Puerto Rican Lasagna (Lasaña Puertorriqueña) (Submitted by Elvira Espada)
Ingredients:
• 1 box of lasagna pasta (whichever brand you prefer • 1 jar of pasta sauce (choose your favorite brand or make your own) • 1 large back of ground beef or ground turkey • 1 large package of shredded mozzarella or 2 8 oz packages (could be low fat or w/skim milk – your preference) o If you use a block, make sure you shred a lot of cheese—Everyone likes a cheezy lasagna!
Seasoning: • Adobo • Lawry’s Seasoning (I love to use this, but you don’t have to) • Oregano (if you don’t like it, you can leave this out)
• Garlic Powder - sprinkle • Onion Powder – sprinkle
Tip - I always say use what you have. So, if you don’t have Adobo or Lawry’s seasoning, use salt, garlic powder, pepper, and onion powder. (Don’t overthink the seasoning).
How to Make:
1. Season your ground beef by massaging in the seasonings really well. If this grosses you out, feel free to use gloves. 2. You can leave the meat to marinate with the seasoning overnight. Or if you’re like me, I season and put it in the fridge for at least an hour before cooking. 3. When meat is ready to cook, set it in a large pan on a med. to low flame–you want the meat to brown nicely 4. While the meat is cooking, boil water in a large pot 5. Add some salt to the water and a little bit of olive oil (if you don’t use olive oil, use canola oil) 6. When water is coming to a boil, add lasagna pasta, at least 12 noodles. o Decide how many lasagna shells you need based on the baking dish you’re using or how big a lasagna you want. o For instance, for a 9” x 13” pan, I lay 4 lasagna shells across and fill it 3 layers high = 12 lasagna shells. If your pan is narrower, use 3 lasagna shells across and go 3 layers high or 4 layers high, whatever your heart desires. o You can gauge what you need by laying the dry lasagna shells in your pan before boiling to visualize how they fit. 7. While the pasta is boiling, turn your meat. I use a potato masher, and I recommend a smashing technique—smash & twist, smash & twist, again, smash & twist. This will allow for your ground turkey or ground beef to be in small edible, delicious pieces.
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