Lasagna

beaner's Note:

This feeds a crowd. It is wonderful, my friends and I in MN got this recipe from a Italian cookbook in the library, of course we did not write down the title or the author of the book. We have all made this for many years! It is great with a tossed green salad, garlic bread and a good merlot wine!

• Total Time: 1 hrs 50 mins
• Prep Time: 1 hrs
• Cook Time: 50 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 1 lb sweet Italian sausage links or 1 lb hot Italian sausage
• ½ lb ground beef
• 2 tablespoons garlic
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt (I never add this much.)
• 1 ½ teaspoons sweet basil
• ½ teaspoon fennel seed
• pepper
• 2 tablespoons parsley
• 1 (20 ounce) can red pear tomatoes
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
• 1 (16 ounce) container ricotta cheese
• ¾ lb mozzarella cheese , sliced
• ¾ cup parmesan cheese
• 12 lasagna noodles
• 1 egg

Directions:

1. saute: garlic, sugar, and salt.
2. add: Italian sausage and ground beef and brown.
3. add: basil, fennel, pepper, tomatoes, paste, and simmer sauce for at least 20- 30 minutes, until sauce thickens.
4. boil noodles and drain.
5. Mix together in a bowl: ricotta cheese, egg, and parsley, if thick ad a little milk.
6. set aside.
7. Layers: Sauce to cover bottom of pan, 1/2 of the noodles, 1/2 ricotta, sauce, 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese, noodles, ricotta, mozzarella, sauce and parmesan.
8. bake covered for 25 minutes 375 degrees.
9. bake uncovered for 25 minutes.

Reviews

[Guam Girl]

I'd like to give this recipe 3.5 stars. The lasagna was good and oh so easy and quick to make! That's a plus! I purchased a pound of ground round and a pound of Italian sausage links (5 in the pack). I love the taste of sausage, but I didn't want to chance having the flavor overwhelm the dish. So, I opted for using a pound of the ground beef and two of the five sausage links. In the end, I thought the balance was just right. I boiled the ground beef as you would when making Cincinnati chili. I remember noticing how fine the ground beef was in a lasagna I ordered at a local Italian restaurant and loved the consistency of the meat. Boiling the meat gave me the desired outcome. I just strained the water by using a mesh colander - pressing the water out with a large cooking spoon. I cut the casings of the sausage open and cooked the sausage in a small frying pan - mashing it up so it would form into sausage crumbles. I sauteed the garlic in salt and red wine instead of using sugar (personal preference). I usually use a sweet red wine in tomato sauce dishes, such as port. I mixed the ricotta cheese with fresh parsley - no chopping required...I just washed the parsley and tore and broke the leaves by hand. I did not need to add milk. I didn't find red pear tomatoes, so I used crushed tomatoes. When the sauce was simmering, I poured in a couple more splashes of red wine. I used the no boil lasagna noodles (my first time - and knowing what I know now..definitely not my last). Just read the directions. They call for slightly overlapping the noodles and covering them completely with the sauce. The noodles will expand out to the edges of the bake ware you are using. And completely covering the edges with sauce will ensure there are no dried out noodles in the end. I didn't measure out the mozzarella. I simply envisioned the serving sizes of the lasagna and placed the large slices of fresh mozzarella where they would need to go. I baked according to the directions on the box of lasagna noodles...I believe it was 375 degrees for 50 minutes. I will definitely make this recipe again!

[Katie Z]

I loved this lasagna recipe! I wasn't sure what "red pear tomatoes" were, so I just used a can of peeled diced tomatoes. I also left out the fennel seeds because I didn't have them and used the no-precook noodles. SO GOOD!!! The way that the sausage carmelized because of the sugar and garlic in the pan was amazing. I got a lot of great compliments =)

[BlackSource]

I just made those Lasagne and it was really delicious. I substitued Italian sausage with Chorizo (spanish/mexican sausage) and served with fresh sour cream. I can really recommend this recipe.