Lasagne is a staple at my house…not a Christmas goes by with out at least two huge pans of lasagne at the center of the spread. I remember growing up and having my Nonna’s lasagne at pretty much every family birthday party. Her, my mom and my aunt used to pick tomatoes every summer and spend days canning them, freezing them, and of course preparing sauce to be jarred away for quick use throughout the winter. I wish I could say that those traditions still thrive, but unfortunately, as years have gone by so have those days. We no longer have jars of homemade sauce to revert to when we want to “throw” a lasagne together. Like many of you, a full time job, school and two kiddos makes spending an hour or so on homemade sauce for the lasagne not always feasible. So…I leave it for the weekends….or holidays…well, for both.
During the week I rely on jarred spaghetti sauce for my lasagne. With a few additions…I promise you noone will ever know the difference. While you will find my go to recipe for homemade bolognese sauce below for when you have time…here we will focus on a recipe we can all fit into our schedules.
In a large/deep skillet or dutch oven over medium high heat, add your olive oil. When heated, add your onion and your meats. Saute until onions translucent and meats are browned. Add in minced garlic and continue to cook for about another minute. Drain off fat and return the mixture to your pan and place back onto stove. Add your sauce and bring to a fast bubble. Add your wine and sugar and bring to a boil. Stir then simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes.
While simmering, make your ricotta cheese filling using ricotta (duh), eggs, parmesan and parsley mixed in a large bowl. Mix until smooth and evenly combined. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and prepare your lasagne noodles. If using the no boil ones…well…you are a step ahead of me!
Ladle small amount of sauce into the bottom of your 9 x 13 pan. Just enough to coat the bottom…no lake of sauce needed here. Layer your noodles evenly across. Spoon about 1/3 of your ricotta mixture over the noodles and spread across them evenly. Ladle 1/4 of your meat sauce across the top …spread… then follow with a 1/4 of the mozzarella. Sprinkle small palm full of parmesan over mozzarella. Repeat these steps two more times…ending with just noodles on top. Spread your last bit of sauce across the top then sprinkle your last 1/4 of mozzarella over the top. I typically add some more parmesan here too.
Cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Remove the foil and return to the oven until cheese nice and golden on the top..about 5 minutes. Let sit for at least 10 minutes before cutting….otherwise…you have a pretty gooey slicing and serving job ahead of you..then again…who cares how it looks!!!
Anyday Lasagne
Ingredients
FOR THE SAUCE
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 48 oz. jarred spaghetti sauce 2- 24 oz jars
- 1 whole onion finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 1 lb. ground italian sausage
- 1 lb. ground beef
FOR THE RICOTTA CHEESE FILLING
- 3 whole eggs
- 1 lb. ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup parmesan
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley
FOR THE LASAGNE
- 1 lb. lasagne noodles
- 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese 16 oz
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat over to 400 degrees.
FOR THE SAUCE
- In a large/deep skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat.
- Add both meats and onion and cook until meat has browned.
- Add garlic and cook for one minute more.... Drain fat.
- To pan with meat, onion, and garlic, add both jars of sauce. Heat to bubbling.
- Add wine and sugar and stir to mix and bring back to fast bubble then cover and reduce to simmer.
- Simmer 15 minutes while preparing cheese filling and pasta(prepare by box directions).
FOR THE RICOTTA CHEESE FILLING
- In large bowl stir up the ricotta cheese to soften.
- Add three eggs, one by one, while mixing into the cheese.
- Add parmesan and parsley and stir to combine. Should be smooth and creamy looking!
FOR THE LASAGNE ASSEMBLY
- In bottom of 9 x 13 baking pan, ladle some of your meat sauce...just enough to cover.
- Place a layer of noodles evenly along the bottom...does not have to be perfect 🙂
- Spread 1/3 of the ricotta mixture evenly over the noodles.
- Ladle 1/4 of your meat sauce over the ricotta.
- Cover the meat sauce with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese....sprinkle palmful of parmesan too!
- Start back with layer of noodles and repeat the process 2 more times ending with noodles on top.
- Ladle last 1/4 of sauce over the noodles, last cup of mozzarella, then another sprinkle of parmesan.
- Bake covered with foil, in a 400 degree oven for 30-35 minutes.
- Remove foil and bake for another 5 until cheese nice and golden.
- Remove from oven and let sit about 10 minutes before slicing!
Homemade Meat (Bolognese) Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 whole onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 6 slices bacon
- 2 whole carrots chopped
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 1 lb. ground italian sausage
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 cup red wine
- 1 cup milk or half and half
- 1 tsp. nutmeg
- 32 oz. crushed tomatoes
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp oregano
- 2 tsp basil
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Heat oil in deep skillet and saute the onion, celery, bacon,garlic and carrots until softened and cooked.
- Add meats and cook until browned.
- Add red wine and bring to a boil.
- Lower heat and reduce the "sauce" until most of the wine evaporates.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Add milk and nutmeg and stir well.
- Cook until the meat mix has absorbed most of the milk.
- Add tomatoes, sugar, oregano and basil. Stir.
- Reduce to simmer and cook for 1 hour until sauce thickens and develops nice rich color.
