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Lasagna, Make Ahead Recipe

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This recipe for Lasagna, Make Ahead is from The Nogueira-Martins Crane Family Cookbook , one of the cookbooks created at FamilyCookbookProject.com. We'll help you start your own personal cookbook! It's easy and fun. Click here to start your own cookbook!
Category:
Category:
Ingredients:  
Ingredients:  
For the meat sauce:
* 1 pound ground beef (see note 1)
* 1 pound ground Italian sausage
* 1 medium onion chopped (about 1 cup)
* 4 cloves garlic minced
* 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
* 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
* 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
* 2 tablespoons granulated sugar or to taste (see note 2)
* 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
* 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (see note 3)
* 1 teaspoon fennel seeds (see note 4)
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the cheese filling:
* 1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese (see note 5)
* 1 large egg
* 2 teaspoons dried parsley
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
For assembly:
* 1 box lasagna noodles NOT no-boil (see note 6)
* 1 pound mozzarella cheese shredded
* 1 cup Parmesan cheese grated
* fresh parsley minced, for garnish
Directions:
Directions:
To make the meat sauce:
* In a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add beef (or sausage) and onion, and cook until mostly browned, about 5 minutes. Drain if desired. Stir in garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

* Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, basil, Italian seasoning, and fennel seeds. Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season to taste with salt and pepper (I like 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper). You should have about 2 quarts of sauce.

To make the cheese filling:
* Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, parsley, and salt. Chill until the sauce is finished.

To assemble and bake the lasagna:
* In the bottom of a 9-inch x 13-inch baking dish, spread 2 cups meat sauce. Arrange a single layer of uncooked noodles over the meat sauce (I sometimes do 3 full-size noodles lengthwise and then a partial noodle crosswise). Spread with a heaping 2/3 cup of the ricotta mixture. Top with about 1 1/2 cups (5 ounces) of mozzarella. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese.

* Spoon 2 cups meat sauce over the cheese. Make another layer of noodles, ricotta mixture (heaping 2/3 cup), mozzarella (1 1/2 cups) and Parmesan (1/3 cup). Repeat layers 1 more time, for a total of 3 layers.

* Spray a large piece of foil with nonstick spray and cover baking dish. Refrigerate at least 5 hours or overnight.

* Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake, covered with foil, for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake an until hot and bubbly, about 25 minutes longer. Cool 5 minutes, then garnish with parsley before serving if desired.
Personal Notes:
Personal Notes:
9. Make ahead: Make this recipe up to 3 days before you need it and keep it in the refrigerator.
10. Freezer: Wrap the unbaked lasagna tightly in plastic wrap and freeze it for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bake as directed (preheat oven to 375 degrees, bake 25 minutes with foil, 25 minutes without foil). To bake the frozen lasagna straight from the freezer, bake 1 hour covered with foil and 24 minutes without the foil (the lasagna must reach 165 degrees on an internal thermometer).

 

 

 

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