Lasagna Recipe

The first recipe I wanted to share with you guys is my lasagna recipe. Lasagna is actually one of the first real meals I learned to make. The recipe is a combination of my Mom’s Classic Lasagna Recipe with a few of my own additions. I worked at an Italian restaurant for a while and picked up a few secrets. This is one of my favorite go to recipes to make! It takes a little time but is not difficult at all! I love to make this meal for any occasion: easy dinner, for company, or even meal prep and it’s always is a crowd pleaser!

Ingredients Needed:

Ingredients List:

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1-2 lbs Hamburger
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1 lb Italian Sausage
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1 large onion, or 2 small onions (diced)

1- 16 oz Package Uncooked Lasagna Noodles

1- 28 oz Can Crushed Tomatoes in Tomato Sauce

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2- 15 oz Cans Tomato Sauce
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1- 6 oz Can Tomato Paste
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1- 16 oz Container Cottage Cheese (small curd)

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16 oz Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
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2 oz Shredded Cheddar Cheese
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6 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
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2 Tbsp Minced Garlic
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½ Tbsp Sugar
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Salt and Pepper to Taste
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Preparation

Brown Hamburger and Sausage. In large dutch oven or simmer pan brown hamburger and sausage, add salt and pepper to taste.
Add Onion to Meat Mixture. When meat is almost fully cooked, add diced onion and 1 tbsp minced garlic to meat mixture, continue to cook until onions are translucent and meat is completely browned.
Drain excess Fat from Meat using Strainer. DO NOT rinse meat. Add meat mixture back to dutch oven pan and reduce heat to medium low.
Add Crushed Tomato, Tomato Sauce, Tomato Paste, 1 Tbsp Minced Garlic, ½ Tbsp Sugar, 6 Tbsp Italian Seasoning. Simmer Sauce on low heat for 20 minutes.
Cook Lasagna Noodles, cook until not quite fully cooked. About 10 Minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Make an assembly line of layering ingredients. Noodles, Sauce, Mozzarella, Cheddar, and Cottage Cheese.
Assemble Lasagna in 13x9, lightly greased Baking Dish.
To Assemble: Start with one layer of Sauce in the bottom of the pan. Next add a layer of overlapping noodles. Another layer of sauce, followed by a layer of the entire container of cottage cheese. Noodles, Sauce, ½ the Mozarella, Noodles, Sauce, remaining Mozzarella mixed with Cheddar for the final top layer.
Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes, until cheese is lightly browned to your preference.
Serve with: Salad, Vegetable Side, or Bread.

Tips

Lasagna can be assembled and kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 days before baking. Cook at 350 degrees for 45 minutes covered, uncover and cook another 10 to brown cheese on top.
Freezes Great! Can assemble in disposable baking dish. Thaw overnight and cook for 45 minutes covered, uncover and cook another 10 minutes to brown cheese to preference.
If meat mixture doesn’t have a lot of fat to drain you can dab the liquid with paper towels.
Depending on the size of the lasagna pan or casserole dish you can make more layers as desired.
We like the cheese on top to get browned, you can avoid this by cooking covered with foil and removing foil for the last 10 minutes of cooking. This can be tricky because the cheese tends to stick to the foil, you may need to put toothpicks in center to avoid sticking cheese.