Big Joe shares Bobby Bandiera’s Genoa Salami Lasagna

Last Christmas my good friend Bobby Bandiera made a Genoa Salami Lasagna for our big Christmas dinner at the ranch. We served it as a pasta course and it was a huge hit with everyone, so much so that we're all requesting it again for this year.

Bobby as many of you know is one of Jersey’s most talented guitarist/singer, selling out the Count Basie's Center for the Arts, the State Theatre, and other venues. His resume includes playing and touring with Bon Jovi, Southside Johnny and Bruce Springsteen just to name a few. He’s also a great cook and lends his time and efforts to so many New Jersey based charities. I’m proud to call him my friend and excited to be part of the final Hope concert this year, which will be Dec. 23 at Count Basie in Red Bank.

I asked him to share his culinary masterpiece with all of you and he so quickly agreed. You can bet this recipe will be in my next cookbook. Try it out and I bet you'll want to add it to this year's holiday meal. Thank you Bobby and enjoy everybody!

Note: I strongly suggest you use the freshest of ingredients, it really makes a difference in the taste.

Ingredients:

1 lb. of ricotta cheese
3/4 lb. of Parmesan Reggiano (grated)
1 1/2 lbs. of fresh mozzarella shredded or thinly sliced
1 egg beaten
2 lg cans of crushed San Marzano tomatoes
1 lb. of lasagna noodles
1 lb. of thinly sliced Genoa salami
6 cloves of garlic finely chopped/minced
Handful of fresh basil chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

How to put it together:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large sauce pot add crushed tomatoes, chopped basil, add minced garlic add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Bring sauce to a slow simmer and then cook for 1 hour.

In a large bowl add ricotta cheese and beaten egg with 1/2 pound of Parmesan Reggiano cheese retaining 1/4 pound for garnish. Mix all ingredients thoroughly.

In large pot add water to ¾ full and tsp of salt for lasagna noodles bring to a boil. Once at a rolling boil add lasagna noodles being careful not to tear noodles (cook about 5 minutes for fresh noodles, 7 – 8 minutes for box noodles or until al’dente.)

In the bottom of lasagna pan, layer starting with sauce, then layer of noodles, then ricotta cheese mixture, then salami then mozzarella cheese then repeat again and again. Add sprinkle of Parmesan Reggiano on top and bake for 1 hour at 400 degrees. After cooking let rest and set for 15 minutes serve in slices. Serves 6 - 8.