Happy Father's Day!!!

Because of rotations (and because I was there all last weekend), I am not going to be at home for Father's Day. However, while I was home, we had Daddy's favorite dinner...lasagna. Now, I'm just not a big fan of lasagna but I do know how to make it. My mom has been making this recipe for years. In fact, she has been making it since they lived in Virginia while Daddy was in the Navy and she worked at Capitol Hill; that was more than 25 years ago. One day someone asked her if she made "real" lasagna...apparently to be real, it must be made with Italian sausage and ricotta cheese. So, she tried it that way and they didn't like it with all Italian sausage nor the ricotta. She has changed the recipe a tad to account for this. If you want to, you can make this with all sausage and ricotta, but we use half Italian sausage, half beef and cottage cheese. I've determined that I don't really like Italian sausage; there is some kind of spice in it that I don't care for. Another note, I forgot to put the cheese on at the right time. Usually the top layer is the meat sauce instead of this bubbled cheese layer. Anyway, Mama got this recipe in DC but found it in our local college's (Mississippi College) cookbook. In the cookbook it is in the special section. These recipe are given by notables such as Willard Scott (baked rice, which my grandmother made before his recipe submission), Ann Landers (Lemon Pie), Arthur Guyton (a world famous physician whose physiology textbook is used in many medical schools; he was director of the physiology department at University of MS Medical Center, where I attend medical school!), and even Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter (eggplant spaghetti sauce - I LOVE this!). This recipe was given by Landrum Shettles, a 1933 graduate of MC. The description reads "Landrum Shettles is a research physician and pioneer in the field of in vitro fertilization and gender determination studies. he received an honorary doctorate from Mississippi College in 1966." I thought that was pretty interesting. I hope you all enjoy this lasagna recipe. Happy Father's Day!!! Lasagna
adapted from With Special Distinction

1 pound Italian sausage (or half sausage half ground beef)
1 clove minced garlic
1 T whole basil
1 teaspoon salt
1, 16 oz can tomatoes
2, 6 oz cans tomato paste
8 oz lasagna noodles (6 sheets)
3 cups fresh ricotta (or cottage cheese)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 T parsley flakes
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced (we use 2 (or less) packages of presliced)- this was made with slightly less

Brown meat slowly. Drain excess fat and wipe out the skillet. Return meat to pan and add garlic, basil, salt, tomatoes, and tomato paste. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cook noodles according to package instruction; drain, rinse, and dry. Combine remaining ingredients except mozzarella. Place half (3) noodles in a 13X9 baking dish. Spread with half the ricotta mixture. Top with half mozzarella cheese. Top with half the meat sauce. Repeat layers, ending with meat sauce.* Bake for 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting. *If you forget the cheese like I did (or just prefer cheese on top), bake for 20 minutes and the put the cheese on top and cook remaining 10 minutes.