Anthony’s Lasagna Recipe

One of my favorite dishes growing up was Lasagna.  It was such a treat when my mother served this delicious Italian meal.  Many of the lasagnas that I have tasted throughout the years have come with a very thin sauce with barely any meat in it.  Below is my own recipe that has a very hearty and thick sauce in it.  The thickness comes from three things.  From the abundance of meat in the sauce, from the abundance of onions and the diced tomatoes throughout my sauce and from being simmered slowly until the sauce thickens.

Ingredients:

1 large onion, coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
3/4 pound of coarsely ground beef chuck
1 pound of ground Italian sweet sausage
2 (15 oz.) cans of Italian diced tomatoes including the liquid
1 (15 oz.) can of tomato sauce
1 (6 ounce) can of tomato paste
1/4 cup of red wine
1/4 cup of beef stock
1 tablespoon of Italian Seasoning
1 teaspoon of dried oregano
2 tablespoons of fresh basil, chopped
1/8 teaspoon of ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 (9 oz.) box of Barilla or other brand no-boil lasagna noodles
1 (15 oz.) container of ricotta cheese
4 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup of fresh Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

You will want to begin this recipe by taking a Dutch oven and place your olive oil in it.  Then place it over a medium high heat.  When the oil gets hot add in your onion and sauté your onion until they get soft.  This should take about 3 minutes.  Then add your garlic and sauté for an additional minute.  Now put your ground chuck and ground sausage into the Dutch oven and brown your meat.  Make certain you break up your meat as it browns.

When your meat has been browned you will want to add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, red wine, beef stock, Italian seasoning, oregano, basil, pepper and pepper flakes.  When your sauce comes to a boil you should reduce your heat to a medium low and allow the sauce to simmer gently for about 3 to 4 hours.  I cook the sauce this long since it allows the flavors to come together nicely and to thicken the sauce.  If your sauce becomes too thick you can add either some water or some more wine, but do not add more then another 1/4 cup of the wine. Towards the end you should add the sugar. Adding the sugar to the sauce will reduce the acidity of the tomatoes.  At this point you will also want to adjust your seasonings to your own taste.  I usually end up adding a bit more Italian Seasoning to the sauce since I just love the flavor.   Just remember to add a little at a time and not a lot since you can always add more seasonings but you can not take them out.

When the sauce is done you will want to assemble your lasagna. While assembling the lasagna pre heat your oven to 375 degrees.

To assemble your lasagna take a 9 x 13 x 3 inch baking dish and spread about 1 cup of the sauce on the bottom of the pan.  Then place the no-boil lasagna noodles on top of the sauce, making certain to layer the noodles so that they overlap each other slightly.  You now will want to ladle 1 to 1 1/2 cup of the sauce over the noodles, making certain that they are fully covered.  Now take 1/3rd of the ricotta cheese and dab it here and there on top of the sauce, trying to place it equally on top of the sauce.  It’s a bit hard to spread ricotta cheese since its so thick so just dab it here and there and when it cooks the cheese will melt evenly.  Now sprinkle 1/3rd of the mozzarella cheese over the top and then 1/4 of the Parmesan cheese on top of that.  Make certain that the Parmesan cheese that you are using came from the refrigerated section of your market.  You will now want to place another layer of the no-boil lasagna noodles on top of the cheese.  Now place 1 to 1 1/2 cup of the sauce on top of the noodles and then place the cheese on top of the sauce as described above.  Next place another layer of the lasagna noodles on top of the cheese and then add about 1 to 1 1/2 cup of the sauce on top of them.  You will finish assembling your lasagna by placing the remainder of the cheese as described above on top of the sauce.  Your lasagna is now fully assembled and ready to bake.

Now, cover your lasagna with foil so that it does not burn while your lasagna is baking.  To prevent the foil from sticking to the lasagna you can either spray the foil with cooking spray and be careful and make certain that the foil does not touch the cheese.  Then, place the lasagna into your pre-heated oven and bake for 40 minutes.  After 40 minutes you will want to remove the foil and then bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes.  When finished, remove your lasagna from the oven and then let your lasagna cool for 10 to 15 minutes before cutting and serving.  I suggest serving a nice salad and some garlic bread with your lasagna for a complete meal.  enjoy