Old World Italian Lasagna Recipes

Steps:

• In a skillet, cook the meat until brown, crushing it as you turn it over. Drain.
• While the meat is cooking, get a large pot and fill with water.
• Cook lasagna noodles 4 at a time for 10 minutes. After 10 min, remove each noodle and place on wax paper, making layers of 4 each.
• Put meat in large bowl, add half of tomato sauce. Crush garlic in a press, and add it to mixture. Add Italian seasoning.
• Beat the egg in another large bowl, then add the entire container of ricotta. Add about 2 handfuls of Parmesan cheese, or until the mixture has texture. Stir well.
• In a lasagna pan, put a layer of tomato sauce on the bottom. Add 4 lasagna noodles on top of that. Put another layer of sauce on top of them.
• Add a layer meat/tomato sauce mixture on top of the noodles.
• Add a layer of cheese/egg mixture on top of the meat.
• Add 4 more lasagna noodles on top, following with a layer of sauce.
• Repeat steps 7-9 until you have 3 layers of noodles.
• Add a layer of sauce on the top layer of noodles. Sprinkle mozzarella to cover.
• Bake at 375 degrees for 30 min., covered.
• If you would like to bake the next day, cover and put in refrigerator. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake covered for 30 minutes. Uncover, bake an additional 10-15 minutes.

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:

• 1. Prepare sauce, allowing 4 ½ hours for cooking. Add the onion and garlic to hot oil in a large, deep skillet and cook until onion is soft. Add the ground meat, separate it into small pieces, and cook until lightly browned. In a large saucepan, combine the tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Add the spices, and browned meat mixture. Cook, uncovered, over a low heat for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
• 2. After sauce is prepared, start the actual Lasagna. Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add ground beef and cook until browned, separating into small pieces. Spread ½ cup of sauce in a 2 quart baking dish. Top with a layer of noodles and ½ cup of the mozzarella cheese. Spread 1/3 of the ground beef and half the egg slices on top. Sprinkle on half the Parmesan cheese and ¼ teaspoon of the pepper. Top with ¼ cup of ricotta. Beginning with the sauce, repeat the layering, ending with the ricotta. Top ricotta with ½ cup sauce. Top with ricotta and with ½ cup sauce. Arrange over this, the remaining noodles. Top with more sauce.
• 3. Bake at 375 about 30 minutes, or until mixture is bubbling. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes to set the layers. Cut in squares and serve topped with the remaining sauce.

Steps:

• Brown bacon and onion in a large pan over medium heat. Stir in fennel seed, 1 teaspoon oregano, Italian seasoning, and tomato sauce. Cover, and simmer on low for 4 to 6 hours, or until thick.
• Brown sausage links in a large skillet. Drain on paper towels. Cut into 1 inch pieces.
• Mix together ricotta cheese, egg, milk, parsley, and 1 teaspoon oregano in a medium bowl.
• Layer 1 cup of sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan. Layer with 1/3 uncooked lasagna noodles, 1/2 ricotta cheese mixture, 1/2 sausage pieces, 1/3 mozzarella, and 1/2 provolone cheese. Top with 1/3 sauce. Repeat layers. Top with remaining 1/3 noodles. Spread remaining sauce over the top, and sprinkle with remaining 1/3 mozzarella cheese.
• Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 1/2 hours.

Steps:

• Prepare lasagna noodles according to package directions.
• Drain.
• Cook Italian sausage and ground beef; drain excess fat.
• Add onion and garlic.
• Stir and cook 5 minutes.
• Add next 7 ingredients and simmer 20 minutes.
• Combine egg, ricotta, parsley and salt in small bowl.
• In bottom of a 9x13-inch pan, spoon about 1 1/2 cups meat sauce.
• Layer 1/3 of the lasagna, 1/3 the meat sauce, 1/3 the ricotta, 1/3 the sliced olives, 1/3 the Mozzarella and 1/3 the Parmesan.
• Repeat layering.
• Cover with foil.
• Bake in a 375° oven for 25 minutes.
• Remove foil and bake uncovered 25 minutes longer.
• Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

Steps:

• For the ragu, melt the butter in a large flameproof casserole dish over a medium heat until foaming. Add the celery, carrot, onion, porcini, rosemary and some seasoning, and fry for 5 mins.
• Season the meat, add to the dish and cook for 5 mins until browned. Pour in the wine, add the tomatoes and bring to the boil.
• Reduce the heat to low, put the lid on the dish and cook for 1hr 30 mins, removing the lid for the final 30 mins so the sauce can reduce. The meat should be tender but not too broken up, and the sauce should be thick. Taste for seasoning. You can cook it for longer if you have time - the flavour will only improve.
• For the béchamel sauce, pour the milk into a saucepan with the bay leaf. Bring to a simmer, turn off the heat and set aside. In a heavy-based saucepan, melt the butter over a medium heat, then whisk in the flour and hot milk. Whisk vigorously until smooth, then cook for 10-15 mins until very thick. Remove the bay leaf and season, grating in nutmeg to taste. Stir in the parmesan and egg yolks, then set aside to cool.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Working in batches of three, plunge the pasta sheets into a pan of boiling salted water for 20 secs, just to soften, then immediately put in a bowl of ice-cold water.
• Rub oil onto the base and sides of a large baking dish. Put a layer of pasta on the base, then add a layer of ragu, followed by a layer of béchamel sauce. A good tip, for really defined layers, is to pipe the béchamel sauce over.
• Repeat this process until you have used all the pasta and ragu, and finish with a layer of béchamel sauce on top. Sprinkle the top with a generous layer of parmesan.
• Bake in the oven for 40-45 mins or until bubbling and golden brown, then remove from the oven and leave to settle for 10 mins.
• Cut the lasagne into squares and let it sit for another 10 mins before serving - this keeps the layers defined and helps it cool down more quickly.