Lasagna for Mother's Day

Years ago we stopped trying to fight the crowds to take Minx Mother-in-Law out for dinner on Mother's Day. Too many people jostling for reservations all at the same time, as if this one day out of the year is the only time Mom deserves to put her apron down and have someone else cook for her. Heaven forbid that the children that she fed every day for years dirty their hands in the kitchen though - it's gotta be a restaurant!

It didn't take too many years to figure out that we were doing it wrong, so now we cook for Mom and eat at her house. However, as I hate cooking in her puny, counterless, one-butt kitchen, I prefer that we prepare as much of the dinner at Casa Minx as possible and then take it to her place either ready-to-eat or requiring only a few minutes in the microwave or oven to re-heat.

The flatbread lasagna that Mr Minx made a few weeks ago was such a success, I thought we'd make it for Mother's Day. In the fridge we had a ton of home-made sauce, spicy and chock-full of meatballs, mild Italian sausage, and pork chops, a "Sunday Gravy" despite the fact we had made it on a Thursday, that was perfect for layering with naan-style flatbreads and cheese. And this time we remembered the ricotta layer, which really made a difference. The lasagna tasted more like lasagna, rather than an extremely deep-dish pizza.

I put it together Sunday morning, baked it at home, and by the time we got to Mom's it was still warm. I popped it in a slow oven (200F) to keep it warm and when we were ready to eat a few hours later, it was perfect.

In addition to adding more-lasagna-ness to the dish, the ricotta also prevented it from slicing as neatly as last time, so we had to sacrifice presentation for flavor. But my plating leaves a lot to be desired most of the time anyway. :)

What did you do for your Mom on Mother's Day?

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