Fall is an interesting season for cooking and preparing food. With cooler weather comes the perfect opportunity to bake and roast. My partner Dan and I don’t use the oven much during the hot summer – but now we’re able to utilize all the tools in our kitchen to create some fantastic dishes.

Also, my parents recently relocated to San Marcos from central Oregon, so now my family of cooks is able to share recipes and show off our skills to one another. Mom and Dad both come form the Atkins school of cooking – which means they buy meat in bulk at Costco, and they damn pasta to hell! Dan and I served this Lasagna to them with a $12 red wine and the green beans from last week’s recipe. There was nothing better than seeing them go back for seconds, with a look on their faces that said, “OMG, I can’t believe how tasty this is!”

An added advantage was we made the lasagna the day before, so all we had to do was open the wine, prepare the green beans and pop the entrée in the oven – easy and tasty. Leftovers taste great and this lasagna freezes well, too. This isn’t the leanest recipe I have shared, but fall is the time to relax and put on your wider waste band pants so you can savor the fuller, richer tastes!

If you have a suggestion, idea or recipe you’d like to share, contact me at gltrecipebox@gmail.com

Courtesy of the Barefoot Contessa

1 pound fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.

Heat the olive oil in a large (10 to 12-inch) skillet. Add the onion and cook for five minutes over medium-low heat, until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for one more minute. Add the sausage and cook over medium-low heat, breaking it up with a fork, for eight to 10 minutes, or until no longer pink. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, two tablespoons of the parsley, the basil, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat, for 15 to 20 minutes, until thickened.

Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with the hottest tap water. Add the noodles and allow them to sit in the water for 20 minutes. Drain.

In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, goat cheese, one cup of Parmesan, the egg, the remaining two tablespoons of parsley, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Set aside.

Ladle 1/3 of the sauce into a 9 by 12 by 2-inch rectangular baking dish, spreading the sauce over the bottom of the dish. Then add the layers as follows: half the pasta, half the mozzarella, half the ricotta, and one 1/3 of the sauce. Add the rest of the pasta, mozzarella, ricotta, and finally, sauce. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of Parmesan. Bake for 30 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling.