Sphere Magazine, January/February 1977

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The first article in this issue is a guide to Yucatan, land of the Mayas.  There are pages of history, a guide to Mayan pottery and the ancient earthenware vessels used over 2,500 years ago, the famous white clothing with intricate embroidery, and of course, the food.  There are menus for a meat turnover dinner, a clay-baked pork dinner with instructions how to make the clay yourself.

The next article is about the Doufeu, a heavy French cooking pot designed for use with ice to promote condensation.  This was new to me as I had no idea how to cook with “fire and ice.”  The Doufeu is like an enamel-clad Dutch oven, but the lid of the Doufeu is concave and filled with ice cubes before the casserole is heated, either in the oven or on top of the stove.  The vapor that builds up in the pot will fall back onto the food in a shower of fine droplets.  Interesting!

After reading the long Mayan recipes, and about a pot I don’t own, I decided to go with something a little more simple and familiar.  How about a big pan of sausage lasagna?

The lasagna recipe featured was comfort food at its best; hot and cheesy, rich with both mild and spicy Italian sausage, and a layer of luscious ricotta.  The mozzarella was sliced, not shredded.   It tasted so good on a cold winter’s night.

It was the best sausage lasagna I have made.  My husband went wild for it.  The recipe was developed by a minister in Pennsylvania and served to members of his church to lure them to choir practice!  The first time he prepared it, only a few showed up.  When word got around how good the lasagna was, it wasn’t long before he had a full choir.  Can we say Hallelujah?

5.0 from 3 reviews
Sausage Lasagna
Author: 
 
Ingredients
  • 1 pound hot Italian sausage
  • 1 pound mild Italian sausage
  • ¾ cup chopped onion
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 can (28 ounces) whole peeled tomatoes
  • 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
  • 1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
  • 2 Tablespoons chopped parsley
  • 1 Tablespoon dried basil
  • 1 teaspoon table salt
  • 1 teaspoon white granulated sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 8 ounces lasagna noodles
  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 4 quarts boiling water
  • 1 pound ricotta cheese
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 2 Tablespoons chopped parsley
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • ¾ pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
  • ½ cup grated Romano cheese
Instructions
  1. Remove casing from Italian sausage. Cook and stir sausage in a skillet over medium heat until browned. Drain off fat.
  2. Cook and stir onion and garlic in 1 Tablespoon olive oil in Dutch oven over high heat until hot, about 3 minutes. Stir in cooked sausage, tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, 2 Tablespoons parsley, the basil, 1 teaspoon salt, the sugar, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, until mixture is consistency of spaghetti sauce, about 1 hour.
  3. Add lasagna noodles, 1 Tablespoon olive oil, and 2 teaspoons salt to the boiling water. Boil gently until noodles are tender, 10-12 minutes. Drain; rinse in cold water.
  4. Mix ricotta cheese, egg yolks, 2 Tablespoons parsley, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
  5. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Pour one-third of the meat sauce into greased 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Layer half of each of the noodles, the remaining meat sauce, the ricotta cheese mixture, and the mozzarella cheese slices on top. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Sprinkle with the Romano cheese. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes. Let stand 13 minutes before serving. Serves 10-12.

 

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11 Responses to Sphere Magazine, January/February 1977

  1. March 1, 2019 at 9:27 am #

    This looks yummy! Thank you for posting the recipe!

  2. March 1, 2019 at 4:20 pm #

    I second this comment!

    • March 1, 2019 at 6:45 pm #

      Thanks, Dawn!

  3. March 2, 2019 at 1:47 pm #

    love the cover photo too

    • March 4, 2019 at 12:39 am #

      Me too!

  4. March 9, 2019 at 11:28 am #

    You’ve got my Hallelujah! Sounds delicious and always a great dish for a crowd pleaser especially this time of year.

    • March 9, 2019 at 7:47 pm #

      Perfect for a crowd!

  5. July 17, 2020 at 7:27 pm #

    Debbie,

    I have made this recipe several times and it always gets rave reviews. I could not find my recipe today and looked allover for it! I pulled up your web site and it was there!! I was so thrilled that you had it!!

    Thank you so much. I used to have a subscription to sphere for years but after two different moves most of the issues did not make it.

    • July 18, 2020 at 12:51 am #

      Thank you for writing, Dorothy. I’m so glad I had a recipe on the blog that you were looking for! I have heard from many people who lost their Sphere’s in a move and still miss them.

  6. October 29, 2021 at 8:14 am #

    I’m looking for my olestra Sphere’s. Want a Grooms Cake recipe that is a spice type cake w/ apricot filling. Have made it twice since 70s but can’t find issue. Do you have it??

    • October 29, 2021 at 9:36 am #

      Hi Carol- I did a quick search but didn’t find anything yet. Do you have any more info to help in the search, like the approximate year and/or month of the Sphere? Was it a layer cake? What kind of frosting? Was the filling apricot jam, or some kind of homemade apricot filling? Any extra info could help, then I can search again.

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