Traditional Lasagna

Meat Lasagna

This is a wonderful, classic lasagna recipe - nothing too fancy, just layers of pasta, meat sauce, a ricotta cheese mixture, and mozzarella - also this is one of the first recipes I ever learned to prepare back in 1999. “Ray Ray” (wifey) and I are both ‘old-school’ when it comes to making almost any dish - so we both prefer using the traditional dry ribbon noodles that need to be partially cooked before assembling all of the layers of the dish! While we agree that you can’t beat the convenience of the pre-cooked lasagna noodles (or in food service, frozen pasta sheets) - we both think that the best tasting lasagna with the best texture comes from using the dry pasta. (You may, of course, use the pre-cooked noodle if you prefer!)

Prep Time: 35 Mins
Cook Time: 1 Hr 15 Mins
Total Time: 1 Hr 30 Mins

Serves: Plenty

Ingredients:

• 16 regular lasagna noodles (or no-boil noodles)

• Red Sauce:
• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 1/2 pound ground Italian sausage
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 large white onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups fresh spinach leaves
• 1/2 bell pepper (red or green), chopped
• 16 ounces tomato sauce
• 6 ounces tomato paste
• 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasonings
• S & P, to taste
• Fresh basil leaves

• White Sauce:
• 2 pounds whole milk ricotta cheese
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1 cup grated Parmesan
• S & P

Procedure:

Red Sauce:

1. In a large skillet, brown the ground beef and sausage over med-high heat, breaking the meat apart into pieces with a wooden spoon. When cooked through, remove the grease.
2. Add meat to a food processor and pulse just 3-4 times until it's broken up into very small pieces. Remove to a bowl.
3. In the same skillet over med-high heat, add olive oil. When oil is hot, add the garlic, stirring constantly for 30 seconds.
4. Add the onion, spinach and bell pepper. Continue cooking on med-high heat until the vegetables are softened - about 2-3 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and transfer them to the same food processor. Pulse several times until they're nearly pureed.
6. Return mixture to the skillet and add the tomato sauce and tomato paste and stir to combine. Add the diced tomatoes, Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir.
7. Cover and allow the sauce to simmer for about 20-30 minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally.
8. Right before using the red sauce in the lasagna, stir in the reserved crumbled ground beef and sausage, and fresh basil.
9. While the red sauce simmers boil the lasagna noodles for half the time suggested on the box. Drain into a large colander and sprinkle them with a tiny bit of olive oil to keep them from sticking together. (You can skip this step if you are using no-boil noodles.)

White Sauce:

1. Mix ingredients together

Assemble Lasagna:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
2. Keep in mind that there will be 3 layers of lasagna, so mentally split the sauces into thirds as you layer them to make sure you have enough at the end.
3. Start by layering the bottom of your greased pan with 3 lasagna noodles.
4. Spread the red sauce over the noodles, followed by the white sauce, Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses.
5. Top with another layer of noodles, then red sauce, white sauce, Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses.
6. Add the final layer of noodles, then red sauce, white sauce and cheeses.
7. Bake for 30 minutes. Allow the lasagna to sit for 15-20 minutes before serving.

ENJOY!!!!