Proof that the Princess Can Cook Something Other Than a Tuna Melt

So my favourite food ever is my brother's lasagna. However he seems to actually like this girls he's been dating, so I rarely see him, so when I woke up with a craving for his lasagna this morning, I decided to take matters into my own hands.

I've totally made the lasagna with him a zillion times, albeit in an assisting kind of way. I can absolutely do this, right?

So, you're getting a photo essay of my lasagna experience. Is this the most riveting post ever? No. But will it make you hungry? Maybe.

OK I need ingredients and stuff. Off to Safeway I go!
Hmm, there's a weather warning in effect. Wind? A wind warning? What are we in Kansas??
Not to be deterred from my mission, I carry on.
I round up all the ingredients and am on my way. I step outside and my lasagna pan blows away. Then my nylon bag blew away. You know those nylon bags? The ones that you use so you don't have to use plastic bags? The one that I totally forgot about until the cashier was already done bagging all my groceries? Yeah. That one. It blew away. I sighed and wrote it off, but a kind man ran after it for me and I frantically stuffed it back in my trunk underneath some heavier groceries.

Time: 2:20 PM

Ok, what first? Cheese. Cheese needs to be grated. Why do I know this? Cause usually - that's the only job that my brother assigns me. I'm going to have to wing it for the rest of the recipe. Oh and the recipe? Yeah, making it up as I go. In those bowls? One block each of cheddar and mozzarella. Not so much a healthy meal tonight.

OK. Now what? Ok, onions and mushrooms and peppers need to be sautéed. And right here is where I'm already deviating from my brother's recipe. You see my brother would have just bought a can of mushrooms and dumped it into the sauce. That's a travesty in my mind. So I decided to add a few extra veggies by adding these to the mix. And by the way? Why hasn't anyone ever told me about Pam before?? You can totally cook without without all that extra oil! Awesome. (See, I tried to redeem myself from all the cheese!)

Ok, lasagna has like meat and stuff in it, right? Ok. Let's do that...
And guess what I had to add to the meat?? Italian spices. From Italy! My parents totally knew I would do this someday when they brought that back for me. (Uhh, and for all the other kids - but whatever, I'm the baby so I'm the most important right?)

So where are we? Meat? Check. Cheese? Check. Mushrooms, onions, peppers? Check. Noodles boiled? Check. Sauce simmered? Check. Ooooh- now for the fun part. The assembly.

3:00 PM

Uhh, so I sort of remember what order this is supposed to go in.

My only panic is about the cottage cheese. It gets it's own layer at some point. I decide to put it in layer 2 just to get it over with.

After that it goes pretty smoothly. Noodles. Sauce. Mush/onion/pep. Ground beef. Cheese. Repeat.

And then?? Oh crap. How long do I cook this? At what temperature?
Just a note: 425 for 75 minutes? Either too hot or too long. Possibly both.

Now before you think all my work was a dismal failure, it totally was not. But I refuse to post a photo of the final thing in the pan, cause it looks too crispy. But here is a slice.

I even remembered to let it stand for a bit before cutting into it so it wasn't lasagna soup.

Dinner time: 5:00

How would I rate this experience? I would give it a 7/10. A bit over cooked. And a bit liquidy on the bottom of the pan. Other than that? Delish.

xo