The Delightful Matty Matheson Lasagna Recipe

I bring to you from the stables of all things good and cheesy: this Munchies lasagna recipe that is simply just awesome. This Italian-American holiday meal is just perfect for the season and the weather while visiting family and friends.

If you won’t have lasagna this holiday, I seriously don’t know what you will be eating. Seriously. The recipe we’re going to look at today is Matty Matheson’s lasagna recipe, tweaked a little to my personal taste.

The beautiful thing about lasagna is that little portions can feed a whole lot of people, making it a great holiday meal. That’s not to mention you can add what you want and remove what you don’t want, and it’ll still be amazing. I’ll also share a recipe for vegan lasagna, courtesy of Viceland. But first…

Matty Matheson Lasagna – The Recipe!

According to Matty Matheson, you should “never date anyone who doesn’t like lasagna.” And I totally agree—it’s simply not worth it. This recipe is a beef lasagna recipe that is bound to make your holiday or special date complete.

Ingredients

• Canola oil
• Olive oil
• Beef
• Salt
• Garlic
• Onion
• Carrots
• Tomato paste
• Dry pepper
• Dry chili
• Beef stock (you can pick this up at the supermarket)
• Whole milk
• 3 Egg yolks
• Parsley
• Lasagna noodles
• Mozzarella cheese
• Parmesan cheese

Method

1. Pour some canola oil into a clean, dry pot. There’s no cut-out measurement for this recipe so you’ll just have to estimate with your eyes the quantity you’ll need. About two cooking spoonfuls should do the trick. Please note that this also depends on the quantity of beef you’re using.
2. Drop your ground or minced beef into the pot and just let it fry on low heat for a little bit. Now, we’ll make the meat sauce.
3. Chop up the garlic. The quantity you’ll use will depend on how much you like garlic. I used about five cloves. Add a little salt to press the garlic down, making a kind of garlic puree.
4. Now, grate the carrots. One medium carrot will do. Don’t chop, grate.
5. Pour olive oil in another clean pot and add onions. Then add the garlic and carrots. Let these toast for a bit.
6. Now throw in your tomato paste, dry pepper, chili and stir it all around. Your meat sauce is coming along very nicely indeed.
7. Turn your meat sauce into the beef and canola oil. Add beef stock. Stir around and let it cook. We want our beef to come out brown, not red. Cook at high heat.
8. Add a little drop of milk, then mix. Another drop, and mix. repeat this method until you’ve poured in all the milk. Now beat the 3 egg yolks into the mixture. Dice up some parsley leaves.
9. Set the sauce down. Now that we’re done with the filling, we’ll layer the lasagna.
10. First layer down the lasagna noodles in the oven plate. I used store-bought easy-bake noodles that don’t require blanching.
11. Slice up the mozzarella cheese and spread all over the noodles. Pat it down. Now spread the meat sauce all over the cheese. Sprinkle parsley leaves all over the meat sauce. And again we repeat. Layer your lasagna noodles, cheese, meat sauce. Again, noodle, cheese, meat sauce. Now we add pepper, grate some parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top, and drizzle some olive oil.
12. Put the lasagna into the oven and bake for about 30 minutes at 350°F. When the top is golden brown, you know your lasagna is ready. Let it cool off for about 20 minutes before you cut it up so it won’t be sloppy. This is a meal Garfield will definitely enjoy. You can serve with a side of salad.

Now I understand that all that meat and beef and cheese might put some people off. Not to worry—there’s a recipe that will work for vegans too and it’s just as tasty. It’s a vegan lasagna recipe by Viceland lasagna.

Vegan Lasagna Recipe

This recipe is made with only plant and organic products—no animals or fertilizers.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons of plant-based butter
• 3/4 cup of organic oil
• 3/4 spices of your choice
• A teaspoon of turmeric, cumin, mustard seed, fenugreek, chili pepper.
• Four plum tomatoes
• 10 cups of pasta sauce
• Three and a quarter teaspoon of sea salt (more nutritious than regular salt)
• 1 can of organic tomato paste
• 1/4 cup organic molasses
• 3 spoons of Italian blend
• Coconut oil
• Pepper
• Vegan crumbles
• Ricotta i.e. nut cheese
• Diet cheese (or an alternative)
• Broccoli
• Zucchini
• Spinach
• Lasagna noodles

Method

1. First off, we’ll make the lasagna sauce. Take the plant-based butter, all of it, and pour it into a clean pot set on medium to high heat.
2. While that is melting, add the cup of organic oil. Then add your spices, your turmeric, cumin, mustard seeds, chili and fenugreek.
3. When the mustard seeds pop, add your plum tomatoes. This will really release the flavor of the seeds and give it a nice aroma. Now you can stir that around for a bit.
4. Pour in your full 10 cups of pasta sauce and add the sea salt.
5. Stir well and add the can of organic tomato paste. Stir this too. Add the quarter cup of organic molasses. Mix everything well.
6. Now you can add 3 spoons of your Italian blend. Let this cook for about 30 minutes.

