Mom’s Lasagna
if your name is denise, this is an appetizer.
Full Recipe Video:
Servings: 6
Ingredients:
1 box lasagna pasta
32 oz. whole milk ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups fresh mozzarella; cubed
1 tsp. fresh parsley; chopped finely
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 lbs. sweet and hot sausage; uncased
Garlic powder
Unsalted butter
16 oz. tomato sauce
Parmesan cheese; freshly grated
Preheat oven to 350.
Bring water to a boil in a large pot, salt water, and cook pasta al dente (about a minute less than the box instructions). (See recipe: How to Cook Pasta Al Dente) Drain water and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, add ricotta and mix until smooth and creamy. Add mozzarella, parsley, salt, and pepper and combine.
In a large skillet, cook sausage. Chop until crumbled fine. We like to add a little garlic powder to taste when cooking our sausage. Add sausage to cheese mixture and combine evenly.
Grease 9x13 baking dish with unsalted butter. This ensures your pasta doesn’t stick.
We like to heat our pasta sauce in sauce pan before layering our lasagna (see recipe: ). With a large spoon or ladle, add a thin, even layer of sauce to the bottom of your baking dish. Next, layer pasta length wise on top of the sauce. You don’t want any gaps between your pasta, so slightly layer the edge of each pasta on the one next to it. Make sure sauce is completely covered. You may have to add pasta in the opposite direction.
Next, add your cheese and sausage layer. Spread thick and evenly until all pasta is totally covered. You can be generous with this layer. Repeat the process: sauce, pasta, cheese. We like to use a deep lasagna baking dish for multiple layers. Your top layer should pasta, and then add a thin layer of sauce on top (as your final layering step).
Cover with tin foil and bake on middle rack for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and grate a nice layer of parmesan cheese over the top. Let the lasagna cool for about 10-15 minutes before serving. This will allow your cheese layer to set and will keep each piece together. Cut into squares and serve! Add another layer of freshly grated parmesan to each piece if you like! You can also garnish each piece with a sprinkle of freshly chopped parsley for color and presentation.
Tools:
Lasagna Dish: Sur La Table Baker, 4 Qt.
