At one of the last Fulton Farmers' Markets of the season, Nick and I made some fun purchases, including a package of fresh egg pasta sheets from the Broder's booth. Since a pasta maker is one of the few kitchen items that we haven't collected (and I think it will stay that way, as I loathe those single purpose tools that take up valuable cupboard space, and I have a sneaking suspicion that we would make pasta once every 27 months), this seemed like a fun way to have fresh pasta without any extra effort. We decided that lasagna would be an excellent use for our market bounty.
I consulted my trusty recipe binder (it's like an old-timey epicurious) and found family recipes from both of our Moms. Hmm...which one to pick? Both are much loved versions from our respective childhoods. I settled on a combination of the two, utilizing ingredients that I had on hand. I'm nothing if not diplomatic. Now for my next dilemma...lasagna recipes are designed to feed a crowd and Nick and I are just two people with limited freezer space. Luckily, I found a third recipe in my binder. One for 'single serving' lasagnas from a cooking class I had volunteered at years ago. This recipe was a basic outline, including proper ingredient ratios, for lasagna made in a small loaf pan.
Now that I had a workable plan, consisting of a mash-up of three assorted lasagna recipes, I was set to start cooking. Our finished version included ground beef (my mom), ricotta (Nick's mom), and a tomato and herb sauce that I made up on the fly. I topped it with shredded mozzarella and baked according to some version of the directions. This came out of the oven right as Nick arrived home from work and the two of us managed to eat about two thirds of this in one sitting, making the amount just about right...perfect if you enjoy having one or two servings of leftovers.
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