World's Best Lasagna

Chef #164700's Note:

"It takes a little work, but it is worth it." Original recipe yield: 12 servings.

• Total Time: 2 hrs 45 mins
• Prep Time: 2 hrs
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 12

• 1 lb sweet Italian sausage link
• 3/4 lb lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
• 2 (6 1/2 ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
• 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 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:

1. In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned.
2. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water.
3. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley.
4. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
5. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
6. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes.
7. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water.
8. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
9. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
10. To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
11. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce.
12. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture.
13. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices.
14. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.
15. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
16. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
17. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes.
18. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes.
19. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Reviews

[lolablitz]

Wonderful lasagna. I've made it before from the Allrecipes site and here are the adjustments I make based on their 4000 reviews: double the garlic, use 3/4 cup red wine instead of water, add 1/4 tsp of nutmeg to the ricotta mixture and use only 1tsp of salt in the sauce. Actually I don't think the sauce needs any additional salt due to the salt in the sausage and canned tomatoes, so I will omit it next time. I'm not a huge fan of sausage, but my family likes it so I keep it in. I might try to find a really high quality sweet Italian sausage from a butcher next time to see if I like it better.

[Rookcookie]

Awesome Lasagna! Followed the directions and read the reviews. Agreed with doubling the garlic and adding red wine in place of water. I crock potted the meat 2.5 hours on low instead of cooking on the stove top. The family loved it!

[Ms. Poppy]

Every time I opened my cookbook of saved recipes, this recipe tempted me. Finally I made it, and it is wonderful. I made it with ground turkey, Italian sweet turkey sausage and whole grain lasagna noodles. To make things easier, I prepared the sauce the day before.