Our Very Favorite Lasagna

Submitted by JackieOhNo!

"I never cared for meat in my lasagna and made quite a fine one without it. However, at the prodding of my family, I decided to try a meat version and it certainly was a big hit. Initially, since I didn't care for sausage, I only used 1/2 pound, but you can mix up the measurements of ground beef and sausage to your personal preference, as long as it totals 1-1/2 pounds. Being Italian, I insist you use ricotta cheese (I personally had never heard of cottage cheese in a lasagna until this site). Finally, I use the no-cook lasagna noodles, but feel free to use whatever you like. Enjoy!"

 

• Ready In: 2hrs 20mins
• Ingredients: 18
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1⁄2 lb sweet Italian sausage (about 3 links) or 1/2 lb hot Italian sausage (about 3 links)
• 1⁄2 cup chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1⁄4 cup parsley, chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 (28 ounce) can san marzano tomatoes, undrained and chopped
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
• 1⁄2 cup water (If necessary)
• 1 (15 ounce) container part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 16 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1⁄2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 12 no-cook lasagna noodles (approximately)

directions

1. Remove sausage meat from casings and brown with ground beef, onion and garlic in a large Dutch oven or sauce pot. Stir frequently until well browned - about 15 minutes. Add basil, oregano, half the parsley,salt, and sugar; mix well. Stir in tomatoes and tomato paste, adding water if mixture is too thick. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered and stirring occasionally, for 1 to 1-1/2 hours.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine ricotta, egg, remaining parsley, salt, half the mozzarella and half the Parmesan.
3. When sauce is ready,preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray a 13x9-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray. Spoon about 1-1/2 cups sauce in bottom of pan, then layer with about 4 lasagna noodles, half the cheese mixture and about 1-1/2 cups sauce. Repeat layer again, then top off with a layer of lasagna noodles. Spread with remaining sauce; top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake, uncovered, for 25 minutes longer, or until bubbly. Cool 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Reviews

[Noo8820]

I can totally see why this is your favourite lasagna recipe...it is in fact very similar to my own favourite recipe...so obviously, I loved it.<br/>This recipe is worth every minute invested into it, as it can't fail to please... even the two peskies ( aged 7 and 5) ate it, and although they moaned about the ricotta, they still cleared their plates.<br/>A top recipe...big thumbs up from our household!<br/>Made for PRMR.

 

[lazyme]

Yum. I love lasagna but don't make it often. I divided this into 2 8x8 dishes so that I could freeze one for another time. I used a hot Italian sausage and devoured this. Thanks for sharing.

 

[linguinelisa]

This is a wonderful recipe. I do have to say I baked it as directed and the top got a little brown but it wasn't burnt (I used regular lasagna noodles that I cooked about 9 minutes). I wound up adding about 1 cup of water as it was pretty thick. I used all Italian sausage in mine. I especially like that you use 12 noodles for 3 layers......most recipes seem to call for 2 layers and only 8 noodles....this is so much better! Thanks for sharing it with us! Made for 123HITS cooking tag game.