Moms Killer Lasagne Recipes

MOM'S LASAGNA

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large heavy bottomed pot. Add onions and a good pinch of salt and sauté until soft and starting to brown. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
• Add the ground beef and brown, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon until no longer pink.
• Add the basil and oregano and mix to combine.
• Put the whole tomatoes in a bowl and crush by hand. Add to the meat and onion mixture along with the tomato sauce, tomato paste, water and a generous pinch of sugar. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then immediately turn down heat and simmer with a lid on for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. (My mom's recipe says to simmer for hours, an hour and a half is plenty.)
• Let cool and then refrigerate overnight. The sauce is always better the next day and now all you have to do is assemble the lasagna.
• Drain the cottage cheese in a fine mesh sieve over the sink until most of the liquid has drained, stirring gently several times. Takes about an hour or two.
• Preheat oven to 350º
• In a 11 X 15 lasagna pan, ladle in some sauce to cover the bottom of the pan. Arrange 6 noodles, overlapping slightly, over the sauce in the bottom of the pan. Next, spoon half of the drained cottage cheese over the noodles. Sprinkle half the shredded mozzarella over the cottage cheese. Then generously spoon some sauce over the cheese.
• Repeat with another 6 noodles, the remaining cottage cheese and follow with the remaining mozzarella. Generously spoon more sauce over this layer.
• Top with 6 more noodles. Spoon sauce over entire top of lasagna noodles and also spoon some down the corners and edges. All the noodles should be covered.
• Sprinkle with some grated parmesan and then cover pan with foil.
• Bake for 45 minutes and then remove the foil and bake, uncovered, for another 15 minutes.
• Let lasagna rest 10 minutes or so before serving. Enjoy.

MOM'S LASAGNA

Steps:

• In a large kettle or Dutch oven, cook beef, sausage and onion until meat is no longer pink and onion is tender; drain. Stir in the next 10 ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. , Meanwhile, cook lasagna noodles according to package directions; drain and rinse in cold water. In a greased 13x9-in. baking dish, layer a third of the noodles and meat sauce, half of the cottage cheese, a third of the mozzarella and a third of the Parmesan. Repeat layers. Top with remaining noodles, meat sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan. , Cover and bake at 350° for 45 minutes; uncover and bake for 20 minutes longer or until bubbly. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting.

"KILLER" LASAGNA

Steps:

• Brown the sausage and ground meat and drain all the fat.
• Add all the other ingredients for the meat filling and simmer on the stove, uncovered, for about 1/2 hour.
• I usually add a bay leaf or two.
• Mix up the cheese filling and set aside in fridge until ready to use.
• Put the noodles in salted water and cook until soft when poked with a fork.
• When the noodles are done, drain the noodles and rinse off with cold water so they can be handled easily.
• Spray the baking pan with a non-stick spray and put a layer of noodles down on the bottom of the pan. It is OK to cut some of the noodles to fit into the pan if they do not fit whole.
• Spread half the cheese filling over the noodels, then half of the mozarella cheese on top of that, then half of the meat sauce over the grated mozarella cheese.
• REPEAT layers and then top with more mozarella cheese.
• Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting into it.
• Leftovers can be easily stored in the freezer.

MOM'S SEAFOOD LASAGNA

Steps:

• For the seafood: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
• Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the shrimp, garlic and seafood seasoning and cook until the shrimp turn pink, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the shrimp from the skillet.
• Add the wine and lemon juice to the skillet, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon. Bring to a simmer and cook until the mixture is reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the shrimp and crabmeat.
• Make the béchamel sauce: Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour until combined. Gradually add the milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture is thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the Romano until melted. Set aside.
• Make the spinach-artichoke ricotta: Stir together the ricotta, spinach, artichoke hearts, mozzarella, breadcrumbs, lemon zest and egg until combined. Season with salt. Fold in 1 cup of the béchamel sauce.
• Assemble the lasagna: Spread about 1/2 cup of the béchamel sauce in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Top with 3 to 4 lasagna noodles and about 2/3 cup béchamel sauce. Top with half of the spinach-artichoke ricotta and half of the seafood. Repeat the layers once. Top with the remaining 3 to 4 lasagna noodles and béchamel sauce. Sprinkle with the mozzarella and Romano.
• Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil (coat with cooking spray before adding to the top to prevent the cheese from sticking). Bake, covered, until the lasagna is bubbly, about 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until the noodles are tender and the top is golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Remove from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

MOM'S BEEF LASAGNA

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, cook beef over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Drain. Stir in the water, tomato sauce and paste, soup mix, oregano, sugar and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 minutes., Spoon 1/2 cup meat sauce into a greased 13x9-in. baking dish. Layer with 3 noodles and a third of the cottage cheese, mozzarella, meat sauce and Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers twice., Cover and bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until bubbly and heated through. Uncover; bake 5-10 minutes longer. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

MOM'S LASAGNA

Steps:

• In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and a three-finger pinch of salt and sweat them until they're translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the neck bones and let them brown, about 5 minutes. Add the ground veal, beef and sausage, and season with another healthy pinch of salt. Cook until the meat is browned, about 10 minutes. Stir in the white wine, tomatoes and their juice, and the bay leaves. Scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon, making sure to get all of the browned bits into the sauce. Season the sauce with salt, to taste, and simmer for 2 hours over medium heat. Remove the bay leaves and neck bones and let cool. Skim any fat that rises to the surface.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium heat. Add enough salt so that it tastes seasoned and allow the water to return to a boil. Add the noodles and cook until al dente. Drain well and set aside.
• In a medium bowl mix together the ricotta, parsley, basil, oregano, eggs, and Parmesan with a pinch of salt.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Ladle about 1 cup of sauce on the bottom of a lasagna pan. Arrange a layer of noodles followed by a layer of sauce and then some of the ricotta mixture. Top with a layer of mozzarella, smoothing it with a spatula to the edges. Repeat the process until the pan is full. Finish with a final layer of noodles, sauce, the mozzarella, and Parmesan.
• Cover the lasagna with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour. Uncover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let it rest, 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

MY MOM'S LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Place a large saute pan over medium-high heat and add the beef and sausage. Cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to brown, about 2 minutes. Add the onions, garlic and dried oregano and cook until they are softened and the meat is cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and toast for 30 seconds, then add the tomatoes and cook until the sauce has thickened slightly, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
• Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Add the ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella, 1/3 cup Parmesan, fresh basil and oregano, salt and pepper and stir to combine.
• Spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Arrange a layer of noodles over the sauce and top with a third of the ricotta filling. Spoon over a layer of sauce and top with another layer of noodles. Continue with 2 more layers of ricotta, sauce and noodles, ending with a top layer of noodles. Spoon a thin layer of the remaining sauce over the top, sprinkle the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan over the noodles and cover with aluminum foil.
• Bake for 45 minutes, then uncover and cook until the cheese is golden and the lasagna is bubbling, another 15 to 20 minutes. Let stand for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.