Grade: A+
Time it takes: 1 hour and 25 minutes (40 minutes prep, 45 minutes bake)
Yield: 13x9 pan
Source: For the Love of Cooking - a food blog (lasagna)
Lasagna is a fantastic meal. It is one of Chris's favourite foods. The last time I made lasagna it tasted good, but not quiet like lasagna. It had a lot of flavours going on, and not enough gooey cheese sauce and meat-ness to it. For Chris's birthday this year, I decided to give a different lasagna recipe a try. I searched and searched for a recipe with just ground beef that seemed like the flavours would be simple, apparently ground beef with Italian sausage seems to be the meat combo of choice for lasagna, but I finally found one that seemed like a winner.
Sweet Jesus, it was! It tasted exactly how I wanted it to taste. It was wonderfully gooey and cheesy, with lots of sauce and ground beef. Mmm perfection. Chris loved it, I loved it, and I even got it on the table at a reasonable time - last time it took me a lot longer than I was expecting it to. I made the sauce from this recipe, and baked up some garlic knots to go with it. I no longer need to try out lasagna recipes because this one knocked it out of the park.
Click below to expand for the recipe!
- 1lb of lean ground beef
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 pinch of red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 yellow onion, diced
- 5 cloves of garlic, minced
- 20-25 oz ricotta cheese - I got a big container (32oz) but didn't use the whole thing
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- 12 lasagna noodles, cooked per instructions
- 3 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 4 cups marinara sauce (homemade or store bought)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 F.
In a large pot, boil water for the lasagna noodles.
In a skillet over medium heat, cook the ground beef breaking it up into crumbles. Add the diced onion, oregano and salt and pepper to taste. Once the meat is browned and the onions are tender, add the garlic and cook for 60 seconds, stirring continuously. Remove from heat and drain any grease.
When the water is boiling, cook the lasagna noodles according to the package then drain.
In a large bowl, add ricotta, eggs, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, basil, salt and pepper to taste. Combine until mixed thoroughly.
Layer a 13x9 dish with enough sauce to cover the bottom. Lay 4 noodles in the pan, overlapping them some. Dollop the ricotta mixture on top, then spoon half the ground beef mixture on top of that. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Spoon about a third of the sauce over the cheese. Repeat layering once. Finish with a final layer of noodles, the remaining sauce, then sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and remaining 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Cover the whole thing with aluminium foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Let set for 10 or so minutes after the lasagna comes out of the oven so it is easier to cut into. Serve and enjoy!