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Lasagna

Welcome back! 
Today, we have a recipe for a unique Italian dish: Lasagna! When you really think about it, lasagna is a really interesting dish; it's a just bunch of layers of pasta! In reality, it's like a different way to enjoy the Italian flavors that you know and love. That being said, we based this recipe largely off of the Stuffed Shells recipe that we made, which also included a bolognese and ricotta sauces with the pasta, with the difference being in the assembly.

Lasagna

Ingredients:

  • Several lasagna sheets (depending on the size of your dish, we used about 12)
  • 12 ounces mozzarella cheese
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Bolognese Sauce:
  • 1 pound ground beef (you can also do 1/2 pound ground beef and 1/2 pound Italian sausage)
  • 1/2 medium onion
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 can (14 ounces) crushed tomatoes
  • 1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
  • 1 can tomato sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon herbs (italian seasoning, parsley, basil, whatever)
  • Salt and pepper to taste 
Ricotta Sauce:
  • 16 ounces ricotta cheese
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (optional)
  • Salt to taste

Directions:

  1. Prepare the lasagna sheets by cooking them about halfway (about 8 minutes).
  2. Prepare the ricotta sauce:
    1. Add everything into a bowl and stir it until smooth. This may take a while but the texture is important.
  3. Prepare the bolognese sauce:
    1. In a pan, saute the onion until soft. Then, add in the garlic.
    2. Put in the ground beef now and cook until it's brown.
    3. Add the rest of the ingredients in and mix.
    4. Simmer for at least 30 minutes. The longer you cook it the better, we recommend 2 hours.
  4. Assemble:
    1. Put a little bit of the bolognese sauce on the bottom of the baking dish.
    2. Place a layer of lasagna into the dish.
    3. Put some of the bolognese sauce on top.
    4. Place another layer of lasagna into the dish.
    5. Put some of the ricotta sauce on top.
    6. Sprinkle some mozzarella and Parmesan cheese on top.
    7. Repeat, while continuing to alternate the two sauces. The last layer should be bolognese.
    8. Cover with shredded mozzarella cheese.
  5. Cover the lasagna and bake in the oven at 350°F for 25 minutes.
  6. Uncover and bake for another 20-25 minutes until the cheese has melted and become golden.
You can kinda see in the picture above that the top-most sheet of lasagna is popping out in the corners. Try to avoid this because you'll get an unwanted crunchy pasta addition to your delicious lasagna!
Ovular version of lasagna

Despite being very similar to the stuffed shells, the experience of eating a lasagna is completely different! It seems as though the pasta is much more integrated into the dish rather than being a vehicle for the sauce as it is in the shells. The interesting thing about lasagna is that it's pretty much always made this way - like, have you ever seen a pesto lasagna? However, that shouldn't stop you from experimenting; maybe you can come up with an amazing new dish!

-Chefpo
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