John's Awesome Lasagna
Description
Chef Phil and Bonnie LOVE this lasagna! John made Phil's with meat and without meat for Bonnie! For an even different slant, use turkey meat.
Ingredients
1 lb. lasagna noodles
1 lb. ricotta cheese
2 lbs. mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 Ib. ground beef, preferably 80/20
28 oz. crushed tomatoes
15 oz. tomato sauce
1 med. onion finely chopped
2-3 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon oregano dried
1/4 teaspoon basil dried
1/4 teaspoon parsley dried
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
optional ingredients, are sugar, salt and pepper and red pepper flakes to taste.
1 Ib. ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon of parsley dried
Methods/steps
To make sauce:
Place ground beef in a thick pot on medium heat and brown till no pink is showing about 5-7 min. Next add onion and garlic cloves until onion is transparent. Next stir in tomatoes and tomato sauce. Cook to a simmer then and the dry seasonings. Simmer on low heat at least 2 hrs. string from time to time to make sure sauce does not burn.
Note: the longer the sauce simmers the more rich it becomes. You might want to add water when simmering for more than 2 hrs. My mother use to simmer her sauce for 6-8 hrs where the sauce turns a deep reddish brown in color.
To make ricotta filling:
Add the ricotta in a medium bowl, add of parsley and egg and mix till well incorporated.
Once sauce is finished to your liking you can start the assembly.
In a 9x13 dish or pan add some sauce to cover the bottom. Next add the noodles (uncooked) on top of the sauce, next add a light layer of ricotta cheese to cover the noodles, then add more sauce, next more noodles to cover the ricotta cheese then sprinkle a light layer of mozzarella cheese, then add more sauce. Continue to follow this trend until you run out of noodles. The top layer should be a layer of sauce with a layer of mozzarella cheese and then top it off with the parmesan cheese. Bake at 375 for 1 hr. or until the top gets brown and the edges get bubbly.