Sunday Lasagna
This is the lasagna that makes everybody fight over the corner pieces with all that crispy, bubbly cheese. Layer after layer of tender noodles, rich meat sauce, and three kinds of cheese coming together in one big beautiful pan. It's the kind of dish that fills up the whole house with smell so good, folks start showing up early.
Cooking tutorial
Ingredients
- 1 box lasagna noodles (about 16 noodles)
- 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
- 1 lb Italian sausage
- 1 medium onion, chopped fine
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 jars (24 oz each) spaghetti sauce
- 1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 container (15 oz) ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (or 1 tbsp dried)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- 1
Preheat your oven to 375°F and grease a 9x13 inch baking pan real good with butter or cooking spray.
- 2
Cook the lasagna noodles according to the package directions, drain them, and lay them flat on a clean kitchen towel so they don't stick together.
- 3
While the noodles are cooking, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and brown the ground beef and sausage together, breaking it up with a spoon as it cooks, about 8 to 10 minutes.
- 4
Add the chopped onion and garlic to the meat and cook another 3 to 4 minutes until the onion gets soft and sweet.
- 5
Stir in both jars of spaghetti sauce, the tomato paste, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and sugar, then let it simmer on low for about 15 minutes, stirring now and then.
- 6
In a medium bowl, mix together the ricotta cheese, egg, 1 cup of the mozzarella, half the Parmesan, and the parsley until it's all combined nice and smooth.
- 7
Now start building your lasagna: spread about 1 cup of the meat sauce on the bottom of your pan, then lay down 4 noodles slightly overlapping.
- 8
Spread about one-third of the ricotta mixture over the noodles, then top with about one-fourth of the remaining meat sauce.
- 9
Repeat these layers two more times: noodles, ricotta mixture, meat sauce, and finish with a final layer of noodles topped with the rest of the meat sauce.
- 10
Sprinkle the remaining 2 cups of mozzarella and the rest of the Parmesan cheese all over the top.
- 11
Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil (spray the underside with cooking spray so the cheese won't stick) and bake for 45 minutes.
- 12
Remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes until the cheese on top is golden and bubbly.
- 13
Let the lasagna rest for 15 to 20 minutes before cutting into it—I know it's hard to wait, but it needs to set up so your slices don't slide all apart.
Pro Tips
- ★Make this the day before and keep it covered in the fridge—it tastes even better the next day and slices up prettier too.
- ★If your lasagna is browning too fast on top, just tent some foil loosely over it for the last bit of baking time.