My lasagna

lasagna

starts with a meat sauce

This is my third time making this 'World's Best Lasagna' recipe. It started with me trying to use up these old packs of oven ready lasagna I had in my pantry. Here is my adjusted version:

Ingredients


1 pound sweet Italian sausage (I use hot Italian sausages)
¾ pound lean ground beef (I use a large 3 lb pack to make extra sauce)
1/2 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1/2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
1 (13 ounce) can tomato sauce
½ cup water
1 tsp white sugar
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp salt for sauce
1/2 tsp salt for ricotta cheese
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tsp dried parsley
12 lasagna noodles
16 ounces ricotta cheese
1 egg
12 mozzarella cheese slices
¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese




Step 1
In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Step 2
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. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Alternately skip this step and use oven ready lasagna.

Step 3
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Step 4
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 6 mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, that is, Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise, Spread the rest of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with 6 mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil over a sheet of parchment paper to prevent sticking, and to make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.

Step 5
Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 8-10 minutes until cheese is lightly browned. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.


I boil some spaghetti on the side and use the rest of the meat sauce with it as another meal.