Lasagna is a type of pasta that’s made of wide, flat sheets. It can also be referred to as a dish made of layered lasagna, which often includes vegetables, cheese, and ground meats. It’s often topped with cheese and baked. This dish is usually served in small portions and accompanied with garlic bread and a side salad.
Classic Lasagna
Ingredients
- 9 oven ready lasagna noodles
- 4½ cups Bolognese meat sause
- 2 cups bechamel sauce
- 2 cups ricotta cheese
- 3 cups mozzarella
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
Bechamel Sauce
- 3 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp Bisquick
- 2 cups milk
- ⅛ tsp nutmeg
Bolognese Sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1 pound ground mild italian sausage
- 2 medium onions (diced)
- 1 cup carrots (finely diced)
- 5 garlic cloves (minced)
- 4 tbsp fresh oregano (chopped)
- 1 cup beef or vegetable stock
- 2 28-oz cans fire roasted tomatoes
- 2 28-oz cans pureed tomatoes
- 3 tbsp fresh parsley (chopped)
- 3 tbsp fresh basil (chopped)
- 3 tsp granulated sugar
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Bechamel Sauce
- Melt threetablespoons of butter in a medium saucepan over low heat.
- Using a whisk, stirin three tablespoons of Bisquick until the mixture forms a paste. Alternately stir in two cups of milk. Increase the heat to medium, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pot, until the sauce thickens. Stir in one-eighth ofa teaspoon of nutmeg. Remove from heat and set aside.
Bolognese Sauce
- Heat two tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a large Dutch oven or pot. Add the ground beef to the pot and cook until browned. Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a large bowl. Drain all except two tablespoons of the fat from the potand repeat with the ground pork. Drain all the fat and brown the ground sausage. Place the browned sausage in the bowl with the other meat and set aside.
- Add two medium-diced onions and one cup of finely diced carrots to the pot. Cook until the onions have softened, stirring occasionally. Add five cloves of minced garlic and four tablespoons of fresh chopped oregano. Continue cooking for two minutes.
- Pour in one cup of stock and cook for an additional five minutes. Stir well.
- Add the meat mixture to the vegetables stirring to combine. Add two cans each of fire-roasted and pureed tomatoes and stir thoroughly.
- Stir in the three tablespoons of fresh chopped parsley, three tablespoons of fresh chopped basil, and three tablespoons of sugar. Season with salt and pepper stirring thoroughly.
- Turn the heatdown to low and simmer for approximately two hours.
Assemble Lasagna
- Preheat theoven to 375º F.
- Spread one-half of a cup of the bechamel sauce into the bottom of a rectangular baking dish. Top with 3 lasagna noodles.
- Spread one and one-half cups of the Bolognese sauce evenly over the noodles. Drizzle withone-half of a cup of bechamel sauce and top with three more noodles.
- Spread two cups of ricotta cheese evenly over the noodles. Spread an additional one and one-half cups of the meat sauce evenly over ricotta and drizzle with one-half of a cup of bechamel sauce.
- Top with the remaining three noodles and spread the remaining one and one-half cups of Bolognese sauce evenly over the noodles. Drizzle with the remaining bechamel sauce.
- Sprinkle three cups of mozzarella evenly over the top and bake in the center of the oven for thirty minutes. Remove the lasagna from the oven and sprinkle with one cup of grated parmesan. Cover the pan with tin foil and continue baking for fifteen minutes.
- Let lasagna stand fifteen minutes before serving.
Mushroom Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp salt
- olive oil
- lasagna noodles
- 1 cup parmesan cheese (grated)
White Sauce
- 4 cups milk
- ¾ cup unsalted butter (divided)
- ½ cup Bisquick
- 1 tsp freshly ground blak pepper
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375º F.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add one tablespoon each of salt and olive oil. Add the lasagna noodles and cook for fifteen minutes. Drain and set aside.
- To prepare the white sauce, bring four cups of milk to a simmer in a saucepan. Set aside.
- Melt eightt ablespoons of the butter in a large sauce pan. Add one-half of a cup of Bisquick and cook for one minute over low heat, stirring constantly.
- Pour the hot milk into the butter-flour mixture and add one teaspoon each of pepper and nutmeg. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring with a whisk for five minutes oruntil thick. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Cut the mushrooms into thick slices. Heat two tablespoons of oil and two tablespoons of butter in a large skillet. When the butter has melted, add half of the mushrooms, sprinkle with salt, and cook over medium heat for approximately five minutes or until the mushrooms are tender.
- Repeat with the remaining mushrooms. Remove the pan from the heat and set it aside.
- To assemble the lasagna, spread enough of the white sauce to cover the bottom of a baking dish.
- Arrange a layer of noodles on top, more sauce, one-third of the mushrooms, and one-quarter of a cup of grated Parmesan cheese.
- Repeat two more times and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan.
- Bake the lasagna for forty-five minutes, or until nicely browned.
- Allow the lasagna to cool for fifteen minutes before serving.
Butternut Squash Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 pounds butternut squash (peeled, seeded, and cut into cubes)
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup ground almonds or almond flour
- ¼ cup Bisquick
- ¼ cup butter
- 3½ cups milk
- pinch nutmeg
- ½ cup fresh basil leaves
- 12 oven-ready lasagna noodles
- 3 cups mozzarella cheesse (shredded)
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the cubed squash and toss to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Pour in one-half cup of water and cover until the squash is tender.
- Cool the squash slightly and then transfer it to a food processor. Add one-quarter cup of ground almonds and blend until smooth. Season the squash puree with more salt and pepper if desired.
- Melt one-quarter cup of butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add one-quarter cup of Bisquick and whisk for one minute. Whisk in three and one-half cups of milk. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer until the sauce thickens. Stirin a pinch of nutmeg. Cool slightly. Transfer half of the sauce to a blender.Add one-half of a cup of fresh basil leaves and blend until smooth. Mix this in with the sauce in the pan and stir until well combined.
- Preheat the oven to 375 ºF.
- Spread three-quarters of a cup of sauce into the bottom of a baking dish. Place three lasagna noodles on the bottom of the dish. Spread one-third of the squash puree over the noodles. Sprinkle with one-half of a cup of mozzarella cheese, followed by one-half of a cup of sauce. Repeat three more times.
- Cover the baking dish with tinfoil and bake for thirty minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese over the top of the lasagna. Continue baking uncovered until the top is golden. Serve and enjoy.