LASAGNA 101

The ultimate comfort food and a huge hit with our Culinary students!

This classic lasagna recipe is nothing too fancy, just layers of pasta, meat sauce, a ricotta cheese mixture, and mozzarella –  Whenever you’re in need for a comforting dish, this will be the perfect go to recipe. 

INGREDIENTS

1 pound lean ground beef

I pound Italian sausage 

2 teaspoons fresh basil leaves

2 teaspoons fresh oregano

2 teaspoons Kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

2 ( 28 oz ) can plum tomatoes chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 box lasagna noodles

16 ounces ricotta cheese

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

1/2 pound mozzarella cheese shredded 

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

- In a large pot, brown the beef in one large piece until it is browned on the bottom, 2-3 minuted, breaking apart the beef into slightly larger chunks. 

- Remove from pan. Remove casing from sausage and brown in same pan for 3-4 minutes.

- Combine beef and sausage back into same pan.

- Add in the basil, oregano, 2 teaspoons Kosher salt, crushed red and pepper flakes and - fennel seeds 

- Stir until you start to smell the fennel seeds starting to toast then drain the fat and add in the chopped plum tomatoes.  - In a bowl combine ricotta , the egg and 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt and mix well.  - Boil lasagna noodles 2-3 minutes until middles are al dente.  - Put 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking pan (I use one with straight sides for easy assembly and for added height. If you are using a glass baking pan with curved sides it may not be large enough to fit this quantity of food). - Add the noodles in an even layer, for me it was 5 noodles per layer, four across and one - broken in half lengthwise to go down the side of the pan. - Add  1 1/2 cups of the meat sauce, 1/4 of the mozzarella, 1/4 of the Parmesan and 1/3 of the ricotta in spoonfuls dotting across the pan. - Repeat with the same noodle/cheese/meat sauce process - Finally, add a top layer of lasagna noodles and cover with remaining Parmesan and

mozzarella. Cover with foil.

- Bake for 40 minutes, then remove foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes to brown the cheese. 12. Let cool for 20 -25 minutes before serving. 13. Garnish with parsley.

ENJOY!