What are some great Lasagna recipes/tips?

My favorite boy is turning 30 in September and I want to make him his favorite dish- Lasagna. I was told that he used to ask his mom to make it for him every year and it's hard to compete with mom's lasagna!!





Any superb recipes or tips for making the perfect lasagna?! What are some great Lasagna recipes/tips?
Here are my tips...use fresh cheese (ricotta not cottage cheese as some do) and don't boil the lasagna noodles before you layer them. The lasagna will be firmer when it is done. I come from an Italian family and my grandmother made the best lasagna ever. Spend a little more and get premium noodles too. My grandmother made very tiny meatballs to layer with rather than just crumbled ground beef. It is pretty time consuming, but so good. Good luck..sounds yummy!!What are some great Lasagna recipes/tips?
INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)


1 pound sweet Italian sausage


3/4 pound lean ground beef


1/2 cup minced onion


2 cloves garlic, crushed


1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes


2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste


2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce


1/2 cup water


2 tablespoons white sugar


1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves


1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds


1 teaspoon Italian seasoning


1 tablespoon salt


1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper


4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley


12 lasagna noodles


16 ounces ricotta cheese


1 egg


1/2 teaspoon salt


3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced


3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese





DIRECTIONS


In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.


Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.


Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).


To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.


Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.



This will make you PERFECT lasagna. I have made this almost once a month- it’s always devoured.





Yes, you can use no-boil noodles- but it’s going to take longer for the lasagna to bake. I’ve used them- but if you’re using a 13 x 9 pan, those noodles don’t fit in there perfectly. Cook the noodles first- that way they expand- and 3 fit perfectly in a 13 x 9 pan. Cook for 1 min less than the directions on the box.





Ingredients:


9 lasagna noodles, cooked


1 1/2lbs ground beef


2- 26oz jars of favorite spag sauce (my fav is Classico tomato %26amp; basil or Newman’s)


1 cup shredded mozzarella (one small package)


1 cup grated parmesan - use real parmesan, not the Kraft container- a store brand is fine (I use Publix)


16oz ricotta cheese


1 egg


¼ teaspoon dried basil leaves





Preheat oven to 350





Brown ground beef, (add onion and garlic if you want, it’s fine without), drain fat. Add both jars of spag sauce. Let simmer for 5-10 mins. In a bowl, mix ricotta cheese and egg and basil until well-blended.





In 13 x 9 pan, spread a thin layer of meat sauce, then add 3 noodles, spread half the ricotta mixture over noodles, then meat sauce, then some of both cheeses, 3 more noodles, rest of ricotta, more of both cheeses, 3 noodles, rest of sauce, more cheese.





Cover with foil and bake for 40mins.





You must let the lasagna rest for 15mins before serving. That way, you have squares and can see the layers. Cut too early- the cheese is way too soft and it’ll slide and you don’t have layers.



If you want a really meaty lasagna, try this one. Its really good, and don't forget to add a small salad and some breadsticks or french bread.





Classic Lasagna





INGREDIENTS





* 1/2 pound bulk Italian sausage


* 1/2 pound ground beef


* 1-1/2 cups diced onion


* 1 cup diced carrot


* 3 garlic cloves, minced


* 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes


* 2 cans (28 ounces each) whole tomatoes, undrained


* 2 tablespoons tomato paste


* 1 teaspoon each sugar, dried oregano and basil


* 1 teaspoon pepper, divided


* 1 teaspoon salt


* 2 cartons (15 ounces each) ricotta cheese


* 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided


* 1 egg


* 1/3 cup minced fresh parsley


* 1 package (12 ounces) lasagna noodles, cooked, rinsed and drained


* 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese





SERVINGS 12


CATEGORY Main Dish


METHOD Baked


PREP 55 min.


COOK 55 min.


TOTAL 110 min.





DIRECTIONS





In a large saucepan, cook sausage, beef, onion, carrot, garlic and pepper flakes over medium heat, until meat is no longer pink and vegetables are tender; drain.


Add tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, oregano, basil, salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes or until thick, stirring occasionally.


Combine ricotta, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, egg, parsley and remaining pepper.


In a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish, layer a fourth of the noodles, a third of the ricotta mixture, a fourth of the meat sauce and 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers twice. Top with the remaining noodles, sauce and Parmesan.


