Easy Lasagna Recipe

This is my all-time favorite recipe. I created this recipe when I was still 11 or 12 years old. This is really delicious and again, the ingredients are easy to find.

Ingredients :

1 kilo (kg) ground beef (or pork, if preferred)
1/2 cup onion, minced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 can of crushed tomatoes (you can substitute this by cutting big tomatoes and put them in a blender or food processor to crush it)
tomato paste
2 cans of tomato sauce (big)
1/2 cup of water
2 tablespoons of white sugar
ground black pepper
lasagna noodles
parmesan cheese or regular cheese that you usually put in spaghetti (grated)
1 cup of milk (whole or skim, according to your taste)
1 cup of Nestle All-purpose cream
salt to taste

Procedure :

1) In a sauce pan, saute the onions and garlic til medium brown.

2) Add in the ground beef and put a little salt to taste.

3) Once ground beef starts to go brown, add in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and tomato sauce. Season with salt, sugar, and ground black pepper. Gradually put in the milk, and all-purpose cream. Simmer in low heat until cooked, stirring occasionally.

4) Preheat oven to 350-375 degrees F.

5) Cook lasagna noodles according to package instructions. Once cooked, drain water and then rinse with cold water.

6) Spread about a cup and a half of (1 1/2) of sauce in the bottom of a rectangular baking dish (9x13"). Arrange lasagna noodles carefully on top of the meat sauce. Sprinkle (a lot!) of cheese on the pasta. Again spread meat sauce on it. Top with grated cheese again and then add in the 2nd layer of lasagna noodles. Repeat until you have about 4 or 5 layers on the dish. Spread a little more of meat sauce and then sprinkle with cheese on top. Make sure that the cheese covers the whole lasagna.

7) Cover with foil and bake for about 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake more for another 25minutes.

8) Serve. Best partnered with red wine. Or Sprite! yummy!

Malunggay Pesto (A Filipino Recipe)

I've been thinking of a way on how to make a Pinoy Pesto and luckily, I saw a TV show at channel 23 on how to make one. Unfortunately, I do not remember who the chef was and what was the title of the TV show. I tweaked the recipe a bit.

All the ingredients are easy to find. You can use a food processor or blender to make this pesto.

Ingredients :

2 cups of malunggay leaves
pili nuts or roasted peanuts you can buy at the streets (he-he!)
2-3 medium size garlic cloves, minced
1 cup of basil leaves
1/2 cup of virgin oil or extra virgin oil
1/2 cup parmesan cheese or just the regular cheese you use in your spaghetti (grated, of course)
1 teaspoon of kalamansi juice
salt and ground black pepper to taste


Procedure :

1) Pulse the nuts or ground them. (You can put it in a small plastic bag and then pulse with a heavy thing -- glass or small hammer.. just be careful!)

2) In a food processor or blender, combine the basil, malunggay leaves, and nuts. Make sure they are well-blended.

3) Gradually add the olive oil and stop from time to time to scrape down the sides of the processor or blender with a rubber spatula or spoon. Add the grated cheese.

4) Then, add the kalamansi juice, salt, and pepper according to your taste buds.

Makes about 1 cup. You can serve these with your fave pasta or baked potatoes. Whatever recipe you would like to partner this with. =) Yum-yum!!!