How To Cook Lasagna With Sauce Ingredient Variations

by Hugh Dessereau

Lasagna is both a form of pasta in sheets (sometimes rippled, though seldom so in Northern Italy) and also a dish made with alternate layers of pasta, cheese, and often ragù (a meat sauce) or tomato sauce. The recipe below gives both pie and sauce ingredients as well as how to cook lasagna once the pie is assembled.

When you cook lasagna with sauce, there are four main processes: the noodles, the sauce, the cheeses, and the assembly and baking. The noodles can be store bought or freshly made (not discussed here). The sauces can be store bought or freshly made. A delicious meat sauce is provided below. The cheese mixture is highly recommended with no substitution of cottage cheese for ricotta cheese. Then once the noodles, sauce, and cheeses have been assembled, the work is done. Simply place the pie in a preheated 350˚F.

Ingredients:

N o o d l e s :
9-12 each 6 qt. 2-4 Tbs	Lasagna noodles Boiling Water Table salt
M e a t   S a u c e :
2 Tbs 1 lb 1 medium 2-3 cloves 1 6oz can 2 14oz cans 1 Tbs 1 Tbs 1-2 Tbs 1 tsp	Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) Lean Ground Beef Onion, diced Garlic, minced Tomato Paste Crushed Tomatoes Worcestershire Sauce Dried Oregano Dried Basil Red Pepper Flakes (To Taste) Salt & Pepper To Taste
C h e e s e   M i x :
1 16oz Tub 1-2 Cup 2 Cups	Ricotta Cheese Fresh Parmesan Cheese, grated Mozzarella Cheese, grated

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How To Cook Lasagna With Meat Sauce:

• Fill a large stock pot with 6 quarts of heavily salted water (3/4 full, max) and bring to a boil. While water is heating, heat a large skillet (11-12 inches) or large sauce pan over medium heat. And, while the skillet is heating, begin dicing onions and mincing garlic. When the frying pan is heated, add EVOO to the skillet. The pan will be ready to add the ground beef when the oil ripples and just begins to smoke. Brown the meat and season with salt and pepper.

• Finish dicing and mincing during the browning process. Add onions and garlic once the ground meat has been browned. Continue to sweat onions until they become soft and translucent.

• Now, add the tomato paste. Add nothing else yet. Break up the tomato paste and cook for several minutes until the tomato paste caramelizes and becomes brown. Then add the Crushed Tomatoes, Oregano, Basil, Worcestershire sauce, Red Pepper flakes. Adjust salt and pepper for taste. Bring rapidly to a simmer and reduce heat as necessary. Do not allow to boil. The longer the simmer, the more the flavors will be developed. (Optional: 1/2 to 1 cup of rich red wine may be added to the sauce for a extra layer of flavor.) Final sauce should be thick and not runny.

• As the ingredients are simmering and the water has come to a boil, add lasagna noodles to the boiling water. Do NOT add any oil to the water. The oil has a tendency to keep the noodles from sticking together, but the downside is that the sauce will have a tendency to slide off the noodles. Return the water to a boil and reduce the heat as necessary to keep the water at a slow boil or simmer. Cook lasagna noodles until they are just short of al dente. It will finish cooking in the oven. Then, drain and rinse the lasagna noodles in cold water so they will remain separate and easy to handle.

Assembling Your Lasagna:

Spray a 9×13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Use enough sauce to coat the bottom of the baking dish. Lay 3-4 lasagna noodles lengthwise in the baking dish overlapping slightly. Cover the noodles with another layer of sauce. Dollop small deposits of ricotta cheese like tiny cookies over the sauced noodles. Spread a layer of mozzarella cheese and then a thin layer of the Parmesan cheese.

NOTE: For layer #2, lay the noodles crosswise and trim. Use the trimmed excess pasta noodles to fill in for a row of pasta. Layer #3 of pasta is again aligned lengthwise.

Repeat sauce and cheese application for layers #2 and #3: noodles, then sauce then cheeses. After the 3^rd layer is complete, spread the remaining sauce over the pie using the sauce to seal the sides and corners. Top lasagna with a final layer of Parmesan cheese. It may be helpful to use a pastry bag or a plastic bag with a corner cut out for the ricotta cheese.

Place lasagna pie in a 350˚F preheated oven for about 40 to 45 minutes until the top is a golden brown and the lasagna is bubbling hot. Remove the lasagna and allow to sit for 10 to 20 minutes. This allows the pie to cool and the cheeses to set.

Serve with a side salad, tomato-garlic green beans, and a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon, Burgundy, or other favorite red wine.

Sauce Ingredient Variations:

The recipe and method above describes a more classic approach. Many recipes have you mix the cheeses before assembling the pie. While this process works, it doesn’t quite taste the same.

Also, Instead of ground beef in the sauce, try ground Italian sausage, ground chicken, diced mushrooms, or plain marinara sauce with Italian sausage links on the side. Lasagna with white sauce is also a possibility.

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