Lasagna
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https://instructions.wiki/recipes/lasagna
Makes 8 · 35 min prep · 1 hr 40 min cooking
Ingredients
- 1 lb (450 g) ground beef, 85 percent lean
- 1/2 lb (225 g) Italian sausage, casings removed
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can (28 oz / 794 g) crushed tomatoes
- 1 can (6 oz / 170 g) tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 32 oz (900 g) whole milk ricotta
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup (85 g) grated parmesan, divided
- 1 lb (450 g) low moisture mozzarella, shredded
- 12 no-boil lasagna noodles, or 12 dried noodles boiled 2 minutes short
Brown the meat
Cook the beef and sausage in a large pot over medium high heat, breaking the meat up, for 8 to 10 minutes. The beef must reach 160F (71C) and show no pink. Spoon off all but about 2 tablespoons of fat.
Simmer the sauce at least 30 minutes
Add the onion and cook 5 minutes, then the garlic for 1 minute. Stir in the tomato paste and cook 2 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes, oregano, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the salt, and the pepper. Simmer uncovered 30 to 40 minutes, stirring now and then, until the sauce mounds on a spoon and no watery liquid pools at the edge of the pot.
Mix the ricotta
Stir the ricotta, egg, 1/2 cup of the parmesan, and the remaining salt together. The egg is what sets the cheese layer. Without it the ricotta runs out the sides as soon as the lasagna is cut.
Layer the pan
Spread a thin coat of sauce across the bottom of a 9 by 13 inch pan so the first noodles do not stick. Add noodles, a third of the ricotta, a third of the remaining sauce, and a quarter of the mozzarella. Repeat twice. Finish with noodles, the last sauce, the last mozzarella, and the remaining parmesan.
Bake covered at 375F (190C)
Cover tightly with foil, tented so it does not touch the cheese. Bake 45 minutes.
Uncover and brown
Remove the foil and bake 15 minutes more, until the top is browned in patches and the sauce bubbles at the edges.
Rest 20 to 30 minutes before cutting
Set the pan on a rack and leave it alone. The layers are still liquid at this point, and cutting hot lasagna is exactly why slices slide apart on the plate. A rested pan cuts into squares that hold.