The Best Lasagna
Learn how to make The Best Lasagna complete with a homemade hearty beef and sausage sauce, ricotta, layered with lots of mozzarella and parmesan. With my step-by-step instructions you are guaranteed the perfect lasagna every time!
Servings: 12
Calories: 572kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
Sauce
- 1 pound Italian sausage mild or spicy, casings removed
- ¾ pound ground beef extra lean
- 1 small onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 28 ounce crushed tomatoes 1 can
- 6 ounce tomato paste 1 can
- 8 ounce tomato sauce
- ½ cup water if needed
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 4 leaves basil chopped
- ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper or to taste
- ¼ cup fresh parsley chopped
Cheese Mixture
- 16 ounce ricotta cheese
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
Lasagna
- 12 lasagna noodles oven ready
- 1 pound mozzarella cheese fresh, grated
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese freshly grated
Instructions
- Make the sauce: Brown the sausage, beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until the meats are fully cooked. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients and simmer, covered, for 1½ hours, stirring occasionally.
- Prepare the cheese mixture: In a medium size bowl, mix the ricotta, egg, and parsley together.
- Assemble the lasagna: Preheat the oven to 375°F. Spread about 1½ cups of the meat sauce in the bottom of your lasagna dish. Arrange 4 noodles over the sauce, then spread ½ the ricotta mixture over the noodles. Layer ⅓ of the mozzarella, another 1½ cups meat mixture, ¼ cup Parmesan, then repeat the layers with the remaining ingredients finishing with mozzarella and parmesan.
- Bake the lasagna: Cover the lasagna with foil. Spray the side of the foil facing the lasagna with cooking spray to avoid sticking. Bake for 25 minutes, remove the foil, then bake for another 25 minutes. Let the lasagna rest for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
Video
Notes
- Take the time to simmer the sauce for the full one hour and a half. The longer you simmer this sauce, the better it will taste. Trust me.
- Make sure you find some "oven-ready" noodles. They cook up perfectly with the sauce in the oven without getting over-done
- Do you have some fresh herbs that need to be used up? Feel free to add some to your homemade sauce as it simmers. Make sure you remove them before layering the lasagna if they aren't chopped.
- You'll want to end up with 3 layers of noodles for this recipe. Make sure the layers or sauce and ricotta aren't too thick so that your slices will stand up instead of droop.
- Get yourself a good lasagna pan. These are designed to fit the noodles perfectly. No more snapping noodles to make them fit!
- I like to store my leftovers directly in the lasagna pan. Wrap well with plastic or foil and store in the fridge for 3-5 days. You can, of course, transfer the leftovers to an airtight container to save space if you prefer.
- Reheat either in the microwave or in the oven covered with foil at 350F for 15-20 minutes, or heated through.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 572kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Cholesterol: 121mg | Sodium: 1103mg | Potassium: 745mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 1129IU | Vitamin C: 14mg | Calcium: 431mg | Iron: 4mg