Teamwork
I’ll never forget that morning, it was an August burner at best and I wasn’t happy, to say the least. In fact, the entire group I was about to spend the next 30 grueling days with even labeled the forthcoming four weeks “Hell Month.” Roughly 50 adults were preparing to embark on a journey that would lead us down that fateful dirty road tagged “Blood Alley”; we’d face daily hard work & crying; late nights of pain, exhaustion & confusion; extreme hunger and even isolation from the rest of the world! Had we committed crimes that were shipping us off to San Quentin? Were we the chosen cast for the ’09 season of Survivor? Wishful thinking! Trust me, this was to be NO vacation. We were, in fact, a group of parents of 25 newly appointed 9-year-olds called the Santa Margarita Mighty Might Mustangs, committed to a whole month of 6-day-a-week full-contact football practice that through a collaborative effort would ultimately lead us to a season of 7-2 victory. Yes, we knew this was not the easy road and that the best team training would lead to the best team results, but as coffee-clad and ready for action as I was, there was simply no preparation for that one pesky little email that snuck up on me with no warning.
Now as I mentioned, it was 8:30 am and 102° outside at the local java joint, and the AC was already struggling to keep up with the demand. I happened to be sharing one particular vent with a few dozen other desperados as I began typing out my next ice-cream recipe, visions of frosty-cold Meyer Lemon & Blackberry Sorbetto dancing in my head. With one hand, I reached for my Grandé Nonfat Vanilla Iced Latte, and with the other, a quick click of the mouse that led me to my emails du jour. I had to read it twice to be sure I wasn’t suffering from a mild heat stroke impairing my vision, but there it was, plain as day…the Mustang Friday Night Potluck Schedule with ME on the Italian Theme Team! Italian?? But that’s not my specialty! And I’m French/German, NOT Italian or even Mediterranean in the slightest, unlike the rest of my ‘Spaghetti Squad!’ And to have to think about oozing Mozzarella and Manicotti with cream sauce for 75 underfed football junkies right now was simply not okay! So I just chose to do what any smart business woman/mother of three would do…close my Mac and worry about it in October (17th to be exact)… let the rest of ‘Team Tortellini’ take over and maybe I’ll bring a nice salad with Italian Vinaigrette!
Well as you’re reading this in the first week of November, I’m sure the burning question is, “did she call Antonello’s? Sarducci’s? Peppino’s?” I CERTAINLY DID NOT! (but I thought about it!) No, I actually rose to the occasion early the morning of the 16th with a tasty recipe developing in my head for the morrow’s feast, then began the Mustang version of preparation by painstakingly traveling from market to market to procure 10 lbs each of the freshest vine-ripened tomatoes, sweet Vidalia onions and organic Italian Turkey Sausage. Additionally, 5 lbs of red bell peppers, 6 heads of Gilroy-grown garlic, 5 lbs of un-grated Mozzarella, Asiago and Parmigiano (never buy grated cheese, its coated in unnecessary preservatives!) and countless bunches of fresh green basil, thyme, rosemary and oregano would complete my shopping list. Early next dawn, and clad once again with my Grandé Latte and 4 full-sheet disposable tin pans ready for layer-upon-layer of home-made “Lasagna di Barrette” – I was ready to start prepping for a Tuscan touchdown!
The kitchen began feeling more like a working Italian Farmhouse, the aromaticos wafting through the neighborhood all day long as the ingredients melded together in harmonized structure, each ingredient complimenting the other…some stronger, some less pronounced, but none of which the job could be done without…Mustang style. It wasn’t that horrific, after all, those hours of chopping, dicing, slicing, sautéing and simmering, and it became evident that Friday night, that everyone on ‘Pesto Patrol’ had put the same effort into their dishes, and I could not have done it without my team, and we would not have done it without the good faith (and email savvy) of our team mom. Feeding the Mighty multitudes that evening was clearly victory…goooooo Mustangs!
INGREDIENTS
1 lb Italian Turkey Sausage, removed from casings
1 lb fresh vine-ripened tomatoes, cored & diced
1 lb sweet Vidalia or Maui onions, small-diced
20 big cloves of garlic, minced
2 large red Bell Peppers, diced
1 cup chopped fresh Shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1 cup of finely minced fresh herbs
(use a mix of rosemary, oregano, thyme & marjoram)
2 small cans Tomato paste
3 cups Marsala wine
2 Tbsp Kosher salt
Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Grapeseed Oil (about ½ cup)
1 container part skim Ricotta
½ cup each grated Mozzarella, Asiago and Parmisiano cheeses
½ cup finely minced fresh basil (separate from other herbs)
1 box Trader Joe’s ‘No Boil’ Italian Lasagna Noodles
(or 1 lb cooked Lasagna Noodles)
1 additional cup grated Mozzarella
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 375º. In a large pot (I like to use a big cast iron ‘Le Creuset’ pot), brown the sausage into little bits, and set in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap. Drain pot then bring about ¼ cup oil to Med High and carefully add garlic & onions. Sauté & stir with long wooden spatula until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms & Bell Peppers, cook another 10 minutes…stir, stir, stir! Then stir in the herbs and once you can really smell them ‘bloom,’ add the tomatoes. Turn heat up to high and cook for 10 more minutes. Whisk in Tomato Paste & wine, incorporating well. Bring the heat up to a boil then turn down to a LOW Simmer and cook, partially covered for at least an hour, stirring occasionally (place the lid over the pot, offset).
Turn off heat and cool for about 15 minutes then in small batches, blend the mixture in a blender, putting the smooth sauce in a big bowl. Once the entire batch is blended, return to pot and add the browned turkey sausage. Cook on medium for 30 minutes. Taste your sauce, and if, at this point, it needs it, add salt to taste.
In a large bowl, place ricotta, the 1 ½ cups of Mozzarella, Asiago & Parmigiano and the fresh basil and mix well.
In a 2 qt (or 8”x8”) baking dish, layer sauce, noodles and ricotta mixture beginning with sauce and ending with noodles. Finally, top with remaining ½ cup Mozzarella. Cover with tinfoil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil, turn oven up to broil and cook on lower rack in oven for 3-5 minutes until the cheese turns a light golden color.
Cool for at least 20 minutes, cut & serve!
