As I have mentioned before, lasagnas are great alternatives for boat and fishing trips. Last week, it was Club Nautico de San Juan‘s International Billfish Tournament, the longest consecutive fishing tournament in the world (57 years). Anglers from all over the world come to Puerto Rico to this tag-and-release tournament and its a week full of action, fun and camaraderie. My husband Emilio has been involved in this tournament for over 20 years and is currently a board member. Actually, I met him during the week of a tournament in August 1997 and we were married by June 1998. So, I have been a “fishing widow” ever since…Ja!, although I join him fishing once in I while, like I did for Club Deportivo de Mayaguez’s Blue Marlin Tournament in the western part of the island, where I witnessed the most beautiful sunsets in my life and placed 1st in the women’s division and 3rd overall (among 500 fishermen, not bad!!)
The week of the tournament is filled with fun events like the flag ceremony, excursions for the wives of the anglers, fashion shows, the Billfish Foundation’s Auction and of course the themed party. This year the theme was Disco Night and I must tell you it has been the best party at the tournament yet! Some members of the board along with other volunteers did a choreography to Dancing Queen and Fever Night mix which turned out to be spectacular and got everyone in dancing mode! There were also Donna Summer and Boy George impersonators.
Fishing goes on for 4 days with a rest day in between. Emilio was assigned to bring lunch for two of the four days of fishing, so for one day I sent my Meat Lasagna with green salad and Amarillos en Almíbar (sweet plantains sauted in butter, brown sugar and cinnamon). The boys (Frankie, Joe, Emilio and Ricky) loved it and left nothing on the plate! To comply to their requests, I am posting this recipe today. Here is my version of Meat Lasagna.
Enjoy!
Meat Lasagna
Ingredients
Basic Tomato Sauce Recipe (yields 3 cups)
8 ounces ricotta cheese or mascarpone
about 15 pieces of lasagna strips
12 fresh basil leaves coarsely chopped
4 cups of shredded mozzarella
Procedure
1. In a 13×9 baking dish, place one layer of lasagna strips. (I use the oven ready strips which do not need to be boiled but you may also use the traditional boiled ones.) Spread 4 ounces of cheese, half of the picadillo-ground beef recipe (remove excess fat and liquid), 1 cup of basic tomato sauce and 1 cup of shredded mozzarella. Cover again with lasagna strips and repeat procedure. Place third layer of lasagna strips and cover with remaining cup of tomato sauce, chopped fresh basil and remaining mozzarella. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes at 390ºF. Uncover and broil until cheese on top is golden (about 7-10 minutes). Serve with garlic bread, amarillos en almíbar, white rice or salad.
