Birds Italian Style Lasagna Recipes

Steps:

• Make the sauce: Heat oil in a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Add sausage, if using, and cook, stirring occasionally, until it's starting to brown but not yet crisp, about 5 minutes.
• Add onion and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is totally softened and translucent (without letting it brown), 8 to 10 minutes. Add tomato paste and continue to cook, stirring until the tomato paste has turned a deeper brick red color, tinting the oil and onions a fiery orange color, about 2 minutes.
• Using your hands, crush the whole tomatoes into smaller, bite-size pieces and add them and the crushed tomatoes, stirring to scrape up any bits from the bottom of the pot. Fill one of the tomato cans halfway with water and add it to the pot. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomato sauce has thickened and flavors have come together, 20 to 30 minutes.
• Make the lasagna: Heat oven to 375 degrees and set a large pot of salted water to boil.
• Set aside 1 cup mozzarella. In a medium bowl, combine remaining mozzarella, ricotta, 1 cup Parmesan and cream; season with salt and pepper and set aside.
• Cook lasagna noodles in the large pot of salted boiling water until just softened (before they are even aldente), about 4 minutes. Drain and separate any noodles that are trying to stick together, slicking them with a bit of olive oil to prevent them from sticking further.
• Spoon a bit of sauce on the bottom of a 3-quart baking dish and top with a layer of noodles, avoiding any heavy overlap.
• Top with about 1 ¼ cups of sauce, and dollop ¼ of the cheese mixture over. Top with another layer of noodles and repeat three more times, ending with the last of the noodles (depending on size of the noodle/shape of the baking dish, you may have a few extra noodles) and the last of the sauce. Top with reserved 1 cup mozzarella and more Parmesan, if you like.
• Cover loosely with aluminum foil and place baking dish on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet (to prevent any overflow from burning on the bottom of your oven).
• Bake until pasta is completely tender and cooked through and sauce is bubbling up around the edges, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove foil and increase temperature to 450 degrees. Continue to bake until lasagna is golden brown on top with frilly, crispy edges and corners, another 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool slightly before eating.

Steps:

• 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, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons 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 1/2 teaspoon salt.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• 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 mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups 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.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Bechamel sauce:
• In a 2-quart pot, melt 5 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. When butter has completely melted, add the flour and whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the milk, whisking constantly to prevent any lumps from forming. Continue to simmer and whisk over medium heat until the sauce is thick, smooth and creamy, about 10 minutes. The sauce should be thick enough to coat the back of wooden spoon. Remove from heat and add the nutmeg and tomato sauce. Stir until well combined and check for seasoning. Set aside and allow to cool completely.
• In a saute pan, heat extra-virgin olive oil. When almost smoking, add the ground beef and season with salt and pepper. Brown meat, breaking any large lumps, until it is no longer pink. Remove from heat and drain any excess fat. Set aside and allow to cool completely.
• In a medium sized bowl, thoroughly mix the ricotta and eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
• Into the bottom of a 13 by 9-inch baking dish, spread 1/3 of the bechamel sauce. Arrange the pasta sheets side by side, covering the bottom of the baking dish. Evenly spread a layer of all the ricotta mixture and then a layer of all the spinach. Arrange another layer of pasta sheets and spread all the ground beef on top. Sprinkle 1/2 the mozzarella cheese on top of the beef. Spread another 1/3 of the bechamel sauce. Arrange the final layer of pasta sheets and top with remaining bechamel, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Cut the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter into 1/4-inch cubes and top lasagna.
• Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place lasagna dish on top, cover and put on the middle rack of the oven and bake until top is bubbling, about 30 minutes. Remove cover and continue to bake for about 15 minutes.
• In a large casserole pot or Dutch over, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft and translucent, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and bay leaves and simmer uncovered on low heat for 1 hour or until thick. Remove bay leaves and check for seasoning. If sauce still tastes acidic, add unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon at a time to round out the flavors.
• Add 1/2 the tomato sauce into the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth. Continue with remaining tomato sauce.
• If not using all the sauce, allow it to cool completely and pour 1 to 2 cup portions into freezer plastic bags. This will freeze up to 6 months.

Steps:

• Cook noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, cook sausage, beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Drain., Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, water, sugar, basil, fennel and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally., Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375°. In a small bowl, combine the egg, ricotta cheese, parsley and salt. Drain noodles and rinse in cold water. Spread 1 cup meat sauce into a 13x9-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with three noodles, 2 cups meat sauce, 2/3 cup ricotta cheese mixture, 2/3 cup mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmesan. Repeat layers twice., Cover and bake 40 minutes. Uncover; bake 10-15 minutes longer or until bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

Steps:

• MEAT MIXTURE: To a large skillet, add oil, sausage, garlic, Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper flakes. cook over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until just about cooked through. Add bell pepper and continue to cook 2-3 minutes longer until sausage is fully cooked.
• Place the 2 jars of spaghetti sauce in a large food processor. When meat is done, strain in a collander, then put in the food processor with the sauce. Blend for 30 seconds or so. Place meat mixture in a bowl and set aside.
• CHEESE MIXTURE: Mix all cheeses together and set aside.
• NOODLES: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add 2 tsp salt and 1 tbsp vegetable oil. Place lasagna noodles, one at a time, carefully into the boiling water. Stir gently with a wooden spoon until all noodles have softened to the bending stage. Reduce heat and simmer about 15 minutes until they are cooked through.
• Place a large collander in the sink and gently drain the noodles. Run cold tap water over noodles, or dunk collander into a larger bowl that has cold water in it. (you want to cool all the noodles and stop the cooking process and keep them from sticking).
• ASSEMBLY: Lay out a few layers of paper towels onto your workspace that are long enough to place a few sheets of noodles on (about two rows of towels). Place 2-3 noodles onto the paper towels, then lay another couple of sheets of paper towels and blot the noodles dry.
• To a 9x13x3" (or larger) pan, spread 1/2 of the remaining jar of sauce in the bottom and set aside. Place noodles into the pan in a single layer, overlapping the curly ends if necessary, and cutting any noodles to fit if necessary.
• Spread 1/3 of the sausage mixture evenly onto the noodles. you can use your fingers or the back of a spoon. Scantly sprinkle with 1/3 each of the pepperoni, mushrooms, and onion, then cheese mixture.
• Repeat layers of noodles, sausage, toppings, and cheeses, then end with a last layer of noodles. Spread remaining 1/2 jar of sauce over top and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. (at this point, you can cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate or freeze until needed. If freezing, thaw at room temperature a few hours before baking).
• Preheat oven to 350°F Bake lasagna fresh for 45 minutes (60-75 minutes if refrigerated, and 75-90 minutes if thawed) or until bubbly and cooked through. Let sit for at least 10 minutes before serving. Lasagnes are so good the next day!
• TO FREEZE FOR OAMC: A simple way to freeze this for multiple dinners (prior to cooking) is to chill it for at least 24 hrs in the refrigerator. Then place plastic wrap over the top of the lasagna and then place a large cutting board over that and carefully flip over onto the counter and remove the pan.
• Using a sharp butcher knife, slice it down the center longways. then slice the from the short sides into however many servings you like (1x for 4 dinners, 2x for 6 dinners, etc.). Then simply wrap each dinner-serving size well with plastic wrap and then foil for an airtight seal.
• When your wanting to serve it for dinner, simply take it from the freezer the day before, thaw in the fridge overnight, then unwrap it, re-wrap it in foil only with a little more sauce and bake.