Lasagna With Basil and Fennel

I've never been a big lasagna fan, but this particular version has such interesting, wonderful flavors to it that I've been known to eat an entire pan in 3 days. I've found that the amount of sauce these proportions make to be a just barely inadequate -- once or twice, I didn't have enough at the end, so my top layer of noodles was a little dry. you can remedy this by being really careful about how much sauce you use for layering, erring on the skimpy side, or you can do it my way and double the sauce recipe :) the leftover sauce is soo delicious on pasta, pizza, etc. I also like to add a few cloves of garlic to the sauce since I'm a garlic fiend.

• Ready In: 1 hr 40 mins
• Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 1  lb mozzarella cheese, grated (about 4 cups packed)
• 1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese
• 1  large egg
• 1 1⁄2 cups  grated parmesan cheese
• 3  tablespoons olive oil
• 2  cups  chopped onions
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons fennel seeds (I've added as much as 3 teaspoons and it's still great)
• 1 1⁄2 lbs lean ground beef
• 2 (1 1/2ounce) packets  spaghetti sauce seasoning with mushroom flavors or 3 -4  tablespoons  italian seasoning
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes in puree
• 1  cup  canned low sodium chicken broth
• 1⁄2 cup dry white wine
• 9  no-boil lasagna noodles (from one 8-ounce package)
• 2  cups  packed fresh basil leaves

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Mix 1 cup mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, egg and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese in medium bowl.
3. Heat oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and fennel seeds; sauté 5 minutes. Add beef; sauté 10 minutes, breaking up meat with fork. Mix in seasoning, then tomatoes, broth and wine. Cover and simmer 8 minutes. Season sauce to taste with pepper.
4. Spoon 1 1/3 cups sauce over bottom of 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Place 3 noodles over sauce. Drop half of ricotta cheese mixture by tablespoonfuls evenly over. Top with half of basil leaves, 1 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Continue layering with 3 noodles, 2 cups sauce, remaining ricotta cheese mixture, remaining basil, 1 cup mozzarella cheese and remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Finish with 3 noodles, 2 cups sauce and remaining mozzarella cheese (reserve remaining sauce for another use). Cover with foil; place on baking sheet.
5. Bake lasagna until heated through, about 1 hour. Uncover; let stand 15 minutes. Cut lasagna into squares.