While we wait for the lasagna sauce to cook, let’s make the meat substitute. Regular lasagna recipe calls for meat, but since this is vegan lasagna, we’re going make our own ‘meat’ that is just as delicious as actual meat. You won’t even be able to tell the difference.

7. Melt coconut oil in a clean pan. Add pepper and vegan crumbles (you can get this at your regular supermarket and it smells like meat). Stir for about 10 minutes.
8. Mix in your ricotta—that is, nut cheese—and sprinkle in a little diet cheese or its alternative.
9. Now steam the broccoli and zucchini in a separate pan on low heat.
10. Rub the base of your oven pan with a little olive oil to prevent sticking. It’s time to layer up our lasagna!
11. First off, line up the lasagna noodles in the pan. The noodle is the base of the lasagna. You can quickly blanch this to break up the starch.
12. Next, we need to layer the vegan meat substitute on the noodle base. Press it in and spread it out.
13. Now spread the lasagna sauce all over. The sauce helps the lasagna noodles cook, so be generous with your spreading.
14. Mulch the steamed broccoli and zucchini and spread this all over the sauce.
15. Rip off the spinach in large chunks and spread it all over the steamed veggies, then add more sauce to the spread. You’re probably thinking that the veggies are getting too be a lot. Well, it is a vegan lasagna, so that’s to be expected.
16. Add more cheese, then add the noodles as a top layer with more lasagna sauce. And we’re done layering! Now we can cover the pan with aluminum foil and set the oven between 350°F—375°F to cook for one hour.

While the lasagna is cooking in the oven, let’s make the salad. You can make your favorite vegan salad or you can make one by blending up two cups of almonds, nutritional yeast, and some olive oil in about 8 cups of water. This will serve as the salad dressing. You can also add a dash of lemon. Chop up large chunks of cucumber, baby greens, baby spinach, lettuce, and avocados. Toss up the greens with a cup each of walnut, raisins, and cranberries.

After the hour is up, remove the lasagna from the oven and sprinkle more cheese on top of it, then put it back in there to cook for 10-15 minutes more. Cook uncovered. This will make it very nice and crunchy.

Cut up your lasagna, add some salad, sprinkle your homemade dressing and enjoy!

Lasagna Mistakes

Now, with a meal this classic, it’s very easy to misconstrue instructions and make mistakes. You’re supposed to have fun with your lasagna, but don’t go overboard. Here are some lasagna mistakes you should watch out for.

1. If you need to boil your lasagna noodles, do not overcook them. Remember, they’ll still cook in the pan. About 3-5 minutes should do the trick.
2. Don’t let the noodles get all clumpy. After boiling, don’t just drop them in the drain. They will definitely clump up that way. Instead, run the noodles through cold water and/or lay each noodle flat on an oiled baking sheet.
3. Do not be stingy with the layers! What, two layers? Is that lasagna or la-boring-na? Layer your lasagna up, and top it off. The more layers the better. Use a big pan so you can have enough room to layer.

Healthy Lasagna?

Okay, so let’s talk about some of the health benefits of eating lasagna. Apart from the fact that it totally cures unhappiness, what else does it do?

Lasagna can be a great source of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, minerals, and vitamins, but this all depends on what you put in the lasagna. You can determine how healthy your lasagna is.

The Origins Of Lasagna

I don’t know about you, but when I eat something this cheesy and delicious, I just have to find out where it came from. It’s my own small penance to the gods of food for creating something so majestic and glorious. So, let’s quickly look at where lasagna came from.

Who is that genius who invented lasagna?

Contrary to popular opinion, lasagna did not originate in Italy (I know, I’m shocked as well!). Its origin can be traced all the way back to Ancient Greece. The word ‘lasagna’ is derived from the Greek word ‘laganon,’ which is historically known as the world’s first form of pasta. This was way before spaghetti and macaroni.

Laganon was not the traditional dish we know lasagna to be, what with the Italian ingredients and all, but was still made up of layers and sauce. I repeat, layers and sauce. So laganon was not named for its ingredients, but it was named because of the way it was made. Highly interesting.

A few centuries later, many countries have now argued over who came up with the first ‘modern’ lasagna recipe. Italy claims they were the first, and Britain researchers say a cookbook was found with lasagna recipes that date back to the 1390s. Shakespearean time! Imagine!

To conclude, Italy is rightfully credited with perfecting with tender care and precision the layers and layers of awesomeness that is lasagna, while Britain is credited with making the first lasagna, and finally, Ancient Greece takes the credit for its name. I just want to say thank you to you all for gifting humanity with such gorgeousness.

Here’s a fun fact: did you know that the name ‘lasagna’ actually refers to the noodles? True story. Lasagne is a kind of pasta, like spaghetti or macaroni, that is wide and flat. And the word is in plural form: lasagne means more than one type of lasagna ribbon.

And it’s a wrap, folks! I hope that you’ll be able to find your food heaven with this ultra-delicious Matty Matheson Lasagna Recipe and the vegan recipe for my animal-loving brothers and sisters.

Ciao!