An Easy Way to Make Yummy Swiss Lasagna

There is something about anticipating snow that triggers my need to make lasagna.  Whether the prediction is for 1 inch or for a foot of snow, I make a dash to my favorite grocery store with a list of the following ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. fresh pepper
3-4 tbsp. flour
3-4 tbsp. olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 pkg. brown (cremini) mushrooms
1 cup red wine (white will do!)
15 oz. can tomato sauce

3 tbsp. butter
3 tbsp. flour
2 cups milk
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. fresh pepper
4 cups shredded swiss cheese (I usually buy Gruyere and grate it, but this last snow storm was a doozy, so I bought it already shredded – lots easier!)
9 oz. pkg. oven ready lasagna (only oven ready will do – who needs the mess of boiling a huge pot of lasagna, then having to pull the sticky noodles apart!)

This lasagna is something I learned while living in Switzerland – with my added shortcuts!  It is comprised of two sauces, meat and a white, which are layered with
the noodles and cheese.

Put the ground beef in a bowl and season with salt and pepper, then sprinkle with flour and mix with your hands.  Dice the onion.  Clean the mushrooms, cut off stems and
cut each into quarters.  Heat olive oil in a dutch oven over med. high and saute meat until nicely browned.  I use a wooden spoon, then a metal spatula to scrape the bits of
browned meat which will stick to the bottom of the pan.  Don’t let the meat burn, but do not be alarmed by the sticking.  Add the onions and mushrooms, continue stirring a
few minutes, then add the wine.  Reduce heat to medium and start scraping!  The wine will loosen the brown bits, which will make the sauce taste so good!  Add tomato sauce,
then season with 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper.  Let cook on low for4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, then set aside.

For the white sauce, melt the butter in a med. sauce pan over med. heat, add flour and whisk until dissolved.  Add 2 cups milk (I use whole, but 2 percent is fine) and keep
whisking over the heat until the sauce thickens (a few minutes) and season with salt and pepper.  Set aside.  Butter your lasagna pan (my daughters, Caroline and Michele,
gave me a light blue pan last Christmas and it is just one of my favorite things!)  and start layering: first the noodles (I put 4 in a row and there is some space on either side
- don’t worry the sauce will fill it in.)  Ladle the meat sauce onto the noodles, then white sauce, then cheese (I put a couple of ladlefuls of meat sauce, then less white and
mix them a little- it just needs to cover the noodles, not be a lake of sauce).  Repeat layers 3-5 times, depending on size of pan and finish with cheese on top.  Bake covered
with foil at 375 degrees for 30 min. then uncover and continue baking 20 min.  I like to eat a huge square of this with a glass of red wine, especially on a snowy night.
And since you may be snowed in, it tastes even better reheated the next night!