Sunday-Gravy Lasagna

By @tonyaqueens, Queens, NY

Sausage, meatball, ricotta — the 9×13 that feeds the whole block.

My family's from Bari but I'm Queens through and through. The gravy went on the stove before we left for Mass and simmered the whole time we were gone, so the apartment smelled like Sunday before we even walked back in. This is the lasagna that came out of that pot. Sausage, meatball, ricotta, the works. It feeds the whole block, and it always has. Nonna used jarred sauce only in an emergency — and she would never, ever admit to the emergency.

Ingredients

• 1 lb lasagna noodles
• 1 lb Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 lb ground beef
• 6 cups Sunday gravy or good marinara
• 32 oz whole-milk ricotta
• 1 egg
• 1 lb mozzarella, shredded
• 1 cup grated Pecorino
• handful parsley, chopped

Method

1. Brown the sausage and beef, then let them simmer in the gravy for an hour.
2. Mix the ricotta with the egg, half the Pecorino, the parsley, salt and pepper.
3. Boil the noodles just shy of al dente — they finish in the oven.
4. Layer in a deep 9×13: gravy, noodles, ricotta, meat gravy, mozzarella. Repeat three times.
5. Top with mozzarella and the rest of the Pecorino. Cover with foil and bake at 190°C for 30 minutes.
6. Uncover and bake 20 more until bubbling and brown. Rest 30 minutes or it slides everywhere.