Cheesy Lasagna
My husband recently reminded me that we have not had Lasagna in a while. Cheesy Lasagna that is. So I decided that’s what we will be having for Sunday dinner. I make the sauce from scratch so it takes some time to make. But it’s well worth it. And if you only have a jar of pasta sauce, please check my Red Pasta Sauce under What you can do with….Spruce it up a little! Alright, let’s get started.
Total time: 50 minutes prep, 1:15 hours baking; Serves 6
Ingredients:
Sauce:
- 1 tbsp. garlic olive oil
- 2 tbsp. butter, unsalted
- 3 med. garlic cloves, sliced thinly
- 1/2 cup carrots, chopped
- 1/2 cup white onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup celery, chopped
- 1 tsp. salt & pepper
- 1/4 tsp. herbes de provence
- 1/2 lb. mild italian sausage, removed from casings
- 1 lb. ground beef, 80% lean
- 1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
- 1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
- 1 tbsp. fennel seed
- 1 cup parsley, chopped
Cheese Mix:
- 2 cups ricotta cheese
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
Lasagna:
- 1 box no boil lasagna
- 4 cups mozzarella, shredded
- 1 cup italian mix cheese, shredded
- 2 tbsp. butter
- 13 x 9 inch Pyrex dish
Heat the garlic oil and the butter in a large pot on medium-high. Add the garlic, carrots, white onion, celery, salt and pepper. Cook until soft for 10 minutes.
In a separate pan, cook the mild italian sausage and the ground beef. Make sure you break apart the sausage into small pieces while cooking. Remove meat mixture when fully cooked and slightly browned. Combine the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce and paste to the pot and turn the heat to a simmer. Stir in the fennel seeds and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the meat mixture to the sauce, stir and simmer on low for another 30 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the pot on the stove.
Heat the oven to 375°F and time to prepare the cheese mix. In a medium size bowl, mix together the ricotta cheese, egg and parsley. Set aside.
Butter the Pyrex dish and cover the bottom of the dish with one cup of the meat sauce. Lay three uncooked lasagna noodles next to each other and one at the bottom. You might have to break the bottom off so it covers the end. Be careful so that the noodle does not break in pieces. Spread ricotta cheese over the noodles and sprinkle with 1 cup mozzarella and Italian mix cheese. Repeat 2 more times. End with covering the last layer with meat sauce and the remaining cheese. Mmmm, cheese!
Spray a piece of aluminium foil with cooking spray and cover the dish with the sprayed side covering the lasagna. Bake for 50 minutes, remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes. Remove the lasagna from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes uncovered. And there you have a cheese lasagna! Serve with crispy baguette to scoop up the sauce and if you would like a glass of wine, I suggest a glass of Pinot Noir.
