Ricotta Lasagne
| Cuisine of Italy | Pasta Recipes
Ingredients
- 1 lb (450 g) sweet Italian sausage
- ½ lb (230 g) minced (ground) beef
- ½ onion, chopped fine
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 3½ tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1½ tsp dried basil
- ½ tsp fennel seed
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ¼ cup chopped parsley, divided
- 4 cups (1 kg / 2.2 lb) canned whole tomatoes, undrained, halved, seeds removed
- 12 oz (340 g) tomato paste
- ½ cup (125 ml / 4.2 oz) water
- ½ tbsp salt
- 2 cups (600 g / 1.3 lb) ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 16 oz (450 g) lasagna pasta
- 16 oz (450 g) mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced (a wire cutter is nice for semi-soft cheeses like this)
- about 3 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Remove sausage casings, and break sausage into small bits.
- Sauté sausage and ground beef in 5-quart (4.7 L) saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat with onion and garlic until the meat is browned.
- Add sugar, 1 tablespoon salt, basil, fennel, pepper, and half the parsley; mix well.
- Add tomatoes, tomato paste and water, mashing the tomatoes a bit. Bring the sauce to a boil then reduce heat and simmer, covered and stirring occasionally for 1½ hours.
- Preheat oven to .
- Cook and drain pasta.
- In a medium bowl mix ricotta, egg, ½ teaspoon salt and remaining parsley.
- Assemble your lasagna in a inch roasting pan (listed bottom to top):
- Bottom layer of sauce (approx. 1½ cups / 375 g / 13.2 oz)
- Layer of pasta (overlapping slightly)
- Layer of ½ the ricotta mixture
- Layer of ⅓ of the mozzarella
- Sauce layer (again, about 1½ cups / 375 g / 13.2 oz)
- Layer of grated Parmesan sprinkled over sauce (not so much that the sauce layer is covered entirely)
- Layer of pasta
- Layer of remaining ricotta
- Layer of ⅓ of the mozzarella
- Layer of remaining sauce
- Layer of sprinkled Parmesan
- Layer of remaining mozzarella
- Cover the lasagna with foil and bake 30 minutes covered, then 25 minutes uncovered (or until bubbly and lightly browned). Cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.