Lasagna with love

After my father's memorial gathering on Thursday, my sister commented that I have really good friends.  She's absolutely right.  Two of them were on their feet for the entire gathering and the Muslims came to support me despite their fasts.  I can't thank them enough.  My Eritrean friend really stands out.  She is more like her mother than she realizes.  Since my dad died last Thursday she has been desperately trying to do something to help me.  Something, anything to help.  I told her that she could best help me by taking care of her 6 kids, especially because one of her twins is sick.

Because I wasn't fasting earlier in the week, she invited me over for beef zigni for lunch.  That the first sign that she was becoming Abay.  The meat and onions were cut up small and we ate together - eating together is a big deal to Abay.  When I left, I told her that she could relax now that she had finally did something. 

She asked about the menu as if she was going to try to cook something.  First of all, she has too many small children to pull something like that off.  Secondly, it was a menu based on my Thanksgiving favorites, which is outside of her expertise.  Her flagship dish is lasagna and of course zigni.

Thursday night she said that she would make lasagna for us for Friday.  I thought that was an admirable gesture but considering that her baby had an appointment, I didn't think it would come to fruition.  When she called Friday saying that she would have the lasagna ready by 630 I was shocked.  My husband was excited because I have barely cooked anything this week.

I've seen her lasagna many times but I never ate any because it doesn't really look like lasagna because it's dark and very saucy.  I knew it had to be good because the Italians colonized Eritrea and it's her flagship dish.  I put the lasagna in the oven for 40 minutes as instructed and the aroma filled house, letting us know that people still live here. 

We ate it with string beans and it was absolutely delicious.  It doesn't taste like traditional lasagna...my husband called it African lasagna...but you could taste the love she was trying to send my way.  The next time I make lasagna, I'm going to use her recipe - the spices & the love.