We make lasagna on special occasions, like tonight when we celebrated an early Christmas gift exchange with Tracy’s parents. This recipe is a mix of things I’ve picked up over the years. The sauce is a basic marinara and the meatballs are a mixture of my own experience and tips from Ina Garten of The Barefoot Contessa. The assembly comes from Bugialli on Pasta.

Polpettine

These are very small meatballs, good for stuffing in the lasagna.

• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1/2 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon garlic
• 1 egg

Mix all ingredients together and form small meatballs, about the size of 1/2 tablespoon.

Heat a large skillet to medium and coat lightly with oil. Add the meatballs and brown thoroughly, turning occasionally, until cooked all the way through. Use two separate batches

Marinara Sauce

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 3 large (28 ounces) cans of diced tomatoes
• heaping amounts of mixed Italian spices

Heat a large skillet to medium and coat lightly with oil. Add the garlic and cook for a minute. Add the cans of tomatoes and puree them lightly with a stick blender, leaving as many chunks as you prefer. Turn down the heat to medium low, then add heaping amounts of Italian spices. Simmer for 30 minutes until thickened.

Lasagna

• 1 package (16 ounces) of lasagna noodles
• 16 ounces ricotta cheese
• 16 ounces mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese
• 4 Italian sausages, cooked and sliced
• polpettine, above
• marinara sauce, above

I usually cook the sausage in the broiler, on the low setting, turning once, for about 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°. Use a 9x5 baking dish. Spoon a small amount of marinara sauce into the bottom of the dish, enough to coat the bottom lightly.

Layer the dish with four noodles lengthwise, and one noodle across at the top. Scatter 1/2 of the meatballs and 1/2 of the sausage on top. Drop small portions of the ricotta cheese around the meat, using 1/2 of the cheese. Add about 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese and 1/2 of the Parmesan cheese. Spoon 1/3 of the remaining marinara sauce over the meat and cheese.

Repeat this process one time to form the second layer.

For the last layer, add just noodles, the rest of the sauce, and the rest of the mozzarella cheese.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until the sauce bubbles and the lasagna is heated through.