Lasagna is a staple recipe in any kitchen. Whether you're looking for a crowd pleasing family-friendly meal everyone will enjoy, an addition to your freezer meal repertoire or something to take to a friend when they need it the most, lasagna is almost always the answer. Best of all it's easy to "healthy-it-up" a bit by using extra lean ground beef, whole wheat lasagna noodles and low fat cheese.
Simply cook your onions.
Add your garlic.
Then add your ground beef and cook.
Stir in some sauce and set aside.
Mix your ricotta and egg (this makes everything stick together nicely).
Pour some sauce onto the bottom of your dish.
Then layer noodles...
... Ricotta
... Beef mixture
... Mozzarella cheese
... Parmesan cheese.
Then repeat until you have three layers total and top with one final layer of noodles.
Top with sauce.
Then more Parmesan cheese.
Bake and enjoy!
Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
2lbs ground beef
1 box lasagna noodles, cooked according to package directions if not using oven-ready
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup onion, diced
2 jars tomato sauce (approx. 600mL each)
1 container of ricotta cheese (approx. 450g)
1 egg
3 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
4-5 heaping tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated
Directions:
Heat oil in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and sauté until soft (approx. 3-5 minutes).
Add ground beef and cook until no longer pink (drain fat if required — which I always do).
Remove from heat, add one jar of tomato sauce and stir until combined. Set aside.
In separate bowl, add ricotta cheese and egg. Mix until combined. Set aside.
Pour 1/3 second jar of tomato sauce on bottom of deep dish 9 x 13 casserole dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Spread so entire bottom of dish is covered. NOTE: Deep dish is key here otherwise sauce will certainly drip onto the bottom of your oven.
Add lasagna noodles to bottom of pan. Cut and/or break to fit but do not overlap (noodles will expand when cooking).
Spread 1/3 of ricotta cheese onto lasagna noodles (don't go for perfection here — it will look messy and that's okay).
Top with 1/3 of beef mixture.
Top with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and sprinkle with 1 tbsp. of Parmesan cheese.
Repeat two more times (that makes 3 layers total of noodles, ricotta, beef mixture and cheese).
Top with final layer of noodles.
Pour remaining sauce from the jar on top and spread to ensure all the noodles are covered in sauce (any piece that isn't covered in sauce will get crispy). If you have some extra sauce stuck to the bottom of the jar, add approx. 1/4 cup of water to the jar, put the lid on and shake to combine then pour on top of the lasagna.
Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese.
Cover with tin foil and bake in pre-heated 350F oven for 1 hour (removing tin foil for last 7-10 minutes).
Remove from oven, tent with foil (so steam can escape) and let stand for 10 minutes. Slice and serve with salad and
crusty bread.
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