World’s Best Lasagna
(from brus25’s recipe box)
Source: www.allrecipes.com
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 150 minutes
Serves 12 people
Categories: Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 pound sweet Italian sausage
- 3/4 pound lean ground beef
- 1/2 cup minced onion
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
- 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, divided
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 12 lasagna noodles
- 16 ounces ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
- 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
-
Gather all your ingredients.
-
Cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic in a Dutch oven over medium heat until well browned.
-
Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, and water. Season with sugar, 2 tablespoons parsley, basil, 1 teaspoon salt, Italian seasoning, fennel seeds, and pepper. Simmer, covered, for about 1 ½ hours, stirring occasionally.
-
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 2 tablespoons parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
-
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
-
To assemble, spread 1 ½ cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce, overlapping slightly. Spread with 1/2 of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 ½ cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.
-
Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
-
Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 25 minutes.
-
Rest lasagna for 15 minutes before serving.
-
From the Editor
-
This recipe uses 2 layers of lasagna noodles by slightly overlapping 6 noodles on each layer. The video for this recipe features 3 layers, using 4 noodles on each layer that don’t overlap. If you follow the video, use 1 cup of meat sauce and 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture in each layer.