First Lesson in the Grand Cooking School

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about my venture, The Grand Aggregation, composed of a book club, cooking school, and spa.  It's a very exclusive, private club.  It consists of myself, as the Grandmother, and my various grandchildren.  No one else is allowed in, unless invited. 

Tomorrow, the first lesson in the Grand Cooking School is to take place.  Actually, I will let you in on a secret.  The purpose of the Grand Cooking School is to teach my grandchild how to read and measure.  Besides learning fractions, she will learn how to follow directions.  Oh yeah, she'll learn how to cook, too.  If I remember correctly, children love to cook because they see the results of their work, immediately.  That's the hook--immediate reward.

Our first exericse is how to make lasagna.  Here is the recipe: 

Lasagna

INGREDIENTS

·         1 jar (26-28 ounces) spaghetti sauce

·         1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes (do not drain)

·         1/2 cup water

·         1 ounce parmesan cheese, or  (1/4 cup)

·         1Tablespoon parsley

·         1 egg

·         1 carton (8 ounces) part-skim ricotta cheese

·         12 uncooked lasagna noodles

·         3- 4 cups (12 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS

1.      Preheat oven to 400°F.  Combine spaghetti sauce, undrained tomatoes and water and set aside.

2.      Mix parmesan cheese and parsley in a small, deep bowl.

3.      In a small bowl, mix egg with a whisk.  Add ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese and parsley to the egg and mix well with scraper.

4.      To assemble lasagna, spread the sauce over bottom of a lasagna pan.

5.      Arrange the noodles in single layer over sauce by placing noodles lengthwise to cover the bottom of the pan. (Break off and discard ends of noodles, if necessary, so that noodles will fit flat in the pan.) Press noodles into sauce. 

6.      Spread all of the ricotta cheese mixture over noodles. Sprinkle with half of the mozzarella cheese.

7.      Top with the sauce and remaining noodles, breaking noodles to fit. Press noodles into sauce. Spread the remaining sauce over noodles. Cover with aluminum foil. (At this point, lasagna can be refrigerated for several hours or overnight.) 

8.      Bake 45 minutes (55 minutes if lasagna was refrigerated) or until noodles are tender. Uncover carefully and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese. Cover loosely with foil; let stand 15 minutes. Cut into serving size pieces.