Lasagne - Carrabba's Italian Grill

By Thom7747

Our recipe for lasagna is stripped to its essentials--fresh pasta, three cheeses, meat, and tomato sauce. You will see recipes that are longer, but few that are better, or made with more love and care. You can substitute 15 dried lasagna noodles, cooked according to the package directions, for the 6 pasta sheets. Use 3 noodles, overlapping as needed, for each layer of lasagna.

Ingredients

• Olive oil for the baking pan and lasagna sheets
• 1 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 pounds sweet or hot Italian sausage, casings removed, or ground round beef (85% lean)
• 5 5 5 fresh lasagna sheets
• 7 7 About 7 cups Marinara Sauce
• 2 2 2 cups (8 ounces) freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
• 1 1 1 pound (4 cups) shredded part-skim mozzarella
• 1 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 pounds whole milk or part-skim ricotta cheese
• Finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley for serving

Details

Adapted from google.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil a 13-by-9-inch baking pan.

2. Cook the sausage in a large skillet over medium heat, breaking up the sausage well with the side of a spoon, until cooked through.

3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add salt to taste. Trim the lasagna sheets to fit the baking pan, if necessary. Add the lasagna sheets, one at a time, stirring gently to keep the sheets from sticking to each other. Cook just until al dente, about 2 minutes (the water does not have to return to a boil). Drain and rinse under cold running water. Separate and toss the lasagna sheets with 2 tablespoons of oil to discourage sticking.

4. Set aside 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese for the topping. Spread 3/4 cup of the sauce on the bottom of the baking dish. Top with 1 lasagna sheet. Sprinkle with one-quarter each of the mozzarella, Parmesan, and sausage, dot with one-quarter of the ricotta, and top with 3/4 cup of marinara sauce. Repeat three times with 3 more sheets, the mozzarella, Parmesan, sausage, ricotta, and marinara sauce. Top with the final lasagna sheet, 1 cup marinara sauce, and the reserved Parmesan cheese. Cover loosely with aluminum foil. Reserve the remaining marinara sauce. (The lasagna and sauce can be prepared, covered, and refrigerated, up to 1 day ahead.)

5. Put the baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake until the lasagna is bubbling, about 30 minutes more. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.

6. To serve, reheat the remaining marinara sauce. Cut the lasagna into 9 portions. Transfer each to a dinner plate, top with marinara sauce, and sprinkle with Parmesan and parsley.

Tip: This recipe uses 7 cups of Marinara Sauce. Make a double batch of that recipe and reserve the remaining sauce for another use.