Lick-Your-Dish Lasagna Mac

Before you start thinking that every home cook blog HAS to have a lasagna dish in its arsenal, just pump your brakes for a minute and read on. This is NOT a true lasagna. This dish is a unique hybrid between lasagna and macaroni-and-cheese. If the two most comforting pasta-based dishes on the planet got together and had a love child, it would be this dish. Not only is it delicious, but there are so many other reasons to have it in your repertoire. 

First, it can be frozen easily and used in an emergency for a quick and easy dinner. It can also be made 1-2 days ahead and refrigerated to be heated when needed. Second, it can be combined with salads, side-dishes, or bread to make it stretch for the entire week if necessary. And third, it's really pretty to look at. The colors, the textures, and the layers are comforting, warming, and seductive. At the end of the meal, we promise you will want to lick your dish clean--and then ask for seconds.

But enough about our love affair with this dish. Let's show you how to make it!

What you are going to need:

• 2 pounds of ground meat or pork sausage (When we make this dish, we use 1 pound of ground round beef and 1 pound of ground pork, either mild Italian seasoning or Hot Italian seasoning--again, we use Campfire Farms for pork and The Meating Place for beef because they are both local independent businesses and have great meats.)
• 1 small bunch of celery, 7-8 ribs, chopped or diced to your preference (Pro Tip: String or peel the celery so you don't have too much plant fiber in each bite.)
• 2-4 cloves of garlic, diced
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 8-10 mushrooms, peeled and sliced     

• 28-32 ounces of canned tomatoes (We use plain crushed tomatoes, but you can also use tomatoes with green chiles if you want a little extra heat and flavor.)
• 1 8 ounce can of tomato sauce
• 2 jalapenos, seeds and ribs removed (This is optional; see Notes section for the use of this ingredient)
• Dash of Worcestershire sauce
• Pinch of oregano
• 1 teaspoon of chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• Red pepper flakes to taste
• Salt to taste
• Black pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 1 pound of sharp cheddar cheese, cut into cubes
• 1 pound of sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 stick of butter, cut into cubes
• Parmigiano Reggiano cheese for grating

• 1 pound of macaroni, mostaccioli, or penne rigate
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil

And here is how you make the magic happen:

Meat Sauce:

• Heat the vegetable oil in a medium pot over medium heat.
• Put the beef and sausage into the pot, stirring regularly to start browning. Use a spoon to break it into smaller pieces as it cooks.

• At this point, you can add approximately 2 teaspoons of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper (or your desired amount) to the meat for seasoning.
• Once the meat is done, add the onion, garlic, and celery to the pot and stir together.

• Cook the vegetables until they are tender and the onion is translucent, about 10-15 minutes.
• Add in the Worcestershire sauce, oregano, chili powder, and cumin.
• Now add the tomatoes and stir until mixed together well.

• Once mixed together and starting to heat, add in the jalapenos and the mushrooms, stirring into the mix.

• Allow these ingredients to cook together for about 15-20 minutes to get all their flavors mixed, but DO NOT allow to boil!
• During this cooking stage, you can add the red pepper flakes and more salt or pepper to your taste preference.
• Turn off the heat and let rest while you cook your pasta.

Pasta:

• Fill a large pasta pot with enough water to cover a pound of pasta--about 4 quarts of water.
• Add enough olive oil to cover the surface of the water--about 2 tablespoons. The more oil you use, the easier it will be to clean your pot later because the pasta won't stick.

• Once the water is boiling, add 1 tablespoon of salt and stir to dissolve.
• Next, add your pasta to the boiling water and stir.

• This is the one tricky part of the pasta cooking. This pasta is going into the oven later, so you don't want it to overcook. You want it slightly undercooked, just on the edge of done. We suggest that you start testing your pasta after 7 minutes of boiling and remove it from the heat and drain it immediately once it tests al dente.
• Now for the assembly process!

Putting it all together:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and place a rack in the middle position.
• Using a 10" x 16" x 3" casserole pan (we use a #40 Le Creuset casserole pan), start your first layer with half of the pasta, half of your cubed cheddar cheese, and half of your butter cubes. Dot the pasta with the cheese and butter, then scatter 1/3 of the grated cheddar cheese on top of the pasta.

• Next, cover this layer with half of the meat sauce.

• Now, top with the remaining pasta, cubed cheddar cheese, cubed butter, and another 1/3 of the shredded cheddar cheese.

• Finish with the remaining meat sauce and top with final 1/3 of the shredded cheddar cheese and a generous grating of Parmigiano Reggiano.

• Finally, place the completed casserole in the oven, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted inside and the dish is thoroughly heated.
• Once heated completely, remove from the oven and let stand for about 10 minutes before serving.

• This dish has a lot of yummy sauce in it and we recommend having your favorite baguette, garlic bread, or breadsticks on hand for that reason.

• Enjoy!

Notes:

1. As always with jalapenos or any chili, you need to determine how hot the pepper is before adding it. An easy way to determine the heat of a pepper is if you're choking when you are removing the seeds and the ribs, it's probably pretty hot. We recommend using disposable nitrile gloves for handling these kind of volatile ingredients. You may want to omit this ingredient if you don't like spicy, or leave it whole to be removed before assembling the dish. If you like spice like Bernadette does, then slice it up and leave it in the meat sauce for some extra kick!
2. Bernadette hasn't tried this yet, but we think this dish could easily be converted to a vegetarian version by omitting the meat in favor of various mushroom types, zucchini, and yellow squash. You could also simply double the onion and celery ingredients as well. If you try it this way, please let us know how it came out and how you did it! 
3. In the South, where Bernadette grew up, where people care after their friends and neighbors, people always bring food when there is sickness, strife, or funerals. This is a perfect dish for those kind of moments. You can never go wrong when your heart is in your cooking and you want someone to know you care. 
4. This dish is also ideal for entertaining, when those days come again. And when they do, you will be ready because Bernadette knows best!