Epic Lasagna

Finely chop all the herbs for the fresh herb mix. Mix together in a small bowl and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add beef to pan and brown, stirring constantly. When beef is almost fully cooked, add onion and garlic and cook until tender. Add red pepper, black pepper, fennel, allspice, salt, and 2/3 of the chopped fresh herb mix. Cook for about two more minutes, then add red wine and cook until wine is evaporated. Stir in sugar, bay leaf, tomato sauce and water. Turn heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for one hour, stirring occasionally. Add basil in the last five minutes of cooking.

While sauce is simmering, steam spinach. Use your favorite method for steaming and steam spinach for about 2 minutes. Then squeeze out as much excess water as possible and roughly chop spinach. Add the spinach to a bowl with all the cheese filling ingredients, including remaining 1/3 of the fresh herb mix, and mix well. Cover and keep refrigerated until assembly.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Cook lasagna noodles in a pot of salted water according to package directions. Immediately move cooked noodles into an ice bath to stop cooking and prevent noodles from sticking together.

To assemble lasagna, start with a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of a deep 13×9-inch lasagna pan. Then add three layers of ingredients in this order: noodles, cheese filling, 1 cup mozzarella, sauce. For the top layer, spread sauce directly on top of cheese filling, and cover with remaining mozzarella.

Loosely cover dish with aluminum foil and bake 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Allow it to rest at room temperature for 20 minutes before serving.