I married into an Italian family, so naturally I had to learn the lasagna recipe that my husband always raved about! My mother in-law, June is the master chef of this divine creation and we always have such fun cooking together when she comes to visit!
Now this isn't one of those recipes where you make your own noodles or anything, because honestly who has time for that?! To prepare, cook, wait and assemble can already be time consuming but I like to make it a day event so the sauce can cook as long as possible! It makes a ton so its worth the wait and I love having two other lasagna pans I can freeze and use for a dinner party or a family get-together in the future.
It's all about the sauce!
Two important steps are using a food processor to get the meat fine and also cooking the meat with the spices for as long as possible to absorb all the flavor.
June's Lasagna Recipe
Ingredients:
2 lb. Sweet Italian Sausage
2-3 lb. ground meat
2 Large Onions, finely chopped
5 T sugar
2 T salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. crushed oregano
3 T dried basil leaves
1 cup Parsley, chopped
3 cans (12oz) tomato paste
3 large cans crushed tomatoes
2 boxes curly lasagna noodles
2 eggs
5 lbs. Grated Mozzarella Cheese
1 large container of Ricotta cheese, drained
2 7oz. Shredded Romano & Parmesan cheese
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup red wine
Directions:
Sauce
Remove sausage meat from casings. Chop the meat and brown with ground meat over medium heat in a large pot. Drain. **I use a food processor to make meat fine** Return meat to pot and add onion & garlic. Stir until well browned, about 20 minutes. Add sugar, 1 T salt, basil, pepper and 1/2 cup parsley. Mix well and cook covered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes, tomato paste and 1/2 cup red wine. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat, simmer covered (stirring occasionally) until thick--about 1.5 hours. The longer you cook, the more flavor it will have.
Boil Lasagna noodles with salt and small amount of oil. Drain. Lay each noodle on a kitchen towel to dry before layering.
Combine Ricotta Cheese, eggs, and remaining parsley.
In a lasagna pan (I use the disposable lasagna pans) layer sauce, romano & parmesan, mozzarella, noodles, ricotta cheese mixture (I normally do 3 layers of noodles). End with mozzarella & Bake at 350 F for 1.5-2 hours.
Thin layer of sauce on bottom...
All cheeses followed by noodles...
Ricotta cheese mixture spread thin on noodles...
…..and repeat, ending with the cheese layer! BAKE at 350 F for 1.5-2 hours
Pour yourself a big glass of red wine & enjoy! Cheers!
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