed tomatoes (15 ounces)
•1 sack whole grain tortilla chips, lightly crushed
•3/4 pound Maytag Blue cheese, crumbled
•A handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped

Preparation

Place a large pot over medium-high heat with the EVOO, 2 turns of the pan. Add the ground chicken and break it up, lightly browning it for 5 minutes.

Add the carrots, onion, celery, garlic, paprika and bay leaf and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 7-8 minutes. Add the chicken stock and scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pot.

Add the hot sauce, tomato sauce and the stewed, fire-roasted or crushed tomatoes to the chili and bring up to a bubble. Simmer for 8-10 minutes more to let the flavors come together.

While the chili is simmering, pre-heat the broiler.

Spread the chips out on a cookie sheet. Top with the crumbled blue cheese and transfer to the oven to melt the cheese, 2-3 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the chopped parsley.

Top each serving of Buffalo Chicken Chili with a few blue cheese chips.