Get Ready for National Lasagna Day!

What’s a great meal that can be made in a flash and feed quite a few? Lasagna! As an Italian food staple, we can’t wait to celebrate National Lasagna Day on July 29th!

If you’re going to get in on the celebration, want to take your dish to another level? The next time you’re at the market, come by and pick up some homegrown tomatoes.

We’re thrilled that they should be available on July 29 so that you can celebrate National Lasagna Day with your own special sauce. The best tomato varieties for sauce are Opalka and Roma tomatoes. If you want to make sure you’ll have what you need, give us a call to be placed on our canning list.

Email [email protected] or call 304-263-1168 and let us know which type you prefer! Heirloom Mix, Yellow, Red Round, Roma, or Opalka. You can also specify if you want #1 or canning tomatoes.

Tomato Pricing

$25.00/ half bushel box for #1 tomatoes

$12.50/ half bushel box for Canning Tomatoes

When making your own sauce here are a few tips:

  1. Using whole milk or heavy cream will help thicken the sauce. All you’ll need is a splash of either option and then let it simmer for a few minutes to thicken.
  2. Add a little red or white wine. Adding a little wine gives the sauce a bit of acidity and amazing flavor. The best part is, you can sip on the rest at dinner!
  3. Add red paper flakes. If you like a little spice, some red pepper flakes will give your sauce an extra kick.

If you’re ready to make lasagna dinner on July 29, here’s the recipe we’ll be using:

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup finely chopped onion

4 garlic cloves, minced

7 cups chopped peeled tomato (about 4 pounds)

2/3 cup thinly sliced fresh basil

1 teaspoon salt, divided

1/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided

2 cups part-skim ricotta cheese

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Cooking spray

8 cooked lasagna noodles

1/2 cup (2 ounces) finely shredded fresh Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh basil

Directions

  1. Heat oil in a small Dutch oven over medium heat; add onion and garlic. Cook 10 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add tomato; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour and 20 minutes or until slightly thickened. Remove from heat; stir in 2/3 cup basil, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Set aside.
  2. Preheat oven to 375°.
  3. Heat ricotta in a medium saucepan over medium heat until hot; stir in mozzarella, stirring until melted. Remove from heat; stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.
  4. Spread 2 cups tomato mixture in bottom of 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange half the noodles over tomato mixture; top with ricotta mixture. Arrange remaining noodles over ricotta mixture; top with remaining 2 cups tomato mixture. Sprinkle evenly with Parmesan. Bake at 375° for 15 minutes or until cheese melts and filling is bubbly. Remove from oven; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon basil. Let stand 5 minutes

**Recipe courteous of myrecipe.com

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for July 29 so you can come by the farm to prep for National Lasagna Day. Send us comments and let us know how it turned out!

Photo Credit:David Kessler. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0