Meat Lasagne (Today Show)

By LDenvir

Ingredients

• Tomato meat sauce
• 5 cups tomato puree
• 1 small onion (chopped)
• 1 tablespoon garlic (chopped)
• 2 tablespoons basil (chopped)
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 pound ground beef chop meat
• Kosher salt to taste
• Meat and cheese filling
• 1 pound ground beef, sautéed until golden brown, and set aside
• 5 cups meat sauce
• 8 ounces mozzarella, diced into 1/4 inch pieces
• 8 ounces fresh ricotta cheese
• 12 ounces grated parmigiano reggiano cheese, reserving 4 ounces for top layer
• 1 egg
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 pound fresh pasta sheets, cooked according to package directions

Details

Servings 6

Preparation

Step 1

To make the tomato meat sauce, heat the olive oil over medium low heat in a medium size pot. Add the garlic, onion and chopped meat and cook until browned. In the same pot, add the tomato puree, basil and red pepper, stir and bring to a simmer. Taste the sauce and lightly season with kosher salt. Cook over low heat for 1 hour.
For the meat and cheese filling, mix the mozzarella, ricotta, 8 ounces parmigiano reggiano in a large bowl then add the egg and stir until all the ingredients are blended together. Season with salt and pepper and set aside. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta till al dente and drain.
To assemble the lasagna, pour 1 cup of tomato meat sauce in the bottom of 8 x 12-inch baking pan. Cover sauce with a layer of pasta sheets, cut the sheets if necessary to fit the pan. Spread 1/3 of the cheese mixture over the pasta. Spread 1/3 of the chopped meat. Add a ladle of tomato meat sauce. Repeat steps two more times. You will have three layers of pasta and three layers of filling. Spread the remaining cup of tomato meat sauce over the top layer of pasta and sprinkle with remaining 4 ounces parmigiano reggiano cheese over the sauce. Bake the lasagna in a 350 degrees F preheated oven for 1 hour until the top is golden brown and the sides are bubbling. Remove from oven and let stand for 15 minutes to let the lasagna set. Cut the lasagna into 8 pieces and serve.