Ski's Easy Cincinnati Lasagna

Total Time: 1 hr 35 mins Preparation Time: 35 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• 2 (16 -18 ounce) cans chili (skyline or goldstar)
• 6 garlic cloves (chopped or minced)
• 2 bell peppers (diced)
• 1 large yellow onion (diced)
• 4 slices smoked bacon (diced)
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 16 ounces heavy cream
• 16 ounces ricotta cheese
• 1 (10 ounce) package lasagna noodles
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cups italian cheese blend (finely shredded)
• 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese (finely shredded)
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese (freshly grated)
• 6 green onions (fresh)

Recipe

• 1 place 2 cans of chili in pot on medium-low heat to warm.
• 2 dice bacon into small 1/4" pieces and place in frying/sautee pan to render on medium heat.
• 3 finely dice yellow onion and bell pepper and add to rendering bacon once bacon is about 2/3rds of the way rendered.
• 4 sautee the onions and pepper with the bacon until the onions turn translucent then add the chopped garlic.
• 5 add sauteed bacon, onion, pepper, and garlic to chili pot and bring to simmer.
• 6 once the chili is simmering, reduce heat and bring large stock pot with well salted water to rolling boil.
• 7 add 1/4 cup olive oil to water, then add the lasagna noodles.
• 8 cook noodles per package instructions, only leave the noodles about 1-2 minutes shy of fully al dente (the final cooking will occur during oben baking).
• 9 drain noodles into collander and drizzle with additional olive oil (to prevent sticking). remove chili from heat.
• 10 in a second sauce pan, place on burner at medium heat and add 4 tbs butter and then whisk in 3 tablespoons all purpose flour.
• 11 once the butter and flour have blended and start thickening, add 16oz heavy cream whisking in stages to incorporate the cream and keep the beschamel sauce from thickening too quickly.
• 12 once all the cream is incorporated, remove from heat and fold in ricotta cheese.
• 13 oil the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking pan and then place a thin layer of chili sauce on bottom of pan.
• 14 next fit a layer of noodles, then layer of beschamel sauce, then sprinkle with 5-cheese blend, then layer of chili, then sprinkle with cheddar cheese, and repeat with another layer of noodles, beschamel, 5-cheese blend, chili, cheddar, -- etc.
• 15 top with a layer of chili and 5-cheese blend, cover with aluminum foik - can be frozen or refrigerated for later consumption.
• 16 when cooking, preheat oven to 375 degrees f and bake covered for 35 minutes. if refrigerated, preheat to 375 degrees and cook for 50 minutes. if frozen, preheat to 375 degrees and cook for 1hour 15 minutes.
• 17 you can uncover/remove foil for last 15 minutes of cooking for crisp top. after removing from oven, sprinkle immediately with 1/2 cup freshly grated parmessan cheese, then chop 6 green onions on the bias and sprinkle on top before serving.