Every Monday and Friday, the 17-year old comes into the kitchen with a good spirit, ready to learn this cooking thing. Friday, Lasagna was the dish of the day. As I am teaching him the steps, I often forget to take the step by step photos but I have put the steps he took below:

I am a lasagna noodle boiler. I am NOT a fan of the oven ready noodles but to keep it easy for him, I bought a box. I have to say, while they did soften, it was not the same as when I boil the noodles and he decided next time, he wanted to boil the noodles instead.

Following the instructions, we put some sauce in the bottom of the baking dish and placed 4 noodles in the dish, overlapping them as suggested.

Next, we spooned on the meat sauce Logan made the day before.  For his meat sauce he cooked up some ground beef and seasoned it with Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, chopped garlic and onion, oregano, thyme and added in some chili flakes. This was ground beef meant for burgers so I showed him how to drain the bit of excess oil that surfaced as he cooked the meat. He handled that part like a pro. Once drained, he folded in some tomato sauce. He let it simmer for 30 minutes on a med-low heat, in a covered pan.

Seasoning the beef

Cooking the beef

  Logan’s meat sauce

After the meat sauce, he sprinkled his shredded jalapeno mozzarella and fresh parmigiana. Once that was done he poured his egg mixture. This mixture is made with a little flour, 2 eggs and a cup of milk. This helps to bind the layers of lasagna. He continued layering with noodles, meat sauce, egg mixture and cheese until each noodle in the box was used. He poured left over sauce on the top layer and topped with more shredded cheese.

Following instructions, we baked for 45 minutes at 375 F. In retrospect, i would have him cover with foil for at least half the baking time and we both agreed that we preferred boiled noodles. But, his lasagna, though a little cheese burnt in the corners, was tender and very tasty. Most of all he was pleased with it, proud to serve it and is happy to know yet another dish.

The served meal.