Basil Lasagna Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Mix first 7 ingredients., Spread 1/2 cup pasta sauce into a greased 13x9-in. baking dish. Layer with 3 lasagna noodles, 3/4 cup ricotta mixture, 1 cup spinach, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 2/3 cup sauce. Repeat layers twice. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese., Bake, covered, 35 minutes. Uncover; bake until lasagna is heated through and cheese is melted, 10-15 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. , Freeze option: Cover and freeze unbaked lasagna. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 350°. Bake lasagna as directed, increasing time as necessary to heat through and for a thermometer inserted in center to read 165°.

Steps:

• Sauce:
• Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add sausages, onion, garlic, oregano and crushed red pepper and sauté until sausage is cooked through, mashing sausage into small pieces with back of fork, about 10 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes and diced tomatoes with juices. Bring sauce to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 5 minutes to blend flavors. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Chill until cold, then cover and keep chilled.)
• Filling:
• Using on/off turns, chop fresh basil leaves finely in processor. Add ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, egg, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Using on/off turns, process filling until just blended and texture is still chunky.
• Assembly:
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Spread 1 1/4 cups sauce in 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Arrange 3 noodles on sauce. Drop 1 1/2 cups filling over noodles, then spread evenly to cover. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layering of sauce, noodles, filling and cheeses 2 more times. Top with remaining 3 noodles. Spoon remaining sauce atop noodles. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Spray large piece of foil with nonstick olive oil spray. Cover lasagna with foil, sprayed side down.
• Bake lasagna 40 minutes. Carefully uncover. Increase oven temperature to 400°F. Bake until noodles are tender, sauce bubbles thickly and edges of lasagna are golden and puffed, about 20 minutes. Transfer to work surface; let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Steps:

• Steam your noodles: Place noodles in a metal baking pan with sides, making sure to spread out. Pour steaming-hot salted water over the top, moving noodles around a bit to be sure the water gets between them. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and let rest for 20 to 25 minutes. When ready to assemble, remove one at a time as you go and pat dry.
• Make the filling: Add the ricotta, cheese blend, basil, parsley, red chile flakes, egg, lemon zest, a pinch of salt and a few hefty grinds of black pepper to a large bowl. Stir to combine.
• Assemble: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Add half the tomato sauce to a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and spread or tilt to even it out. Take one lasagna noodle and lay flat on the counter, then add a scoop of filling to the center and spread it along the length. Roll up the noodle and place it standing on end in the dish, nestling the rolls together as you go to hold the seams secure. Repeat with the rest of the noodles until the dish is full. Pour over remaining tomato sauce and spread to even out. Cover dish with aluminum foil.
• Bake until sides are bubbly and a few edges are golden, about 20 minutes. Uncover and cook until edges begin to brown, another 5 to 10 minutes. Garnish with Parmesan and more herbs.

Steps:

• Notes: I purchase store bought fresh pasta. For the Roasted Tomato Sauce the ingredients are listed from the tomatoes line. Having extra sauce on hands is suggested, when cooking with fresh pasta it dries out and gets chewy. I double the sauce recipe. Do not over-bake this recipe. Due to the cheese it will burn and get chewy.
• Variation: Add garlic to taste to the sauce, roasting it with the tomatoes is good. I also tried this with 1 pound of browned lean ground beef. I added a can of tomato sauce until the sauce was the right consistency to cover the lasagna with.
• For the filling stir together the cheeses, basil, oregano, thawed and completely drained spinach, black pepper to taste.
• Set aside filling.
• For the roasted tomato sauce preheat oven to 350.
• In a large roasting pan add all ingredients and bake for 1 hour until skins are slightly charred.
• Once cooled, blend quickly in a blender to coarsely chop (30 seconds).
• Cover and chill until ready to use.
• Place about 2/3 cup of the cheese filling on each pasta sheet.
• Spread evenly leaving a one inch border along the sides.
• Fold the two long sides over edges of filling, then with sides in place, roll up to form a packet that encases the filling.
• Place filled packets in a shallow casserole dish.
• Top each with 1/2 cup or more of sauce to cover the packet.
• Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes or until sauce is bubbly (at 350 degrees I bake for 20-25 minutes) or lower oven temperature to 300 for 30 minutes.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the cottage cheese, egg, Parmesan cheese, parsley, oregano and basil. In a greased 13x9-in. baking dish, layer a third of the noodles, sauce, cottage cheese mixture and mozzarella. Repeat layers twice. , Cover and bake at 350° for 30 minutes; uncover and bake 15-20 minutes longer or until bubbly. Let stand for 15 minutes before cutting.