Lasagna Recipe
Lasagna made with ground beef, house-made Italian sausage, ricotta cheese, marinara and mozzarella cheese.
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Ingredients
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Meat Sauce
Cheese Mixture
Assembly & Topping
Method
Meat Sauce
- 1
- 2
Brown the meats
Increase heat to medium-high. Add the ground beef and house-made Italian sausage (casings removed). Break the meat into pieces with a spoon and cook until no longer pink and beginning to brown, about 7–9 minutes. Drain excess fat if there is more than 1 tbsp.
- 3
Build the sauce
Stir in the tomato paste and cook 1 minute to deepen flavor. Add the crushed tomatoes, 1/2 cup water or red wine, dried oregano, dried basil, red pepper flakes, 1.5 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper and 1 tsp sugar if using. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low.
- 4
Simmer
Partially cover and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for 20–30 minutes to thicken and allow flavors to meld. Taste and adjust salt/pepper. Stir in 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil just before assembling (optional). Keep warm.
Cheese Mixture
- 5
Mix ricotta filling
In a medium bowl combine 15 oz ricotta, 1 large egg, 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, 2 tbsp chopped parsley, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Stir until smooth and homogenous. Chill briefly if needed to stiffen slightly — this makes spreading easier.
Assembly & Baking
- 6
- 7
Layer lasagna (First layer)
Spread 1 cup of the meat sauce in the bottom of the prepared dish to prevent sticking. Arrange 3–4 lasagna noodles in a single layer to cover the sauce (if using no-boil noodles, follow package instructions for overlapping).
- 8
Layer lasagna (Cheese and sauce)
Spoon and spread one-third of the ricotta mixture (about 1/3 of the bowl) over the noodles in an even layer. Sprinkle about 1 cup shredded mozzarella over the ricotta. Spoon 1 to 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over the cheese layer, spreading gently to cover.
- 9
Repeat layers
Repeat the noodle, ricotta, mozzarella and meat sauce layers two more times (3 total cheese layers). Finish with a final layer of noodles topped with the remaining meat sauce (about 1 cup), the remaining 1 to 1 1/2 cups mozzarella and 1/4 cup grated Parmesan.
- 10
Cover and bake
Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil (to prevent cheese sticking, tent foil or spray underside with cooking spray). Bake in the preheated 375°F oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake until cheese is bubbling and golden in spots, about 15–20 minutes more.
- 11
Rest and serve
Remove lasagna from oven and let rest uncovered for 10–15 minutes to set (this makes slicing cleaner). Garnish with additional chopped parsley or basil if desired. Slice into 8–12 portions and serve warm.