Cover and bake at 400° for 45 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella; bake, uncovered, 10 minutes more. Let stand 15 minutes before serving. Yield: 12 servings.



Buy Skinner lasagna and follow the Easy Lasagna recipe on the box. It's great! I have changed up the recipe a little. I add mushrooms, onions, bell pepper, and sometimes chopped celery to the sauce. You can use the frozen recipe starter mix of onions, bell pepper, and celery to make it easier. Buy the Ragu sauce with vegetables. It's probably the best. It's easy because you don't have to cook the noodles first. They cook in the pan. Be sure to allow enough time. It has to cook at least an hour, and the first few times I made it, it took me about an hour to get it all prepared to cook. Good luck. If your lasagna can compete with his mom's, you've got him hooked!
hallo....i m italian and lasagna is a typical dish of where i live....





follow this recip





Buy the sheet of pastry made just for this dish, prepare the tomato sauce, cut the italian cheese(mozzarella) in cubes then take a pan and stretch out the sheet of pastry then sprinkle it with mozzarella e then cover it with the tomato sauce....then you have to put another layer of sheet of pastry and upon of it another layer of tomato sauce.....and it s done!





this is the italian recip
How about NOT competing with ';Mom's';? Try mexican lasagna. Instead of the noodles, use flour tortillas, add taco seasoning to your ground beef (I use a mixture of ground beef and sausage) refried beans and TONS of mexican shredded cheese. If you have olive lovers in your family, you can use green and black olives. Add petite diced tomatoes, whatever you like. Serve over shredded lettuce with sour cream and/or guacamole


www.allrecipes.com/Recipe/Mexican-Lasa…
Make your sauce from scratch:


Grandma's Recipe





1 cup finely chopped onion


4 - 5 cloves of garlic


5 8-oz. cans tomato sauce


2 6-oz. cans tomato paste


2 tsps. sugar


1 ½ tsps. salt


1 ½ tsps. pepper


3 tbsp. Italian seasoning


2 – 2 ½ cups water


olive oil


Ground Beef or Italian Sausage





In pan cook beef or sausage with the onion and garlic until cooked thoroughly. When beef or sausage is done add the rest of ingredients, and stir well. Bring to a boil. After reaching boil, cook on low simmer for 30 minutes, stirring frequently.





Taste about half way through the cooking to see if it needs more spices if so go ahead and add some and finish cooking the rest of the 30 minutes.





Now that you have your sauce heres the lasagna:





No Boil lasagna noodle


15 oz Ricotta Cheese


8 oz Mozzarella cheese


1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese


Egg, Parsley


Meat Sauce





Filling: combine egg, ricotta, and the 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Set aside.





On the box of the No Boil Noddle there should be some instruction on how to layer so they cook but I cant remember right now.
Don't use the no-boil noodles. They're easier, but if you're trying to compete with an old-style recipe they won't come out as good. I've always used the recipe on the Skinner lasagna noodle box. It comes out great.





One thing...after you boil the noodles and drain them, lay them out on sheets of foil until you're ready to use them, or they'll glue themselves to the other noodles and break when you try to pick them up.
use extra lean gr beef, brown it well with some diced onion and garlic, boil the noodles, place a layer on the bottom of the dish, on top of each layer of noodles add a layer of meat, sauce and mozzarella, do about 4 layers like that, and put some sauce and cheese on top, bake in the over for about 30 min at 375F, until the cheese on top is melted and browned slightly...
The best tip... get nonstick spray. boil your noodles, make your sauce from scratch... here's the kicker...





When your noodles are done you will strain them in a colander, then you let them sit, while finishing the sauce. Everyone does. Problem... they cool too fast, get a tad hard and sticky.. they're noodles after all.





Before they cool, after being drained, spray each one with a light mist of the non-stick spray. They won't stick together, and you won't have to rip them apart when putting them in the pan.





Don't forget to spray the pan too!
Here is a great link to lasagna recipes. Read the reviews and come up with what you would like best





http://allrecipes.com/Search/Recipes.asp…





I use this website all the time.
Here's a tip - Use the lasagna noodles that you don't have to boil. Yes, they make ready to bake noodles now and they're great + they save you time. :)
The best one i ever made was from the side of a Ricotta container!! Check them out at the grocery! Good luck!
dont cook the noodles


just layer them with ricotta and sauce and bake
dont know


ask wendy