World’s Best Lasagna

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Description

It takes a little work, but it is worth it.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound sweet Italian sausage
  • ¾ pound lean ground beef
  • ½ 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
  • ½ cup water
  • 2 tablespoons white sugar
  • 1 ½ teaspoons dried basil leaves
  • ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt, divided, or to taste
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • 12 lasagna noodles
  • 16 ounces ricotta cheese
  • 1 egg
  • ¾ pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
  • ¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

  1. In a Dutch oven
  2. cook sausage
  3. ground beef
  4. onion
  5. and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes
  6. tomato paste
  7. tomato sauce
  8. and water. Season with sugar
  9. basil
  10. fennel seeds
  11. Italian seasoning
  12. 1 teaspoon salt
  13. pepper
  14. and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer
  15. covered
  16. for about 1 1/2 hours
  17. stirring occasionally.
  18. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles
  19. and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl
  20. combine ricotta cheese with egg
  21. remaining parsley
  22. and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
  23. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
  24. To assemble
  25. spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9×13-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
  26. and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers
  27. and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking
  28. either spray foil with cooking spray
  29. or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
  30. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil
  31. and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Prep Time: 30 mins

Cook Time: 2 hrs 30 mins

Total Time: 3 hrs 15 mins

Servings: 12

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