How to make a fabulous lasagna for 12...

Don't let the title scare you. One need not invite a dozen people over in order
to enjoy such a wonderful dish. But you'll want to share this meal, or you'll be eating it
for a week. Keep in mind, it freezes well!

Sure, you can grab a few noodles, a jar of sauce and some cheese. Heat and eat.
But not today. We're using the microwave only for the timer.

Step back to a place in time when people cooked. When they actually used spices
and simmered for more than ten minutes. Worth every bit of time it takes to make
this fabulous lasagna! Consider making only the sauce one evening to go with spaghetti
noodles.

This may not be your great grandmother's fabulous lasagna, it may not be authentic
to a recipe you prefer, but I enjoyed making it and hope to share it with others. If I have
omitted anything in error, please kindly bring it to my attention. I dislike typos and would
appreciate any assistance. But be nice. We're all in this together, you know. If you don't
have anything nice to say...

Please consider reading the entire Instructable before creating this dish. It is important
to understand a complete recipe in order to avoid potential downfalls of omitting a certain step.

Thank you for the inspiration and recipe, Allrecipes.com!

Step 1 The shopping list...

The meat base:

* 1 pound Italian sausage (I used mild)
* 3/4 pound lean ground beef (cheap hamburger = greasy lasagna)
* 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
* 2 cloves of minced garlic

The mix-ins: (In our shopping area, Hunts brand tomato products are the optimal choice)
Yes, a little fluctuation on the sizes is alright.

* 1 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes
* 2  6 ounce cans of tomato paste
* 2  6.5 ounce cans canned of tomato sauce
* 1/2 cup water

Sugar, spice, and everything nice:

* 2 tablespoons white sugar (Please see note on page 4 regarding sweetness)
* 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
* 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds

* 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Seasoning can be found on the spice aisle at your local grocery store, or you can make your own.
The seasoning is a pre-fab mix of different herbs. McCormick brand contains
marjoram, thyme, rosemary, savory, sage, oregano and basil.

* 1 Tablespoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 4 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley - divided  (use 2 Tbl. for the sauce, and 2 Tbl. for the cheese mixture)

Pasta, cheese for filling, and topping

* 12 lasagna noodles (Please see note on page 8 regarding noodle count)

* 16 ounces ricotta cheese (Don't be skimpy, get the good stuff, such as Polly-O brand)
* 1 egg
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 3/4 pound sliced or shredded mozzarella cheese
* 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (not the cheap stinky stuff)

Please note, my husband is a carnivore. Once in a while I prepare something for him besides noodles and salad.
Not everyone can live on rabbit food. You could certainly prepare this dish without meat, as there are many great
vegetarian meat crumbles you could substitute.

*TIP* Cottage cheese is not the same as Ricotta cheese.
Cottage is lumpy, made from curds, Ricotta is smooth, made from whey.

Comments

[mikeasaurus]

mmm lasagna, my favourite!

[WUVIE]

Thanks, Mike! :-) I appreciate it!

[caarntedd]

Awesome. My favourite.

[WUVIE]

Thank you, Caarntedd! :-)

[jbailey7]

Looks very tasty.
Lasagna is one of my family's favorite dishes. It's usually the first thing our kids ask me to make when we are all together. Many years ago my Aunt mentioned a recipe that did not require cooking the noodles. I decided to give it a try and have never cooked my noodles since. You don't need to buy a special brand or type of noodle to do this and no one has ever been able to tell the difference. It cuts out the cooking step, you just have to snap off a corner or two when layering.
I personally do not like my tomato based pasta sauces to be sweet so I add no sugar and actually add lemon juice to counter the sweetness of the tomato products (again, just personal preference). I've never used sausage chopped up into the sauce, I think I will try that with my next batch (Thanks for the idea). And thanks for the tip on the Chop Stir (yes I do need one, I do want one!!).
One last tip, I use sliced provolone as the top of each cheese layer, it helps when you are spreading on the next layer of sauce.

[WUVIE]

Hi there!

Many thanks! I keep telling myself that I am going to try the 'no cook' method. You've convinced me!

[sunshiine]

I am sending this link to my son! He LOVES lasagna! Thanks for sharing! Have a super day!
Sunshiine

[WUVIE]

Many thanks, Sunshiine!

[mguer133]

You could also replace Ricotta by just using a béchamel sauce (butter flour and milk).
In this case, there would be no need to pre-cook the lasagna sheets as the béchamel sauce wood water down the pasta while cooking.
Just my two cents.
Mickaël

[hammerpb]

I think on the first page onder the meat base, you meant to put 2 cloves of minced Garlic instead of onion. Nice looking lasagna BTW.

[WUVIE]

Indeed, thank you so much for letting me know. I've corrected it.
I appreciate your help! :-)

[lemonie]

That really does look very good _{(hungry now)}

L