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Rizzo's Malabar Inn Recipes: Lasagna & Pumpkin Fritters

If you're looking for some great new recipes to try in your home, be sure to try these two from Rizzo's Malabar Inn today!

Rizzo's Lasagna

A daily staple on the menu, this recipe is from Grandma DeFabo's kitchen. When my father first took over the restaurant, my mother called my Aunt Lil to get the exact recipe. We prepare hundreds of servings every month.

To make a meat sauce for the lasagna:

½ cup vegetable oil
1 pound lean ground beef
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 jars Rizzo's Malabar Inn Spaghetti Sauce

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat until hot. Add the ground beef. Season with salt and pepper. Break the beef apart with a spoon and continue to cook until completely cooked. Meanwhile, place the sauce in a medium sauce pot over low heat. Drain the beef and add to the simmering sauce.

Cook beef and sauce together for an additional 5 minutes. Set aside.

7 lasagna noodles
5 cups ricotta cheese
3 cups shredded Provolone cheese
2 tablespoons dried parsley
1 tablespoon marjoram
4 extra large eggs, beaten

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the lasagna noodles for about 10 minutes, or until al dente. Drain the noodles and rinse in cold water. Drain noodles and lay noodles on a flat surface.

In a large bowl combine the ricotta, provolone, parsley and marjoram. Mix well. Add the beaten eggs and blend well.

Lightly spray a 9x13 glass baking dish with a non-stick cooking spray and place 4 lasagna noodles lengthwise in the dish, overlapping slightly. Layer half of the cheese filling over the noodles, and top mixture with the remaining noodles. Spread the remainder of the cheese filling on top.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes.

While the lasagna is baking, heat the sauce in a medium sized pan over low heat. Remove lasagna from the oven and allow it to stand for 10 minutes. Cut the lasagna to desired size and place in a bowl. Top your baked lasagna with the meat sauce and enjoy.

Serves: 6-8

Pumpkin Fritters

We make these fritters at the restaurant only in the fall during the pumpkin season. They are like biting into a piece of fried pumpkin pie.

3 tablespoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cloves
1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
1, 29 ounce can pumpkin puree
2 extra large eggs, separated
pinch of salt
vegetable oil for frying
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
granulated sugar for coating

In a large mixing bowl, combine the brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Mix well. Stir in the flour, pumpkin puree, and egg yolks. Set mixture aside.

With an electric mixture, beat the egg whites and salt together until stiff peaks form. Fold egg whites into the pumpkin mixture.

In a large, heavy skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Drop pumpkin mixture by teaspoons into hot oil, frying about six at a time, turning occasionally to brown on both sides. Fry for about 3 minutes, or until golden. Drain fritters on paper towels. Continue until all of the pumpkin mixture has been fried.

Add the pumpkin pie spice to the granulated sugar and roll the fritters in the sugar to coat.

Yield: 4-5 dozen fritters

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