Worlds Best Lasagna

By eaglezfan6

Ingredients

• 1 lb Sweet Italian Sausage
• 3/4 lb lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
• 2 6oz cans tomato paste
• 2 6.5oz cans canned tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tbsp. white sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. dried basil leaves
• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1 tbsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 4 tbsp. parsley
• 12 lasagna noodles
• 16 oz ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
• 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Preparation

Step 1

In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, Italian seasoning, 1 tbsp. salt, pepper and 2 tbsp. parsley. Simmer covered for about 1 1/2 hours stirring occasionally..

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water,. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2tsp salt.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9X13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of the mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce over mozzarella and sprinkle with 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Cover with foil; to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.

Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.