Lasagna

I had been holding off trying to make one by myself for some reason but the cravings finally got the better of me and I had to make one. A lasagna at its base is a dish that is made of layers of sheets of pasta with various fillings in between each layer. The more common lasagne often have layers of tomato sauce or meat sauce and layers of cheese. The cheese layers are often made from ricotta or a bechamel sauce but I had always had it made with cottage cheese so that is how I decided to go with mine. For the meat sauce I kept it simple and I added some ground beef to a simple marinara sauce . I also had some leftover Italian sausage in the freezer that needed finishing so I added those as well.

With that I pretty much had everything. Because you have to make a meat sauce and a cheese mixture and cook the noodles and assemble the lasagna and then bake it, it takes a bit of effort and time and it is best suited for a weekend. Despite the effort that it takes it is well worth it! It is really hard to beat a baked pasta dish with a golden brown layer of melted cheese on top.

Prep Time: 45 mins Cook Time: 1 hour Total Time: 1 hour 45 mins

Ingredients:

For the Ricotta-Béchamel Filliing

4 tablespoon butter

4 tablespoon unbleached white flour

1 cup whole milk

1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

For Lasagna:

2 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped fine

1 pound sweet Italian sausage meat (stuffing from 4 links)

1 pound ground beef

1 35oz can tomato sauce

1 teasepoon salt

1 teasespoone pepper 3 fresh basil leaves

1 recipe Ricotta-Béchamel Filling

1 pound of mozzarella(shredded) 3/4 cup grated Parmagiano-Reggiano cheese

lasagna pasta (i used 9 pc it depends on you)

Instructions:

Make the Ricotta-Béchamel Filliing

1. Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over low heat. Add the flour and stir with a wire whisk until it forms a paste.

2. Slowly add the milk to the butter and flour mixture, whisking until smooth.

3. Continue to cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until the mixture is thick and smooth, it should coat the back of a spoon.

4. Remove from heat and refrigerate for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from refrigerator, add the ricotta, salt and pepper, and stir until well combined.

Make the Lasagna:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. In 3 batches add the lasagna sheets to the boiling water and cook until just under al dente. Remove the noodles from the pot using a slotted spoon, place in a colander, rinse under cold water to stop the cooking and spread out on clean kitchen towels.

3. Heat olive oil in a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and sautè, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes.

4. Add sausage meat, and salt & pepper to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally until sausage is browned approximately 10 minutes.

5.Put the tomato sauce and add ½ cup of water and bring to a simmer. Turn heat to low and let simmer until thickened, about 30 minutes. At the very end of cooking, tear the basil leaves into pieces with your hands and stir into the sauce. Remove the sauce from the heat.

6. Spread 1 cup sauce over bottom of a 13×9-inch glass baking dish. Cover with a layer of 2 to 3 lasagna noodles, overlaping slightly to fit. Spread ⅓ of the Ricotta-Béchamel mixture on the noodles, top with 1 cup of the sauce. Spread ¼ of the mozzarella over the sauce. Sprinkle ¼ cup of parmaggiano-reggiano and top with a layer of lasagna noodles.

7. Repeat this 2 more times. Cover the final layer of lasagna noodles with the remaining sauce and sprinkle remaining cup of mozzarella on top.

8. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil, place in oven and cook for 60 minutes. Remove foil and cook until cheese is melted about 5 minutes more. Remove from oven and let sit 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

i want a little bit crispy of cheese on top on it