Easy Meat Lasagna with Hearty Tomato-Meat Sauce
(Cook's Illustrated)
Meat Sauce
In a dutch oven (I use a 5 qt. one for a single batch, or a 7 qt. one for a double), heat up:
1 TB olive oil
Add and stir until softened (about 2 minutes):
1 finely chopped medium onion
Add and stir until fragrant (about 30 seconds):
6 minced medium garlic cloves
Add, stir, and cook about 4 minutes:
1 pound mixture of ground beef, pork, or veal (I used 1/2 lb. ground beef and 1/2 pound ground pork)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Add, stir, and bring to a simmer:
1/4 C heavy cream
Cook until the liquid evaporates and just the fat is left (about 4 minutes).
Add, stir, and cook for about 3 more minutes:
1 28 oz can tomato puree
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
Set sauce aside.
Cheeses
Get out 1 small bowl, 1 medium bowl, and 1 large bowl.
Fill the small bowl with:
1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese
Fill the medium bowl with:
1 lb. shredded Mozzarella cheese
Fill the large bowl with:
1 C grated Parmesan cheese
15 oz whole-milk or part-skim ricotta cheese (I used part-skim)
1 slightly beaten egg
1/2 C chopped fresh basil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Mix together until creamy.
Have on hand:
12 no-boil lasagna noodles from an 8 or 9 oz pack (I used Ronzoni brand)
Assemble Lasagna
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Spread 1/4 C of the meat sauce over the bottom of a 9 x 13" baking dish.
Place 3 of the noodles on top of the sauce for the first layer. Spread blobs of ricotta cheese mixture across the noodles (about 3-4 TB per noodle). Sprinkle some mozzarella on top of the ricotta (about 1 1/3 C per layer). Spoon 1 1/2 C of the meat sauce over the cheeses, spreading evenly.
Repeat the layering process. On top of the last three noodles, spread any remaining sauce, sprinkle with 1 1/3 C mozzarella, and then top with the 1/4 C of Parmesan in the small bowl.
Lightly spray a piece of foil with cooking spray and cover.
Cook, covered, for 15 minutes. Remove foil, and continue cooking for about 25 minutes, until the cheese is a spotty brown and the sauce is bubbling.
Cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Freezing: This freezes well. Line your baking dish with foil, and prepare the lasagna. Freeze the baking dish until the lasagna is frozen solid (overnight is great). Remove the foil "package" from the dish, and wrap in heavy duty foil or vacuum pack with a FoodSaver. To re-heat, remove the lasagna from the extra foil or the FoodSaver bag. Place it back in the 9 x 13" pan and allow to defrost. Follow the cooking directions above.
