lasagna

Ingredients lasagna

1 lb sweet Italian sausage
1 lb ground beef (angus)
1 chopped onion
6-8 cloves garlic (minced)
28 oz can of crushed roma tomatoes
12 oz tomato Roma paste
13 oz tomato sauce (I used maggiano’s diavolo tomato sauce)
1/2 cup homemade chicken stock
2 tbs brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp fennel
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp salt (optional)
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
4 tbs fresh chopped Italian parsley
12 + lasagna noodles (I used no boil noodles)
16 oz ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
Dash nutmeg
Mozzarella cheese (as much as desired)
Fresh grated Parmesan-Romano cheese (as much as desired)

how to make lasagna

In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and broth. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for at least 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. (I cooked mine 2-3 hrs and made the night before)

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. (if you use no boil noodles you can skip this step and just layer as is)

In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and a dash of nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

To assemble, spread some meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish (I used a disposable oversized lasagna pan). Arrange noodles over meat sauce (I think I only used 4 noodles per layer). Spread noodles w/ ricotta cheese mixture. Spoon meat sauce over ricotta mix, and top with mozz/parm/romano cheese. Repeat layers (I made 3 layers)

Cover with foil. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. (I made mine the night before to allow flavors to meld and had to cook a bit longer since it was starting out cold). Cool for 15 minutes before serving.