I love lasagna. Its definitely an "especially" meal in Asia though. I have to make every component from scratch and the ingredient list can get pricey. For my family though, a 9x13 pan will give us nearly 4 meals. I often just make a half recipe or save half the sauce in the freezer to make a fresh pan some other time. My husband has traveled a lot this summer, and my oldest always wants this to be his welcome home meal. I adapted this recipe from here. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do, even if it is a lot of work! There are notes at the bottom and some easier ingredients you could use if you have access to more canned tomato goods than I do!
Lasagna
500g (or 1 lb) Italian sausage
500g (or 1 lb) ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
6-8 good sized tomatoes, peeled and deseeded (28oz can crushed tomatoes)*
2 1/2 cups tomato paste**
1 1/2 cups water
2 Tbs sugar
2 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp salt
1 tsp fennel seed
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 - 2 cups ricotta cheese (use 6-8 cups milk to make your own)
1 egg
1 tsp dried parsley
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
250g (~8oz) mozzarella cheese, grated
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (opt)
10-12 Lasagna noodles***
Brown the Italian sausage, beef, chopped onion, and garlic together in a large pot (one that has a lid). Drain the grease. Stir in the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, parsley, salt, fennel seed, basil, Italian seasoning and black pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover pot with lid, reduce heat and allow to simmer for 1 hour.
About 15 minutes before ready to assemble, lay no-cook lasagna noodles in a cookie sheet. Pour over boiling water to cover. Allow to sit 10-15 minutes while you mix the ricotta. If using a lasagna noodle that needs to be boiled first, just follow package directions.
In a small bowl, mix together ricotta with egg, nutmeg, and parsley. I use fresh, homemade ricotta for my lasagna. I usually try to add about 1/2 tsp of salt to the milk when making it. If I forget, add a little when you mix up the ricotta. (This can be done ahead and kept in the fridge until ready to assemble.)
In a 9x13 pan, place 1/3 of the meat sauce mix and spread evenly on the bottom. Layer on soaked lasagna noodles (5-6 of them, break or layer as needed to fit). Crumble half of the ricotta mixture on top of this. Sprinkle on half of grated mozzarella and 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese if using. Cover with half of the remaining meat sauce, another layer of noodles, and the remaining ricotta. Add the last of the meat sauce and spread to cover. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan.
Cover the pan with foil. Bake at 350F (180C) for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes, until cheese is melty and browned and sauce bubbles around the edges. Remove from oven and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Enjoy!!
Notes:
*I use my handy kitchen scale and weigh my peeled and de-seeded tomatoes to measure 28 ounces. I just kind of break them up a bit with my hands--they will cook down in the sauce.
**I can't get tomato sauce, so I've adapted this recipe for using only tomato paste. If you can, the original recipe said to use 2 6oz cans tomato paste, 2 8oz cans tomato sauce, and 1/2 cup water.
***I can only buy these rectangular boxes of no-cook lasagna noodles here in China. Not my favorite. But make sure to follow the instructions in the recipe about soaking them and they actually turn out okay. I know this from a lot of screw ups!! One box will often make about 3 pans of lasagna, so even though it will cost you, it lasts awhile. However, store the unused dry noodles in a ziplock in your freezer! I've lost lots of lasagna noodles to bugs! For some reason they get into them worse than other pastas. I usually buy mine at Metro or from waifood. I'm sure Taobao would carry them as well.
8/23/2013 - Realized I did not have salt in the recipe! Its adjusted now!
Lasagna
500g (or 1 lb) Italian sausage
500g (or 1 lb) ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
6-8 good sized tomatoes, peeled and deseeded (28oz can crushed tomatoes)*
2 1/2 cups tomato paste**
1 1/2 cups water
2 Tbs sugar
2 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp salt
1 tsp fennel seed
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 - 2 cups ricotta cheese (use 6-8 cups milk to make your own)
1 egg
1 tsp dried parsley
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
250g (~8oz) mozzarella cheese, grated
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (opt)
10-12 Lasagna noodles***
Brown the Italian sausage, beef, chopped onion, and garlic together in a large pot (one that has a lid). Drain the grease. Stir in the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, parsley, salt, fennel seed, basil, Italian seasoning and black pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover pot with lid, reduce heat and allow to simmer for 1 hour.
About 15 minutes before ready to assemble, lay no-cook lasagna noodles in a cookie sheet. Pour over boiling water to cover. Allow to sit 10-15 minutes while you mix the ricotta. If using a lasagna noodle that needs to be boiled first, just follow package directions.
In a small bowl, mix together ricotta with egg, nutmeg, and parsley. I use fresh, homemade ricotta for my lasagna. I usually try to add about 1/2 tsp of salt to the milk when making it. If I forget, add a little when you mix up the ricotta. (This can be done ahead and kept in the fridge until ready to assemble.)
In a 9x13 pan, place 1/3 of the meat sauce mix and spread evenly on the bottom. Layer on soaked lasagna noodles (5-6 of them, break or layer as needed to fit). Crumble half of the ricotta mixture on top of this. Sprinkle on half of grated mozzarella and 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese if using. Cover with half of the remaining meat sauce, another layer of noodles, and the remaining ricotta. Add the last of the meat sauce and spread to cover. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan.
Cover the pan with foil. Bake at 350F (180C) for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes, until cheese is melty and browned and sauce bubbles around the edges. Remove from oven and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Enjoy!!
Notes:
*I use my handy kitchen scale and weigh my peeled and de-seeded tomatoes to measure 28 ounces. I just kind of break them up a bit with my hands--they will cook down in the sauce.
**I can't get tomato sauce, so I've adapted this recipe for using only tomato paste. If you can, the original recipe said to use 2 6oz cans tomato paste, 2 8oz cans tomato sauce, and 1/2 cup water.
***I can only buy these rectangular boxes of no-cook lasagna noodles here in China. Not my favorite. But make sure to follow the instructions in the recipe about soaking them and they actually turn out okay. I know this from a lot of screw ups!! One box will often make about 3 pans of lasagna, so even though it will cost you, it lasts awhile. However, store the unused dry noodles in a ziplock in your freezer! I've lost lots of lasagna noodles to bugs! For some reason they get into them worse than other pastas. I usually buy mine at Metro or from waifood. I'm sure Taobao would carry them as well.
8/23/2013 - Realized I did not have salt in the recipe! Its adjusted now!
Making this for the second time because it's just that good! Thank you! Also, I make my noodles from scratch (we don't even have the no cook kind here) and it's yummy! This time I will make it with beef. First time, I just did the sausage because it was already in my freezer and I didn't get to the market in time for beef and it was still delicious.
ReplyDeleteandi
Because beef has gotten so pricey around me, I usually just use all Italian sausage instead these days.
ReplyDeleteMade this tonight for the first time with all sausage, added steak seasoning and a little red wine to the sauce ;) So yummy! Thanks for sharing! Making ricotta seems intimidating but was a lot easier than I've always imagined :)
ReplyDelete