- 8
Ingredients
- Tomato Sauce
- 2 large cans tomato puree
- 2 large cans crushed tomatoes
- 1 small can tomato paste
- 2 cloves garlic, each cut in half
- 2-3 T Italian Seasoning
- 1 T crushed red pepper
- 2 T Salt
- 2 T Pepper
- Meatballs and Sausage
- 6 links hot Italian Sausage, cut in half and seared in 1 T olive oil
- Meatballs
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 1/2 cups seasoned bread crumbs
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
- salt and pepper
- 1 cup to 1 1/2 cups water to moisten
- Lasagna
- 2 lbs ricotta cheese
- 1 1b grated mossarella (2 if you like it cheesey)
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- one box lasagna noodles (Ronzoni)
Preparation
Step 1
Use an oversized stewing pot and add one tablespoon of olive oil. Set on medium heat and sear the sausage until all sides are brown. Lower the head to a simmer and mix in all of the tomato sauce ingredients. Cover the pot but leave about 1/2 inch. Bring to a boil and then lower to simmer again.
In a large mixing bowl, mix all of the meatball ingredients well, adding water to keep the mixture moist. Roll into 1 1/2 inch round meatballs and drop them into the simmering sauce. When all of the meat is in the sauce, stir with a wooden spoon. Simmer for about 4 hours, stirring occasionally to keep from burning on the bottom.
After 4 hours, cook the lasagna noodles just til al dente. Rinse the noodles in cold water and drain. Take half of the meatballs from the pots and place in a large bowl. Smash the meatballs with a fork and then mix in the ricotta cheese.
In a large baking dish that is at least 3 to 3 1/2 inches tall spoon tomato sauce on the bottom and then lay the first layer of noodles overlapping them a bit. On the noodles, smooth 1/3 of the meat/cheese mixture and then over again with sauce. Liberally sprinkle this layer with parmesan and mossarella. Repeat this layering two more times.
Cover the pan with foil and bake for one hour in a preheated 350 degree oven. After one hour remove the pan from the oven and let it rest for 20 minutes before serving. Garnish each serving with sausage, meatballs and sauce.