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Everyone knows lasagna, but it can look too complicated to make. Well, this recipe is pretty easy. You don’t boil your noodles ahead of time. Just add them to each layer straight out of the box. You do, however, need to allow prep time for browning your meat and making the meat sauce. It is family lore that this meat sauce is what makes this lasagna taste so good. (If you use Johnsonville Italian sausage, it is even better.) Aunt Kati has even made extra just to keep in the fridge for other meals to come.

 

Ingredients

Meat Sauce

  • 1 pound Italian sausage
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • ½ cup onion, minced
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
  • 2 6-ounce cans tomato paste
  • 2 6.5-ounce cans tomato sauce
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 4 tablespoons Italian seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper

 

Ricotta Mixture

  • 1 16-ounce ricotta cheese
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning.
  • ½ teaspoon salt

 

Put it Together

  • lasagna noodles
  • 2 8-ounce packages mozzarella, shredded
  • 1 6-ounce package Parmesan, shredded
  • Italian seasoning
  • garlic salt

 

Instructions

Meat Sauce

  • Brown the meat with the onions and garlic.
  • Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and tomato sauce to the meat.
  • Season with sugar, 4 tablespoons Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper.
  • Stir while heating making sure to heat everything through. Adjust seasoning as needed.

 

Ricotta Mixture

  • Combine ricotta cheese with egg, 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning, and ½ teaspoon salt.

 

Put it Together

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Grease a 9×13 baking dish.
  • Spread 1½ cups meat sauce on the bottom of the 9×13.
  • Arrange uncooked lasagna noodles in a single layer over the meat sauce.
  • Spread with ½ the ricotta mixture.
  • Top with a third of the mozzarella.
  • Spread 1½ cups meat sauce again.
  • Sprinkle a third of the Parmesan.
  • Repeat layers.
  • Top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan, then sprinkle Italian seasoning and garlic salt over the top.
  • Cover and bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes.
  • It you want the cheese to brown, remove the foil. If not, then leave the foil on.
  • Continue baking for another 25 minutes or until bubbly and warm through.

 

“O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.”
Psalm 34:8