I've made my first lasagna! (Courtesy of 'Taste of Saveur Italian Classics').

I've never made a lasagna before but I was pretty excited when I found the recipe and decided to give it a shot.

For this recipe I first had to make a bechamel sauce which was actually simpler than I realized and delicious in the end. I just had to melt 3 tbs of butter then add in 4 tbs of flour and whisk. Once this was combined I slowly added in 2 cups of warm milk and added salt and pepper to taste while stirring for about 15 or so minutes. (I didn't actually clock it, I just waited until the consistency was thick and creamy.)

I used standard casserole dish which is a 9x9in square, kind of unconventional for lasagna but it worked so that was alright. I just took a little extra time trimming down the pasta sheets to fit. I cooked one sheet of pasta at a time for less than 30 seconds and laid it down on a baking sheet covered in a damp kitchen towel. I coated the dish in melted butter then put a layer of pasta down. Then I put down a coat of pasta sauce and a light sprinkling of parmesan cheese. The recipe calls for a bolognese meat sauce but I have this terrific pasta sauce with italian sausage that I got from Wegmans and is made locally so I just decided to use that instead. After the layer of sauce and cheese I put down another layer of pasta then half the bechamel sauce that I just made (it was about a cup worth of sauce). I continued on, alternating pasta with the sauce and then a layer of pasta with bechamel until I had 5 layers of pasta. I then topped the lasagna with one more layer of pasta and cheese and into the oven it went!

I baked it at 450 degrees for 10 mins to start then cranked the oven up to 500 degrees and continued baking it for about 7mins. I let it cook and then digged in.

It was a delicious lasagna and was really not difficult to make. I would have to say the bechamel is my favorite part and overall is a filling and fun dish to make and eat!