Asparagus, Sun dried Tomatoes and Crispy Pancetta Lasagna

                                     

This makes a HUGE tray of Lasagna, serve it at a big gathering, or for a family dinner and box up and freeze the leftovers! If you want to make a smaller tray, cut the ingredients in half.

Prep time: 45 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins
Serves: 10-12 servings

Ingredients

2 boxes Lasagna noodles (preferably curly edges)
4 TBS Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 10 oz jar of Sun dried tomatoes, drained and sliced into thin strips (reserve oil)
3/4 cup grated Parmesan
¾ lb of Pancetta, sliced ½ inch thick
4 TBS chopped Garlic
3 bunches of asparagus
3 lbs of Part Skim Ricotta cheese
¾ cup whole milk
3 Eggs
2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
16 ox shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
3 TBS Parsley

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add 1 tsp Olive oil, and a dash of salt. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. After you put the pot of water on to boil, chop Pancetta into very small cubes, and sauté in 1 TBS of the reserved Sun dried tomato oil until crispy. Remove from the pan using a slotted spoon. In the same pan, add another TBS of the oil, add Garlic and cook to light brown in color, drain and put aside. Wash, trim off ½ to 1 inch of the bottom, and then peel the tough outer skin of the asparagus. Cut on the diagonal into 1 inch pieces. (take out about 20 pieces of the nicest looking tips and put aside) Drain pasta, and allow to cool. In large mixing bowl, mix together the Ricotta, Milk, Eggs, Garlic, 2 TBS of the Parsley, Salt, Pepper and ¼ cup of the grated Parmesan cheese. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a 10x15 deep dish Lasagna pan, drizzle some EVOO all over the bottom, and start the layering with a layer of Lasagna noodle, then spread layer of Ricotta mixture, sprinkle some Asparagus, then Pancetta, then Sun dried tomatoes, top with some Mozzarella, and a sprinkle of Parmesan Cheese. REPEAT until you get to the top layer (you’ll probably end up with 4 full layers). Sprinkle with last TBS of the Parsley and drizzle the whole top with the rest of the Sun dried tomato oil or EVOO. Bake until the top is browned around the edges and all the cheese is melted.