Lasagna with a Pesto Secret

Ingredients:

1. My spaghetti sauce (make it in a big batch so you can freeze some and use part for this lasagna!)
2. My basil pesto (make lots, so you have extra to use for recipes like this!)
3. Lasagna noodles (I use Dreamfield’s pasta. Use what you like — or try using thinly sliced lengths of eggplant or zucchini for a change.)
4. 15 oz. whole milk ricotta cheese mixed with 1 egg, a little salt and pepper, and 1/4 tsp. garlic powder.
5. Shredded mozarella cheese

I also use some thinly sliced cherry tomatoes and some fresh oregano leaves for garnish.

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Layer the ingredients in a beautiful tall-ish casserole dish. I cook my noodles first. Other people tell me they make lasagna all the time without doing so, but I simply haven’t been brave enough to experiment.

Layer the ingredients in thin layers as follows:

• Lasagna noodles
• Basil pesto
• Ricotta/egg mixture
• Spaghetti sauce

Continue until you get near the top. Put a generous amount of shredded mozarella on top and bake until the cheese is a beautiful color and everything looks hot and bubbly.

If I had been thinking ahead, I would have made the pesto and ricotta layers bigger so they would be seen when I sliced. And had I waited until it cooled, the slice would have been neater, but this was hot out of the oven and I’m sure you can imagine that it didn’t last long!