Helen Keller once said that life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all. That’s why Angela Legrand and her family recently relocated from Chicago, IL, to Gulf Shores — to begin new adventures together!
Angela, a semi-retired hairdresser, and her husband and very best friend, Rick, a successful business owner, are tackling the opening of their very own pizza place this month near Gulf Shores City Schools.
“It’s named Ed’s Pizza after my husband’s grandpa,” Angela shared. “We have wanted to open a place for years! We wanted something that felt like when we grew up hanging in the pizza place with all our friends.”
Rick and Angela both enjoy cooking and consider it a passion. When the newness of the move began to die down, their kids, Jackson (15) and Charlotte (12), began missing comfort food from the Windy City. Angela worked to resolve the issue by re-creating some of their favorite dishes.
“My family misses our food, so I started duplicating as much as I could. I look at recipes and copycat recipes all day and try to come up with things for us to try. I love to menu plan each week,” she said.
Dinner time at the Legrand home can be kind of random. The kids stay busy with extracurricular activities after school, including tennis and piano, and they get creative in the kitchen right alongside their parents.
“We hang out a lot together, which I love because I know time moves quickly. We enjoy traveling as much as we can and trying new places,” Angela shared. “It’s all about my family. They bring me so much joy. I know life is short, and I want to spend every minute I can with them. I don’t take time for granted. Being together is my favorite thing.”
Angela decided to share a Chicago and family favorite recipe, her homemade lasagna. This dish can be found on their table every major holiday and on some Sundays for family dinner.
“My family helped me choose this recipe because it is their favorite! As a child, I had a more traditional lasagna with ground beef, but when my kids were small, they were picky, so we created this instead. We have been making it for years,” Angela reminisced. “Making our own sauce was the game changer. That made it even better!”
Angela’s Homemade Lasagna
Note: Make this in a Dutch oven because the tomatoes will have a reaction in a regular pot and taste metallic.
Ingredients for the Sauce:
- 1 tbsp salted butter
- 1 tbsp EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
- 1 cup Yellow Onion, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp Garlic, minced
- 2 28oz cans San Marzano Tomatoes, crushed
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- Fresh Basil; to taste
- Salt and pepper; to taste
Directions for the Sauce:
- Heat butter and EVOO in Dutch oven. Add onion till tender, around 4-5 minutes.
- Add garlic stirring for about 1 minute.
- Stir in remaining ingredients and bring to a boil; reduce heat to a simmer uncovered.
- At this time, I use an immersion blender to get that smooth texture. Be careful because sauce will be hot.
- Cook about 30 minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally…then taste test. Add more seasoning if needed.
Lasagna Ingredients:
- 1 Box Lasagna Noodles, cooked
- 32 oz Ricotta cheese (use part skim)
- Grated Parmesan Cheese (the kind in the shaker bottle)
- 1-2 cups of Mozzarella cheese; shredded
- 1-2 cups of Spinach, chopped
Lasagna Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Cook lasagna noodles according to directions and put on towels to cool off.
- Put ricotta cheese in a bowl and mix in a bit of garlic salt, oregano, and Italian seasoning.
- In a 9x 13 baking dish, start by putting a few scoops of sauce on the bottom.
- Shake some parmesan cheese over top.
- Layer about four noodles on top of the sauce and then add a layer of the seasoned ricotta cheese mixture.
- Add some chopped spinach and mozzarella cheese.
- Repeat steps 4-7 again and again. Your last layer will be noodle, then sauce and parmesan cheese on top.
- Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- Take the cover off and cook an additional 10 minutes.
- Remove, let cool on a rack, and serve!
Author: Gabriele Jones
Gabriele has been married to her husband Daniel for 16 years. Together they have three incredible children - two boys, ages 15 and eight, and a sweet girl who joined the family last summer. She is a full time Pink Cadillac Sales Director for Mary Kay Cosmetics. When she isn’t spending time with family or building her business, she supports her husband who is the Lead Pastor and Planter of Forward Church in Foley.
