This recipe for the worlds best
Lasagna comes from Allrecipes member, John Chandler. One reviewer wrote that, "it's
an excellent and authentic recipe. A little more work and ingredients,
but well worth it." Well made from scratch comfort
food like this dish, usually is. This recipe will take about
half an hour to prep, and 2 and a half hours to cook;
though you can make it ahead of time, and bake it about an hour
before serving First up, homemade meat sauce. In a dutch over, cook a pound of sweet
italian sausage over medium heat. I'm removing these casings, and
adding just the sausage mixture. When it's almost browned,
we'll add 3 quarters of a pound of lean ground beef, and brown
it along with the sausage. Mince about a half cup of onion, and mince 2 garlic gloves. And add those to the meat. When the meat is well browned,
stir in a 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes, two 6-ounce cans of tomato paste, and two 6.5-ounce cans of
tomato sauce. Add a half cup of water,
and mix everything together. Next, season the sauce with
2 tablespoons of sugar, 1.5 teaspoons of dried basil, half a teaspoon of fennel seeds, 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning, A tablespoon of salt, a quarter teaspoon of
ground black pepper, and 2 tablespoons of chopped
fresh parsley. Simmer the sauce, covered,
for about 1 and a half hours, stirring it occasionally. One reviewer wrote:
"I made this sauce the day before, and simmered it for 6 hours.
Sounds like a lot of work, but how hard is it to check
a pot simmering?" She had enough sauce for 2 pans
of lasagna, so she made two: baked one, and froze the other. Now, let's make the noodles. Bring a large pot of salted water
to boil, and cook12 lasagna noodles for about 8 minutes. I cook mine a little shorter than
the box directions, so that they're al dente, because they'll finish
cooking in the oven, and absorb that delicious sauce. When they're done, drain them,
and cool them in cold water so they don't stick. For the cheese filling, mix a 16 oz
container of fresh ricotta cheese with 1 egg, and another 2 tablespoons of
freshly chopped parsley. Season the cheese mixture
with a pinch of salt. Now you can preheat the oven
to 375 degrees. And let's assemble our masterpiece. Spread 1 and a half cups of
the meat sauce in the bottom of a 9 X 13 inch baking dish. Arrange six overlapping noodles,
lengthwise, over the meat sauce. Spread them with half of the
ricotta cheese mixture. And top that with about a
quarter pound of thinly sliced Mozzarella cheese. Next, we'll spoon 1 and a half cups
of the meat sauce over the mozzarella. And sprinkle it with a quarter cup
of grated Parmesan. Repeat that same layer again. Then we'll top it with more sauce. And then Parmesan cheese. Cover the top of the lasagna
with foil, and to prevent it from sticking to the cheese, either spray
it with cooking spray, or make sure the foil doesn't come
in contact with the cheese. Now we can bake it in our
preheated oven for 25 minutes. Then, remove the foil and bake it
for an additional 25 minutes, so that the Parmesan melts,
and forms a nice, crispy top! Cool for 15 minutes before serving. Now is this really the best lasagna
in the world? Well, on reviewer said, "my hubby
is a lasagna snob and he said this this IS the best lasagna recipe ever!"
