Lasagna for the P-Man

The P-Man has been far, far, away on a business trip. He is arriving home tomorrow. While he has been gone, as is my usual routine...I ate what I wanted, when I wanted, and didn't make set meals. I could have, of course, made spaghetti for a welcome home meal, but decided to make something I haven't made in awhile...Lasagna.

I started by sweating about 2 cups of chopped celery and a large onion, with a large clove of garlic, and a whole bunch of dried basil. When the veggies were soft, I added a pound of lean ground beef, salt and pepper, a few chili flakes, and turned up the heat. When the beef had some colour, I added a jar of organic tomato sauce, a good squirt of tomato paste, and a splash of red wine, and let it simmer. After I boiled some lasagna noodles, and let the sauce cool, I was ready to put it together. I started with a layer of noodles, spread on some fresh ricotta, some meat sauce, and sprinkled on some grated Parmesan and provolone. This was repeated until the dish was full, and after a slight delay, due to a filthy,greasy oven, It baked at 350 degrees for half an hour.

It came out bubbly and hot. When the P-Man and I eat it tomorrow...I'll let you know how it turned out...