This quick and easy Lasagna recipe, layered with a delicious meat sauce, cheese, and pasta makes an amazing homemade meal! This Lasagna recipe is one for the books and is sure to feed a crowd.
Ingredients
For the Meat Sauce
- 500g Ground Beef, lean
- 500g Hot Italian Sausage Meat
- 1 large (1½ cup) White Onion, finely diced
- 5 Garlic Cloves, finely minced
- ½ tsp Chili Flakes
- 1 tsp Dried Oregano
- 2 tbsps White Sugar
- ¼ tsp Ground Black Pepper
- ½ tsp Salt (or to taste)
- ¼ cup Red Wine
- ¼ cup Beef Broth
- 1 can (796 ml) Crushed Tomatoes
- 1 (450 ml) Tomato Sauce
- 2 cans (156 ml) Tomato Paste
- ¼ cup Fresh Basil, finely chopped
- ¼ cup Fresh Parsley, finely chopped
For the Layers
- 500g Mozzarella cheese, sliced or grated
- 85g (1 cup) Parmesan Cheese, freshly grated
- 1 kg (2 pounds) Ricotta Cheese
- 1 Egg
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Nutmeg, freshly grated
- 1 tbsp Parsley, finely chopped
- 500g Lasagna Sheets, oven ready
Method
- To a heated pot on medium heat add the ground beef and hot Italian sausage meat. Sauté the meats till they get a little brown colour. While sautéing, use your spoon to break down the little balls of mince.
- Now toss in the finely diced white onion, and garlic and sauté for about 2-3 minutes till the onions turn translucent and the garlic flavours the meats.
- Flavour the ground meats with chili flakes, dried oregano, white sugar, pepper, and salt and give it a quick mix.
- For added flavour, add the red wine and beef stock and give it a quick mix.
- For the classic lasagna meat sauce, add the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste and give the sauce a good mix.
- And now add the freshly chopped basil and parsley and give the sauce another mix.
- Allow the meat sauce to cook till it comes to a simmer then, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover it up, and allow it to cook for approximately an hour, or three to four hours for best results. Make sure to give it a stir occasionally during the cooking time.
- For the cheeses, slice or grate the mozzarella cheese, grate the parmesan cheese, and to a bowl add the ricotta cheese, egg, salt, nutmeg, and finely chopped parsley and give it a mix.
- Preheat the oven to 400F/200C.
- To layer the lasagna, take a 9” x 13” baking dish and spread about a cup of the meat sauce at the bottom. Next place a layer of the oven-ready lasagna sheets on top of that. Now put dollops of the ricotta cheese mix and spread it evenly over the lasagna sheets. Place a few slices of mozzarella on top of that and sprinkle some of the grated parmesan cheese. Now repeat the layers beginning with the meat sauce and ending with the grated parmesan cheese on the top.
- Cover the lasagna with crushed aluminum foil and place it in the oven to cook for about 30-35 minutes, then remove the foil and allow it to cook for another 10-15 minutes.
- Once you take the lasagna out of the oven, garnish it with finely chopped parsley and allow it to cool for about 30 minutes before digging in to enjoy.
