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Classic Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1 lb Ground beef
- ½ yellow onion diced
- 2-3 cloves Garlic minced
- 1 tbs Tomato paste
- 1 jar Passata
- 16 oz Ricotta
- 1 tbs italian season
- 1 Egg
- Pecorino Cheese
- 2 cups shredded Mozzarella
- Lasagna noodles
Instructions
- To a large pot, add a little olive oil and ground beef and start to cook.
- Add onions and start to sautee. Cook till translucent, add garlic. Finishing cooking the beef through
- Add tomato paste and stir to combine and cook through for a minute or two
- Add passata and when the sauce comes to a light boil, lower to medium low and slightly cover and let cook for minimum 30 minutes as much up to an hour or two stirring frequently. The longer you simmer, the thicker the sauce will be.
- In another pot, prepare lasagna noodles by boiling water. You could also choose to use the no-boil lasagna noodles.
- In a bowl, add ricotta, italian seasoning, an egg, pecorino cheese, and mozzarella. Mix together and then add a spoonful of sauce to add a little more flavor.
- At this point, the noodles should be softened, do not over cook them. I like to strain them into a baking pan with cold water in them so they do not stick and overcook. I then squeeze out as much water as I can when I layer them, but you can also lay them on a clean dish towel or paper towels.
- To a lasagna pan, add a layer of sauce and then layer the lasagna sheets slightly overlapping.
- Then add a layer of sauce and ricotta and slightly spread with the back of the spoon. Add mozzarella cheese and pecorino cheese. Repeat as many layers as necessary.
- For the final layer, add the lasagna sheets, sauce, mozzarella and pecorino.
- Place the baking tray on top of a heavy baking tray to offer more support when carrying.
- Bake at 375 covered for 30 minutes uncovered for 10 minutes.
- Let rest for 15 – 20 minutes and serve.
Video
If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It
Lasagna is one of those things that literally anyone can make, and why? Because of its accessibility. The lasagna box always has the exact recipe you need to make a classic lasagna. It always comes out just fine, so why would you change damn near perfection. Instead, what you can do is opt for improving the quality of some of your ingredients to take your basic lasagna to a pretty exquisite classic lasagna.
I choose to use a homemade sauce, high quality ricotta, and pecorino cheese over parmesan which is how this recipe came about. I feel it just comes out richer and it always feels like a fancy meal for some reason. In addition, you can swap the time of meat you use. I choose beef, but many use Italian sausage and you can chose sweet or spicy. If you are vegetarian, the alternative meat choices have made strides and you can switch out for that too.
As I always tell you guys, do what ever your little chef heart desires. After all, it is food for your belly and cooking is intuitive. Do whatever it is you feel is right.
