Italian is one of my favorite types of foods to cook and eat. I was really excited to make this "classic" lasagna recipe over the weekend. We had friends over Saturday night for dinner, and everyone enjoyed it!
It was a little time consuming given that I made the meat sauce rather than simply buying a jar of pre-made, but I think the end result was worth it so I highly recommend taking the extra time. I did, however, buy the Barilla old style flat "no boil" lasagna noodles. Not only did I save time by not having to pre-cook the noodles, they were old world style flat which made the dish a little unique.
This is definitely one of those recipes that could be made a day ahead and baked when needed. Also, the sauce can be made ahead of time and frozen for later use.
Ingredients
* 2 medium onions, chopped
* 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
* 4 garlic cloves, minced
* 1 pound lean ground beef
* 1 (14.5-oz.) can basil, garlic, and oregano diced tomatoes
* 2 (6-oz.) cans tomato paste
* 1 (8-oz.) can basil, garlic, and oregano tomato sauce
* 1 bay leaf
* 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
* 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
* 3/4 teaspoon pepper, divided
* 12 lasagna noodles, uncooked (get the no-boil kind to save time!)
* 8 cups boiling water (not needed if you buy the no-boil noodles)
* 1 (16-oz.) container ricotta cheese
* 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
* 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
* 2 (6-oz.) packages part-skim mozzarella cheese slices
* Garnish: chopped fresh parsley
Preparation
1. Sauté onion in 1 Tbsp. hot oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until tender. Add garlic, and sauté 1 minute. Add beef, and cook, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes or until beef crumbles and is no longer pink. Drain beef mixture, and return to skillet. Stir in diced tomatoes, next 4 ingredients, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaf; set meat sauce aside.
2. (Only need to perform this step if you did not buy the no-boil noodles!) Place lasagna noodles in a 13- x- 9-inch pan. Carefully pour 8 cups boiling water and remaining 1 Tbsp. olive oil over noodles. Let stand 15 minutes.
3. Stir together ricotta cheese, eggs, Parmesan cheese, remaining 1/4 tsp. salt, and remaining 1/4 tsp. pepper until blended.
4. Spoon half of the meat sauce mixture in a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Shake excess water from noodles, and arrange 6 noodles over meat sauce; top with half of ricotta mixture and 1 package mozzarella cheese slices. Repeat layers once.
5. Bake, covered, at 350° for 55 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 to 15 more minutes or until bubbly. Let lasagna stand 10 minutes before serving. Garnish, if desired.
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