The Ultimate Lasagna
photo by Graeme B.
- Ready In:
- 2hrs 50mins
- Ingredients:
- 20
- Serves:
-
8
ingredients
- 3⁄4 lb sweet Italian sausage link
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1⁄2 cup finely chopped onion
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
- 2 (6 1/2 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
- 1⁄2 cup water
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1⁄2 teaspoon fennel seed
- 1⁄4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 12 lasagna noodles
- 16 ounces ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
- 3⁄4 lb mozzarella cheese, sliced
- 3⁄4 cup grated parmesan cheese
directions
- In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Drain and return to pot.
- Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce,and water. Season with sugar, Basil, Fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley.
- Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
- Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. Dry noodles on some paper towels.
- In a mixing bowl, Combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
- Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture.Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.
- Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
- Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
- Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes.
- Remove foil, and bake an additional 15 -20 minutes.
- Cool for 15-20 minutes before serving. This makes for easier slicing.
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Reviews
-
Really excellent recipe which includes all the best elements of lasagne and leaves the common 'fillings' - i.e. a thick bechamel sauce, melted hard cheeses and similar - out of the equation. This makes the meat and tomato flavours come through superbly. It could take more mozzarella on the top given the lack of a white sauce. But overall we loved it and it's better than 95% of lasagne I ate while living Italy.
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This is almost exactly how i made my lasagna yesterday, except i add 2-3 T. butter to the sauce(it helps with to sweeten the tomatoes when sometimes they are a lil sour).And i use 24 0z. ricotta and 3 eggs. this is a great recipe...wish i woulda found it yesterday when i was on here looking for one. i basically made mine up.:)
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Little Bee
United States
I am happily married to my best friend and we just bought our first house! No kids but we have 2 little dogs that we think the world of. I was born in California and although I have been on the East Coast for most of my life I am still displaced! I love the beach and hate the cold! In our free time we love to go to the beach or the mountains and hike or intertube down the lazy Shenendoah River. It is so beautiful there! I have loved to cook all of my life and will read cookbooks like they are novels!
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