Lasagna

I know what you are thinking- why do you need a recipe for lasagna? Trust me this is good and worth the extra effort. This recipe also can be easily halved and put in a square pan. We fed 6 adults 2 kids and had almost half a lasagna left so if I was just making it for my little family I would definitely half it. And even is you don't want to make lasagna the meat sauce is AWESOME.

1 pound of sweet italian sausage
1 pound of ground beef
1/2 cup of chopped onions
2 cloves of garlic chopped
1 (28 ounce) can of crushed tomatoes
2 (8 ounce) cans of tomato sauce
2 (6 ounce) cans of tomato paste
1/2 Cup of Water
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon fennel seed
2 teaspoons fresh Basil leaves chopped (I used dried so I didn't put as much)
4 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley chopped (I used dried so I didn't put as much)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
23 ounces of ricotta cheese
1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
1 egg
1 pound shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
12 lasagna noodles

1. Start with the following in a pot.
1 pound of sweet Italian sausage
1 pound of ground beef
1/2 cup of chopped onions
2 cloves of garlic chopped

Brown the ground beef, Italian sausage, onions and garlic in a pot until they start to look. It takes about 6 to 9 minutes to brown the meat. I like to use a Dutch oven to cook this portion of the recipe. I use a medium low temperature to brown the meat. It is optional to remove the grease from the meat once it is finished browning, your choice.

2. Add the following:
1 (28 ounce) can of crushed tomatoes
2 (8 ounce) cans of tomato sauce
2 (6 ounce) cans of tomato paste
1/2 cup of water

Gently stir this into the cooking meat.

3. Add the following:
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon fennel seed
2 teaspoons fresh Basil leaves chopped
2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

Gently stir these seasoning into the sauce.
Cover the pot and let the meat sauce simmer. Simmer on low heat for 1 hour and 30 minutes

4. Soak 12 lasagna noodles.
The lasagna noodles need to be soaked in hot tap water for 15 minutes.

5. While the noodles are soaking you can make the cheese filling.
Put the following in a mixing bowl:
23 ounces of ricotta cheese.
1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
Grate fresh nutmeg over the Ricotta cheese.

6. Add the following
1 egg
2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley chopped
Mix these ingredients together with a spoon

7. Now we start building the lasagna layers.
Use a 9×13 inch baking pan.
Spread 2 Cups of meat sauce on the bottom of the pan.
Remove your lasagna noodles out of the water bath. Shake water off wet noodles.
Lay 6 noodles across the layer of sauce.
Spread half of the ricotta cheese mixture over the layer of noodles.
Spread 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese over the ricotta layer.
Sprinkle half of the Parmesan cheese over the mozzarella layer
Spread 2 cups of meat sauce over the cheese layer
Lay down the next layer of noodles
Spread the remaining ricotta mixture over noodles
Spread the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses saving some cheese for the top of the lasagna
Put the last layer of meat sauce on the cheeses
Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.

8. Cook
Bake in preheated oven at 350 for 25 minutes
Remove foil and bake uncovered for another 25 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for approximately 15 minutes.
–Serves 12 people–