The Book of Michael

Tony fell in love the night Maria made him Lasagna...  When someone asks me about my favorite meal growing up, the answer is always my mother's lasagna. She would spend hours simmering the sauce, which we lovingly called gravy, as its aroma breezed throughout the house.  When I make my lasagna, I follow her recipe.  While the gravy is simmering, I make my beef meatballs and tenderly drop them into the gravy to slowly cook, giving the gravy a deep delicious flavor.  For the filling, I use ricotta cheese, adding an egg, fresh herbs, parmesan cheese, and a few (crumbled) meatballs directly from the gravy.  Maria knew her lasagna was a promise of forever...  To assemble the lasagna, I start with a layer of gravy. Then I add a layer of noodles followed by a layer of the ricotta cheese mixture topped with a layer of noodles. I keep repeating until the final layer of noodles is topped with gravy and a handful of parmesan cheese.  I cover the lasagna with alum...