Lasagna Recipe

This is certainly the most popular dish in my collection.

The original recipe is excellent, but getting all of the ingredients where I live is time-consuming and expensive, so I've made modifications that allow you to make it anywhere.

This takes quite a while to make, but it is so good that friends and family ask me for these as year-end presents!

Before You Begin

Ingredients

Ricotta Cheese Filling.

• 425 grams (1 15 oz. container) Ricotta Cheese. Make your own Homemade Ricotta Cheese. This takes a while, so do this well in advance.
• 2.95 grams (1/2 tsp) Salt.
• 7.50 grams (1/8 cup) Parsley, fresh chopped. You need a total of 1/4 cup Parsley for whole recipe.
• 50 grams (1 whole) Egg.

Sauce.

• 675 grams (1 1/2 lbs) Italian Sausage. The original recipe calls for 1 pound of sausage and 1/2 pound of hamburger. We can just use our Homeade Italian Sausage and adjust the spices. Cut the cayenne pepper in that sausage recipe in half for a milder lasagna.
• 85 grams (1/2 cup) Onion (Yellow or Brown), chopped. 1/2 medium onion.
• 11 grams (2 cloves) Garlic, fresh crushed.
• 25.13 grams (2 tbsp) Granulated Sugar.
• 17.07 grams (1 tbsp) Salt.
• 1.07 grams (1 1/2 tsp) Basil (dried leaves).
• 0.98 grams (1/2 tsp) Fennel Seed.
• 0.58 grams (1/4 tsp) Black Pepper, fresh ground.
• 7.50 grams (1/8 cup) Parsley, fresh chopped. You need a total of 1/4 cup Parsley for whole recipe.
• 960 ml (4 cups) Tomatoes (Italian-style, undrained).
• 340 grams (2 6 oz. cans) Tomato Paste. This much is hard for me to come by. Tomato Paste is concentrated dried tomatoes, so just add more tomatoes. In theory we should replace roughly 296 ml (1 1/4 cups) of volume. But when I make a quad-sized batch I add 1 can of tomatoes and 1 cup of water as a substitute for the missing Tomato Paste volume, and the amount of sauce comes out just right.

Other.

• 340 grams (3/4 lb) Mozarella Cheese. Use sliced or bits. I can rarely get pure Mozarella, and often subsitute "Mixed Pizza Cheese".
• 67 grams (3/4 cup) Parmesan Cheese. For one lasagna, this is about 1 small, typical-size container. Store-brand jars or bags are usually cheaper than famous brands, so shop around if you're making a lot.
• 240 grams (12 sheets) Lasagna Noodles. Use "No-boil" type noodles and save yourself a lot of trouble. A 500 gram (about 1 pound) box usually has about 28 noodles.

Preparation

1. If you using Homemade Ricotta Cheese, prepare that first because you will have to wait a while.
2. If using store-bought Italian Sausage, remove from casings and chop.
3. In a large saucepan or pot, depending on how much you're making, brown the meat (our Homemade Italian Sausge, or store-bought sausage + hamburger). When I make my year-end quad-sized batch I use two Dutch Ovens.
4. Add Sugar, Salt, Basil, Fennel, Pepper, half of the Parsley, Tomatoes, Tomato Paste, and 118 ml (1/2 cup) water. Bring to boil and simmer for 90 minutes, stirring occaisionally.
5. As the sauce nears completion, make the Ricotta Filling by mixing the Ricotta Cheese with the Egg, Salt, and the remaining half of the Parsley. At this stage you can also cook your Lasagna Noodles if you're not using "No-boil" type noodles.
6. In your baking pan create two layers each with:
   • 1 1/2 cup Sauce
   • 6 Lasagna Noodles
   • 1/2 of the Ricotta Filling
   • 1/3 of the Mozarella Cheese
   • 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
   Hint: It's helpful to divide the ingredients into small bowls so each layer and each pan will be consistent.
7. Top off the two layers with:
   • 1 1/2 cup Sauce
   • 1/3 of the Mozarella Cheese
   1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
8. Cover with foil, and bake at 190°C (375°F) for 25 minutes. Remove the foil, and bake for an additional 25 minutes.
9. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Serving Suggestions

Storage

References