Classic Meat Lasagna Recipes

CLASSIC LASAGNA

Steps:

• In large heavy pan lightly brown beef and onion in oil.
• Add tomatoes, paste, water, parsley, salt, sugar, garlic, pepper, and oregano; simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile cook lasagne as directed; drain.
• In 13x9x2" baking pan, spread about 1 cup sauce.
• Then alternate layers of lasagne, sauce, ricotta, mozzarella and parmesean cheese, ending with sauce, mozzarella and parmesean.
• Bake at 350 for 40 to 50 minutes until lightly browned and bubbling.
• Allow to stand for 15 minutes; cut in squares to serve.
• Makes 8 servings.
• I make this a lot and serve with Italian garlic bread and salad.
• It always gets a rave review, especially if the mozzarella strings with every bite.

CLASSIC LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the lasagna noodles and olive oil; cook until al dente, 8 to 10 minutes; drain.
• Cook the ground beef and sausage in a large pot over medium heat; drain. Stir in the mushrooms, garlic salt, oregano, thyme, basil, and tomato sauce. Season with salt and pepper; simmer 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, mix together the ricotta cheese, eggs, and Parmesan cheese in a bowl.
• Ladle enough of the meat sauce into a 9x13 inch baking dish to cover the bottom in a thin layer. Form a layer atop the sauce with 3 of the lasagna noodles. Spread about 1/4 of the ricotta cheese mixture over the noodles. Sprinkle about 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese over the ricotta cheese mixture and then ladle about 1/3 of the meat sauce over the mozzarella cheese. Repeat layering twice more, topping with the remaining 1/4 pound of mozzarella cheese.
• Bake in preheated oven 90 minutes. Allow to sit 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

CLASSIC MEAT LASAGNA

Steps:

• Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to medium pot set over medium high heat. Add sausage, pork, and beef and cook until browned and almost done all the way through, about 5 minutes.
• Add the chopped onion. Cook until onions are soft, about 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute more until fragrant.
• Pour crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce into the pan, along with the salt, pepper, and herbs.
• Bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes until thickened slightly. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed. Remove from heat.
• Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 9x13-inch baking or casserole dish.
• In a bowl, combine the ricotta cheese with the basil, salt and pepper.
• Spread a thin layer of meat sauce over the bottom of the pan. Top with a single layer of lasagna noodles, breaking a few as needed to cover entire pan. Dollop with ½ of the ricotta mixture and spread into an even layer. Sprinkle with ⅓ of the mozzarella cheese.
• Repeat these layers one more time, using ½ of remaining meat sauce this time (not a thin layer).
• Add one more layer of noodles. Top with remaining meat sauce. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese. Top with parmesan cheese.
• Cover with foil and bake for about 35 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake until sauce is bubbling and cheese is lightly browned, 15-20 minutes more.
• Remove from the oven and let rest for 15-20 minutes before slicing and serving.
• Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 1 week.

CLASSIC LASAGNE

Steps:

• To make the meat sauce, heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan and cook 750g lean beef mince in two batches for about 10 mins until browned all over.
• Finely chop 4 slices of prosciutto from a 90g pack, then stir through the meat mixture.
• Pour over 800g passata or half our basic tomato sauce recipe and 200ml hot beef stock. Add a little grated nutmeg, then season.
• Bring up to the boil, then simmer for 30 mins until the sauce looks rich.
• Heat oven to 180C/fan/160C/gas 4 and lightly oil an ovenproof dish (about 30 x 20cm).
• Spoon one third of the meat sauce into the dish, then cover with some fresh lasagne sheets from a 300g pack. Drizzle over roughly 130g ready-made or homemade white sauce.
• Repeat until you have 3 layers of pasta. Cover with the remaining 390g white sauce, making sure you can't see any pasta poking through.
• Scatter 125g torn mozzarella over the top.
• Arrange the rest of the prosciutto on top. Bake for 45 mins until the top is bubbling and lightly browned.

CLASSIC MEAT LASAGNA

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Crumble in ground meat and cook for an additional 8 minutes, breaking up with a wooden spoon. Drain off grease. Add tomatoes, paste, Italian seasoning, sugar, salt and pepper. Simmer with cover slightly ajar for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and simmer for 15 additional minutes. Stir in 3 T of the basil. Meanwhile, cook lasagna noodles following package directions. Drain and rinse briefly under cold water. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish with cooking spray. In a medium-size bowl, combine the eggs, Parmesan cheese and 2 T basil. Set aside. Spread 1 C sauce over the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Place 3 cooked noodles over the sauce. Evenly spoon the Parmesan mixture over the noodles.Top with 3 more noodles and 3 C of the meat sauce. Layer 3 noodles over the sauce, then sprinkle on shredded mozzarella. Top with the 3 remaining noodles and 2 C of the meat sauce. Sprinkle shredded Italian cheese blend evenly over the last meat sauce layer and loosely cover with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 30 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before serving. Extra sauce can be reheated and serve on side.

CLASSIC LASAGNA

Steps:

• Make the sauce: Heat oil in a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Add sausage, if using, and cook, stirring occasionally, until it's starting to brown but not yet crisp, about 5 minutes.
• Add onion and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is totally softened and translucent (without letting it brown), 8 to 10 minutes. Add tomato paste and continue to cook, stirring until the tomato paste has turned a deeper brick red color, tinting the oil and onions a fiery orange color, about 2 minutes.
• Using your hands, crush the whole tomatoes into smaller, bite-size pieces and add them and the crushed tomatoes, stirring to scrape up any bits from the bottom of the pot. Fill one of the tomato cans halfway with water and add it to the pot. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomato sauce has thickened and flavors have come together, 20 to 30 minutes.
• Make the lasagna: Heat oven to 375 degrees and set a large pot of salted water to boil.
• Set aside 1 cup mozzarella. In a medium bowl, combine remaining mozzarella, ricotta, 1 cup Parmesan and cream; season with salt and pepper and set aside.
• Cook lasagna noodles in the large pot of salted boiling water until just softened (before they are even aldente), about 4 minutes. Drain and separate any noodles that are trying to stick together, slicking them with a bit of olive oil to prevent them from sticking further.
• Spoon a bit of sauce on the bottom of a 3-quart baking dish and top with a layer of noodles, avoiding any heavy overlap.
• Top with about 1 ¼ cups of sauce, and dollop ¼ of the cheese mixture over. Top with another layer of noodles and repeat three more times, ending with the last of the noodles (depending on size of the noodle/shape of the baking dish, you may have a few extra noodles) and the last of the sauce. Top with reserved 1 cup mozzarella and more Parmesan, if you like.
• Cover loosely with aluminum foil and place baking dish on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet (to prevent any overflow from burning on the bottom of your oven).
• Bake until pasta is completely tender and cooked through and sauce is bubbling up around the edges, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove foil and increase temperature to 450 degrees. Continue to bake until lasagna is golden brown on top with frilly, crispy edges and corners, another 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool slightly before eating.