Traditional Lasagna is not quick and easy. It’s more like for a Sunday when you’re having the gang over for a nice sit down dinner in the dining room. For the leftovers -if there are any-leave them in the pan and put it in the fridge overnight. Then the next day they will be real easy to divvy up into portions and slip into ziplock bags for storing in the freezer.
Our real nice neighbor, Inez, has boosted my blog with her FB friends so I made a double batch and brought one of the pans over to her and her super good kids.
The recipe amounts are for one 9″x13″ deep lasagna pan. Which will give you 12-15 servings. I made two pans so some of the pics will look to be too much for just one.
You could use the “oven ready” lasagna noodles. It eliminates the boiling and oiling and cooling process. They are okay but not as good as the Traditional Lasagna real thing.
Put a large stock pot of water on, at high, that will be plenty big enough for the noodles. Add about 2 tbsp. salt and about a half cup of olive oil. When it comes to a boil add the noodles, reduce it to medium high and immediately, gently, stir them as they get soft to keep them from sticking together.
Continue to regularly stir them as they cook. Spray a cookie sheet with oil. When the noodles are easily pliable but still firm strain them and return them to the pot. Drizzle some olive oil on them and very gently stir them around to get them all coated with the oil.
Spread them out on the cookie sheet in layers to cool while you finish up with the meat.
Take the skins off the sausage.
Multi task while the pasta operation is moving along and put a large saute pan on at medium high with 2 tbsp. of olive oil. Pre heat the oven to 350°F. Chop up the onion and the garlic. Put the onion in the pan first and add 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. black pepper. Cook it until it begins to get translucent then add the garlic and cook just for a minute more. You don’t want the garlic to get brown. Put the sausage in the pan and break it up with a flipper or a wooden spoon.
Then add the ground beef. Break that up and mix it all together.
Stir and flip it all every minute or so until the meat is all browned. Remove the pan from the stove and have it nearby as you start putting the lasagna together.
Lightly spread some marinara sauce (click for the recipe) over the bottom of the pan and put a layer of noodles on it. Or, you could use any good store bought marinara sauce. I recommend Barilla or Buitoni.
Then a layer of the meat mixture. The next layer is provolone cheese. Cover the provolone with some marinara sauce, then noodles and then meat.
Repeat the process with Ricotta cheese this time.
Do it all again but with mozzarella cheese.
Spread the mozzarella with sauce and cover it with grated Parmesan cheese. Drizzle some olive oil over it and sprinkle some dried basil and oregano.
Cover the pan with enough aluminum foil to be able to wrap the foil tightly around the edges.
If you put the pan on a cookie sheet in the oven it will be a lot easier to handle when you take it out.
Bake for 45 min. covered then remove the foil and bake an additional 15 min. uncovered. Check it and when the sauce is bubbling around the edges and you poke a finger down into the middle of the lasagna and it is hot, it is ready. Remove the pan and let it rest for about 5 minutes.
While it is resting heat up enough marinara sauce to be able to cover however many portions you will be serving at this sitting.
Put the portions on plates, cover with the hot marinara and some freshly grated parmesan cheese. Bon Appetito!!
Of course some homemade bread, some chianti and some Caprese Salad would round everything out real good. Enjoy your Traditional Lasagna done the old fashioned way.
Traditional Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1 box Lasagna noodles
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 1 large onion chopped
- 6 cloves garlic chopped
- 4 links Italian sausage or ! lb. bulk
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 32oz. ricotta cheese
- 6 slices provolone cheese
- 4 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
- 3 cups grated parmesan cheese
- 3 qt. marinara sauce
Instructions
- The recipe amounts are for one 9"x13" deep lasagna pan. Which will give you 12-15 servings. I made two pans so some of the pics will look to be too much for just one. You could use the "oven ready" lasagna noodles. It eliminates the boiling and oiling and cooling process. They are okay but not quite as good as the real thing. Put a pot of water on, at high, that will be plenty big enough for the noodles. Add about 2 tbsp. salt and about a half cup of olive oil. When it comes to a boil add the noodles, reduce it to medium high and immediately gently stir them as they get soft to keep them from sticking together.
- Continue to regularly stir them as they cook. Spray a cookie sheet with oil. When the noodles are easily pliable but still firm strain them and return them to the pot. Drizzle some olive oil on them and very gently stir them around to get them all coated with the oil. Spread them out on the cookie sheet in layers to cool while you finish up with the meat.
- Take the skins off the sausage. Multi task while the pasta operation is moving along and put a large saute pan on at medium high with 2 tbsp. of olive oil. Pre heat the oven to 350°F. Chop up the onion and the garlic. Put the onion in the pan first and cook it until it begins to get translucent then add the garlic and cook just for a minute more.You don't want the garlic to get brown. Put the sausage in the pan and break it up with a flipper or a wooden spoon. Then add the ground beef. Break that up and mix it all together.Stir and flip it all every minute or so until the meat is all browned. Remove the pan from the stove and have it nearby as you start putting the lasagna together.
- Lightly spread some marinara sauce over the bottom of the pan and put a layer of noodles on it. Then a layer of the meat mixture. The next layer is provolone cheese. Cover the provolone with some marinara sauce, then noodles and then the meat mixture.
- Repeat the process with Ricotta cheese this time.
- Do it all again but with mozzarella cheese this time. Spread the mozzarella with sauce and cover it with grated Parmesan cheese. Drizzle some olive oil over it and sprinkle some dried basil and oregano.
- Cover the pan with enough aluminum foil to be able to wrap the foil tightly around the edges. If you put the pan on a cookie sheet in the oven it will be a lot easier to handle when you take it out. Bake for 45 min. covered then remove the foil and bake an additional 15 min. uncovered. Check it and when the sauce is bubbling around the edges and you poke a finger down into the middle of the lasagna and it is hot, it is ready. Remove the pan and let it rest for about 5 minutes.
- While it is resting heat up enough marinara sauce to be able to cover however many portions you will be serving at this sitting.
- Put the portions on plates, cover with the hot marinara and some freshly grated parmesan cheese. Bon Appetito!!
Notes
