Hick’s Italian Sausage Lasagna

Those who would doubt how deeply embedded alcohol is within our culture, should look at the uniquely Irish phenomena that is “Mickey Money Night.” The one day of the week when single mothers would get their children’s allowance and run amok in the nearest dive of a nightclub. These morally questionable drunken escapades, would generally fall on Tuesdays and have probably done more for Satzenbrau and West Coast Cooler sales than any TV campaign ever could.

While many bars have hosted Mickey Money Nights (and probably continue to do so), Scruples Nightclub in Dun Laoighre was the all time supreme market leader. Sadly, it is no longer in existence but it was situated in the basement of The Kingston Hotel. “Mickey Money Tuesday” was in fact so popular there that it was commonly known as their busiest night of the week.

These days, Dun Laoighre may be regarded as one of the beacons of Southside Dublin with it’s annual Festival of World Cultures, food market and romantic walks on the pier, but back when Scruples was still trading,the people of that town were not to be messed with. Max, the head doorman in Scruples seemingly wasn’t held in high esteem with the locals. He had been shot at, his car set on fire and various projectiles thrown at him, such as empty kegs.

Two Dun Laoighre natives who probably have a few yarns tucked away about the legendary Max and Scruples nightclub, are Ed and Brendan Hick. They also happen to make the best sausages in Ireland (I am fully aware that comparisons between their sausages and mickey money Tuesday could be remarked upon here but I’m just way too classy for that, put them in your comments if you want). The fennel seed and orange zest in their Italian sausage make it the perfect variety to use for my lasagne. You can buy them in a few different shops like Liston’s on Camden Street and Magill’s on Clarendon Street. Or you can pick them up directly off the lads at The Temple Bar Food Market every Saturday or their outlet on Upper George’s St Dun Laoighre.

HICK’S ITALIAN SAUSAGE LASAGNA

INGREDIENTS:
- 1 packet of Hicks Italian Sausages
- 1 packet of wavy lasagna sheets
- 1 jar of passata
- 2 tins of decent tomatoes
- 1 tub of Ricotta Cheese with an egg yolk mixed into it (my preference over Bechamel sauce which can be too heavy)
- 1 tablespoon of tomato puree
- 1 tablespoon of oregano
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- 1 teaspoon of pepper
- 4 cloves of roasted garlic
- 1 medium sized onion, chopped
- 1 beef stock cube with 500ml boiling water (get the Kallo brand if you can, or ideally make your own if you have the time)
- 1 cup of dried mozzarella cheese.

METHOD:
- Peel the garlic, rub them in olive oil and then roast for 20 mins @ 180 degrees in your oven.
- Fry off the sausages in a pot with a little olive oil. After you’ve browned them off a little, remove them with a slotted spoon and let them rest and cool a little.
- In the same pot fry off the onion. After they’ve changed colour a little, lash in the tomatoes. Fry that for about one minute then lash in the passata, garlic, oregano, pepper, sugar, beef stock with water, garlic and puree. Bring it to the boil and then let it simmer stirring occasionally for one hour.
- As the sauce is cooking, slice the sausages diagonally, half an inch thick and place them into a separate pot.
- When the sauce is done place enough of it into the sausage pot to cover all the sausage. You’ll need the rest of the sauce, so don’t do anything with it.
- Get your lasagna dish/dishes ready.The overall size of your lasagna will depend on the size of your dish. You could definitely make enough for two medium sized lasagnas with the ingredients above. Make sure every single piece of the lasagna pasta has some kind of sauce on it, otherwise you’ll be left with hard chewy bits that will ruin everything.
- Cover the bottom of the lasagna dish with the plain sauce. Then place your first lasagna sheets in, then put some of sausages with plenty of the sauce going round it. If you lay the sausages on evenly you should be able to get about 8 – 10 slices on per sheet.
- Then you place another sheet on top of that. Smother that sheet in the ricotta/egg mix.
- Place a sheet on top of that one and repeat with the sausages. Then you throw another sheet on top of that and repeat again with the ricotta. Place the final sheet on top of ricotta and smother it in a lot of the plain sauce. Lash the mozzarella cheese on top of that and then cover and seal it with tin foil and stick it in the oven for about 40 minutes. If you want you can grill it for a bit afterwards to get it crispy on top. Like so….