Lasagna
Author: 
Recipe type: Main Course
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4+
 
Ever since I can remember my family has had my Grandma's lasagna for our Christmas Eve dinner. I have made a few slight changes to my Grandma's recipe to make it lighter but it has the same hearty, comforting flavors.
Ingredients
  • 1 large can of tomatoes
  • 1 12-ounce can of tomato paste
  • 1 tsp salt, to taste
  • 2 tsp oregano
  • ¼ tsp black pepper
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 pound ground beef or chicken sausage
  • ½ pound whole wheat lasagna noodles
  • ¾ pound {or less} ricotta cheese
  • ½ pound mozzarella cheese, grated
  • ½ cup grated or powdered parmesan cheese
Instructions
  1. Sauté the onions and the garlic in a little bit of oil.
  2. Remove the onion and garlic from the pan and add the ground beef or chicken sausage to the pan.
  3. Brown the meat over mediume heat until it is fully cooked.
  4. Combine the canned tomatoes, cooked onion and cooked garlic in a blender and blend until the sauce is smooth.
  5. Pour the blended sauce into a large sauce pan and add the tomato paste, ¼ cup parmesan cheese and the seasonings.
  6. Simmer the sauce uncovered for 5-10 minutes.
  7. Then add the browned meat and let the sauce simmer for 2½ hours.
  8. Cook the lasagna noodles and drain them in a colander.
  9. In a 9x13 pan, layer the ingredients as follows:
  10. About ⅓ of the sauce
  11. About ½ of the cooked noodles, to cover the area of the pan in one layer
  12. Half of the ricotta cheese or just spread a little bit of ricotta over the noodles
  13. Roughly ⅓ of the mozzarella cheese or enough to generously cover the ricotta
  14. Roughly 1 Tbsp of parmesan cheese or enough sprinkled to cover the mozzarella
  15. Repeat the layers ending with the sauce.
  16. Top the sauce with ⅓ of the mozzarella cheese and the remaining parmesan cheese.
  17. Cover the lasagne with foil and bake it at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until it is bubbly and lightly browned.
Recipe by Itsy Bitsy Foodies at http://itsybitsyfoodies.com/lasagna/