Lasagna

By Tdunl

From Better Homes and Garden

Ingredients

• 1 lb bulk Italian or pork sausage or ground beef
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 16 ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 8 ounce can tomato sauce
• 6 ounce can tomato paste
• 2 tsp dried basil, crushed
• 1 tsp salt
• 8-10 dried lasagna noodles
• 1 Tbsp oil
• 2 eggs
• 24 ounce container ricotta cheese ,drained or cream-style cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 Tbsp parsley flakes
• 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese or 1 pound mozzarella thin slices
• 1/4 Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Preparation

Step 1

1. For sauce, in a large saucepan cook sausage, onion, and garlic until meat is brown. Drain.

2. Stir in undrained tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, basil, and salt into meat mixture. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Meanwhile, cook noodles in salted water with oil added to water for 10 minutes or until tender but still firm. Drain noodles; rinse with cold water. Drain well; set aside.

4. For filling, combine eggs, ricotta, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, parsley. Set aside.

5. Layer half of the cooked noodles in the bottom of 9x13 greased dish, trimming or overlapping as necessary to fit. Spread with half of the filling. Add half of the mozzarella cheese and half of the meat sauce. Repeat layers. Sprinkle remaining Parmesan cheese over top.

6. Place baking dish on a baking sheet. Bake in a 375 degree F oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until heated through. Or assemble early and refrigerate; bake 45 minutes till hot. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Makes 8 servings.

From the Test Kitchen

Prepare as above through step 5. Cover unbaked lasagna; chill for up to 24 hours. To serve, bake, covered, in a 375 degree F oven for 40 minutes. Uncover; bake about 20 minutes more or until heated through. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Quick Lasagna:

Substitute 6 no-boil lasagna noodles (one-third of a 9 ounce package) for the regular lasagna noodles and skip step 3. Omit the tomatoes, tomato sauce, and Italian seasoning, fennel seeds, and pepper. For sauce, stir a 26-ounce jar pasta sauce into the browned meat mixture. Do not simmer. Continue as directed in step 4.