Lasagna is a Weekend Food!

Last Thursday I was done with work relatively early.  Early enough in fact, that I thought it would be the perfect time to try out Tyler Florence's Ultimate Lasagna recipe.  A recipe that my mom endorsed.  Given that her lasagna is to-die-for, I thought I'd give it a try.  Don't let the 'Easy' difficulty level fool you though -- this dish is no joke. 

So, at 5:30pm I began with the sauce -- which had quite a long list of ingredients, mostly herbs.  These herbs were supposed to be processed but since I don't have a food processor, I chopped them as finely as I could with my trusty Wusthof chef's knife.  (Note to self: Register for food processor!)  I browned the meat, added the veggies, herbs, and tomatoes and let it simmer for a little bit.  Then I mixed up the filling ingredients.  Finally, after all that, I put big pot of water on the stove to boil.  I'm not sure exactly how, but by the time I did this, it was already 8pm and M was starting to parade around the kitchen with his hunger face.  At the rate I was going, the lasagna wasn't going to be finished until at least 9:30.  So, as much as I hated to do so, I made an executive decision and ordered a pizza pie.  As much as I wanted to conquer lasagna, I didn't want to starve my fiance in the process.  I decided I'd finish the lasagna but then freeze it until sometime this week.  So, while it came out exceptional-looking, I still haven't tasted it.  Although, if it tastes how it smells, it will definitely be worth the wait.

So, what's the lesson learned here folks? Lasagna is a 'weekend food.'  Only make it when you have several hours to burn -- and even then, only when you have a food processor because mincing veggies and herbs by hand is quite time consuming.  I think M & I are eating it tomorrow night.  I'll let you all know how it goes.

Update:  After all of that work, I hate to report that I was 'eh' about the lasagna.  I suppose I should have read the reviews on the recipe site and left out the cinnamon - it was really overwhelming.  And even aside from that, the sauce wasn't all that tasty (next time, I'm definitely sticking to my parents' meat sauce recipe.)  I should also mention that the measurements in Tyler's recipe are not precise at all.  All you really need is one box of lasagna noodles -- I had to throw away an entire second box because I followed the recipe.  So unfortunately, I have to declare this recipe a failure.  (Sorry Tyler, I usually love your work.)

At some point in the future, I'll try to make lasagna again.  Hopefully, the next time, it will be a success. 

If you're still interested, here is Tyler's Ultimate Lasagna Recipe: