I made four lasagnas tonight, two beef and two seafood, and I always just wing it, so it’s probably never the same twice (though it doesn’t vary as much as my chili, which is definitely never the same twice). Here’s a basic rundown of what I do.

Ingredients for each beef lasagna:

• Hefty foil roaster pan (NOT the lasagna pan—roaster pans are much deeper, which is better)
• Barilla lasagna noodles, two boxes (or any other brand that are FLAT noodles, no ruffled edges to get in the way)
• Ground beef, about 1.25 pounds (I like the 90% lean or higher because you don’t have to drain the fat off, but any kind is fine)
• Red spaghetti sauce, about 1 jar (choose based on your audience—for kids, maybe not giant mushrooms, for example)
• Ricotta cheese, about 2 pounds (32 oz.)
• Mozzarella cheese, about 1 pound (16 oz.)
• Parmesan cheese, about 1/2 cup
• 1 egg
• Spices (dried is fine, fresh would probably be better, I use dried): basil, oregano, minced onion
• Garlic (minced or powder, I use minced that comes in a squeeze bottle)
• Kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350°.

Cheese mixture:
In a large bowl, mix the ricotta cheese, a good handful of the mozzarella, half the parmesan, about a teaspoon of each spice, about a tablespoon of minced garlic, about a teaspoon of salt, and the egg. Just throw it all in and mix it up. Taste it, add more of whatever it needs.

Ground beef:
Brown well in a skillet, break up the big chunks (tip: use a pastry blender on the meat while it’s cooking). Drain the fat off if necessary.

Assemble:

1. In the bottom of the foil pan, pour in a couple tablespoons of sauce and spread it to cover the bottom.
2. Lay a layer of noodles (UNCOOKED!) to cover the bottom.*
3. Plop about a third of the cheese mixture over the noodles, in chunks here and there. It will spread itself out in the oven.
4. Spread about half the meat over the cheese.
5. Pour some sauce over that.
6. Repeat layer of noodles.
7. Repeat layer of another third of the cheese.
8. Repeat layer of the rest of the meat.
9. Repeat layer of sauce.
10. Repeat layer of noodles.
11. Spread (really spread this time) the rest of the cheese over the top to cover, all the way out to the edges. You should be damn near the top edge of the pan at this point.
12. Sprinkle the rest of the mozzarella in an even layer over the top.
13. Sprinkle the rest of the parmesan in an even layer over that. This is because the parmesan browns so nicely; it really makes the lasagna look nice.

*The Barilla noodles don’t cover each layer particularly well because of the shape. This is a minor problem. I usually put three down and then break up a fourth to fill in the spaces. It will all hold together pretty well once it’s cooked, because the mozzarella and egg mixed into the cheese bind it together. So you don’t need to depend on the noodles for structure.

Cover tightly in foil. Bake at 350° for an hour. Remove the foil and broil on high until the cheese is the color you want. Since everything in the lasagna is fully cooked (except that one egg, which was done before you walked away from the oven), there’s no danger of undercooking. If it doesn’t seem done enough, or if it doesn’t seem hot in the middle, cook it more. Just don’t burn the beautiful cheese.

Differences for seafood lasagna:

• Instead of the ground beef, 1 pound of REAL CRAB (not that pink stuff) and 1/2 pound of shrimp. I used precooked shrimp at the 51–60 per pound size. You want peeled, deveined, tails OFF! Otherwise, you have to peel and de-tail each shrimp before they go in (as Lin did tonight). If they seem too big, cut them in half.
• Instead of the red sauce, 1 jar of alfredo sauce (I like Classico).
• The cheese mixture is the same, except jarred alfredo sauce and packaged crabmeat are heavy on the sodium, so you might want to taste everything before you add the salt. The sauce might also already have plenty of garlic in it.
• Add baby spinach, a prewashed salad bag from the produce section. This makes this lasagna “healthy.”

Assemble:

1. In the bottom of the foil pan, pour in a couple tablespoons of sauce and spread it to cover the bottom.
2. Lay a layer of noodles (UNCOOKED!) to cover the bottom. (see note above)
3. Plop about a third of the cheese mixture over the noodles, in chunks here and there. It will spread itself out in the oven.
4. Spread about half the crabmeat and shrimp over the cheese. (You can also just mix in the crabmeat and shrimp with the cheese and do it all as one layer.)
5. Spread out a layer of baby spinach. Really go heavy on it; the spinach wilts and cooks down to almost nothing in the oven.
6. Pour some sauce over that.
7. Repeat layer of noodles.
8. Repeat layer of another third of the cheese.
9. Repeat layer of the rest of the crabmeat and shrimp, except save out one shrimp for a garnish.
10. Repeat layer of spinach.
11. Repeat layer of sauce.
12. Repeat layer of noodles.
13. Spread (really spread this time) the rest of the cheese over the top to cover, all the way out to the edges. You should be damn near the top edge of the pan at this point.
14. Sprinkle the rest of the mozzarella in an even layer over the top.
15. Sprinkle the rest of the parmesan in an even layer over that. This is because the parmesan browns so nicely; it really makes the lasagna look nice.
16. On top, lay some spinach leaves in the shape of a flower, with the shrimp in the middle. (This is obviously just decorative, but it helps identify which lasagnas are which.)