He was born in an Italian restaurant. He loves his teddy bear. Each day, an estimated 263,000,000 people open the newspaper to read about his life. According to his own website, he is fat, lazy, and cynical. He loves lasagna and hates Mondays. His name is Garfield, and he is the star of the world’s most syndicated comic strip. Garfield the Cat first appeared in comic strip form in 1978. Since then, he has been depicted in cartoons, movies, toys, clothing, and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade as a balloon. Not bad for a fictional feline. But his love for lasagna is something that makes him special, which is why he is the subject of this week’s Famous Recipes column.

Lasagna, the other important part of this article, needs even less introduction than Garfield. Everyone knows what it is, but, unfortunately we know very little about how it came about. The word “lasagna” comes from Greek and originally referred to a type of cooking pot. Other than that, there are very few facts on the history of lasagna. One interesting thing to note, though, is how some people have claimed that lasagna is a British invention because its recipe appears in the first cookbook ever written in Britain. It’s a dubious claim, indeed. But despite not having much of a known past, lasagne’s future is certain. A meal so delicious that a picky cat like Garfield would eat it, is certainly here to stay.

Ingredients

• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• ½ cup grated parmigiana-reggiano cheese
• 1 egg, beaten
• ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
• ½ lb lasagna pasta (fresh lasagna pasta is best, but dry works well also)
• ½ lb fresh mozzarella cheese-cut into small chunks
• salt and pepper to taste

Sauce

• 1 ¾ cups fresh or canned plum tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons oregano (fresh is best but dried works also)
• ½ cup finely chopped vegetables (such as mushrooms, celery, spinach, or onions)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. For sauce; add olive oil in saute pan, and warm, place in chopped garlic, saute for 1 minute. Add in chopped veggies. Saute for 2 minutes. Add in tomatoes and simmer fro 10 minutes on medium heat. Remove from heat.
3. For lasagna:Mix the ricotta, parmigiana cheese, egg, and parsley in a bowl. Add in the salt and pepper.
4. Drizzle 3 tablespoons on bottom of square lasagna pan.
5. Place one layer of lasagna pasta and spread cheese mixture, then top with sauce, and sprinkle some mozzarella chunks on top, alternate this way until you have finished pasta.
6. Top with last layer of lasagna pasta, spread sauce on top and sprinkle with mozzarella chinks and parmigiana-reggiano cheese.
7. Note: this recipe is vegetarian.
8. Bake for 20 minutes.
9. Let cool for ten minutes, then serve.