Let's share our favorite lasagna recipes

Cafe Society
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Hi everyone,

I hope you are all enjoying your holiday festivities. I am in charge of the lasagna this year and I need to do two of them. I am fairly practiced at throwing together a basic lasagna, but to be honest, they don’t knock my socks off.

This year, I need a good veggie lasagna, so I’m particularly interested in ideas for one of those.

As always, I thank you for your help.

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I was waiting to see what our local gourmands came up with before hopping in with my own pretty basic and no doubt lowbrow recipe, but they’re apparently sleeping in (or doing Christmas dinner prep).

If you make a decent basic lasagna, you’ll know the basic amounts of ingredients, which is good, because I kind of wing it. When I started making lasagna, I followed the recipe in the back of the American Beauty lasagna noodles package, and it’s morphed a bit through the years.

I mix a 16 oz tub of ricotta, about 12 oz of grated (but not pre-grated) mozzarella, about 1/4 cup of grated parmesan (ditto), an egg, chopped parsley in an amount commensurate with your love of parsley, and a good bit of oregano.

Layer that with more marinara than you think you’ll need (I like a saucy lasagna; I make my own marinara and freeze it in pint jars, and it usually takes 3 of those), lasagna noodles, and very well-drained chopped spinach and broccoli. I spread the cheese mixture over the noodles, then the veggies, then sauce and noodles, and I sprinkle red chile powder over the veggie layer. I finish up with layers of noodles and sauce, liberally spread grated mozzarella on top, and bake it. If you’re lucky enough not to have anyone on a low-sodium diet, you can put some salt in there as well.

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Thanks so much for typing all that up for me. I really like the idea of the red chile powder. I keep wanting to hear someone tell me that basil is a good addition. I love basil so much.

I kind of like the idea of sneaking some kalamata olives in there too, but that could be tricky.

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Parmesan slivers are added to ours.

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I make lasagna almost every week, and it’s just a standard Northern Italian version with layers of bolognese and bechamel. If I’m doing it for a special occasion, I’ll make my own spinach lasagna sheets. Typically, I just use the Barilla ones these days – the flat ones, not the curly ones.

Bolognese for me is a battuto/soffrito of onions, carrots, celery in butter and/or olive oil. Oh, and pancetta or prosciutto if I got it. Then sometimes a couple of chicken livers if I have them. Then usually all beef, sometimes a mix of beef and pork. Add unoaked white wine; cook out, add milk, cook out. Add tomatoes and beef broth, cook for several hours until thick.

This more exact recipe is pretty much the blueprint I follow.

The rest is just bechamel with a bit of nutmeg, and lots of spinkles of Parmagiano-Reggiano on each layer. Sometimes I’ll supplement with a little bit of low moisture (not fresh) mozzarella as the kids like it a little cheesier.

And that’s it. Easy peasy.

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Try using Italian sausage instead of ground beef, or a mixture of both.

I’m torn between ricotta and béchamel. I make both when I’m in the mood.

I don’t bother boiling the noodles beforehand. There’s always enough moisture in the dish to cook them as it bakes.

I was once served a vegetarian lasagna that was absolutely delicious.

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I made this vegetarian spinach & mushroom lasagna last Christmas and everybody raved about it.

mmm

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Yum, that looks delish. And it has basil.

Crud, my daughter just vetoed the basil.

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Yes, Italian sausage is a great sub for ground beef. You can use either sweet or spicy, as you wish.

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I use this one, and because my wife keeps kosher (can’t mix meat and dairy) we substitute Impossible Meat for the ground beef. You really can’t tell the difference.

It’s not fancy, but it’s good.

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This is my Italian mother’s recipe, so of course it is the best.

Ingredients:

1 lb lasagne noodles, cooked
1 lb mozzarella cheese, grated

For sauce:
2 lb Italian sausage, mild and spicy, or adjust ratio to taste
1 12 oz. can tomato paste
2 28 oz. cans tomato sauce
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes with puree
2 medium onions, finely chopped
5-10 cloves garlic, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil

For Ricotta mixture:
1 lb Ricotta cheese
10 oz. package frozen spinach, cooked, cooled and squeezed dry
3 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Directions:

  1. Lightly brown onion and garlic in olive oil. Pour into a large pot.
  2. Remove sausage meat from casings and brown. Add to pot.
  3. Add tomato paste, tomato sauce, tomatoes, bay leaves, and 1-2 cups water.
  4. Simmer for at least 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally.
  5. Add basil and oregano 30 minutes before finished. When finished, remove bay leaves.
  6. Mix Ricotta cheese, spinach, eggs, salt, sugar, pepper and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir with a fork until smooth.
  7. Spread a thin layer of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.
  8. Place a single layer of noodles in the baking dish.
  9. Spread 1/3 of the Ricotta mixture on the noodles.
  10. Spread a layer of spaghetti sauce on the Ricotta mixture.
  11. Sprinkle 1/3 of the grated mozzarella on the spaghetti sauce.
  12. Repeat the noodle/Ricotta/sauce/mozzarella layers two more times.
  13. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes, until sauce is bubbling and mozzarella is melted and starting to brown.
  14. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before cutting.
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What’s your recipe? Hard to help you upgrade if we don’t know where you’re starting.

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I usually do a beef and Italian sausage marinara and ricotta cheese mixed with egg, then grated mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Pretty basic, I think.

For the veggie one I made today for tomorrows dinner, I ended up doing diced zucchini and yellow squash and carrot and spinach and no meat in the marinara. Here’s hoping it’s tasty.

Thanks again everyone. And Merry Christmas.

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I really like a big custardy layer of ricotta mixture (bechamel is fine, but not in lasagne for me), and I like to be a little stingy with the bolognese, because I don’t want it overwhelming everthing else. I always use Italian sausage instead of ground beef. But other than that my lasagne’s pretty basic, too.

I’d be a little afraid of the carrot. It can sometimes be overwhelmingly sweet.

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Yes, that’s why I wanted a little bit of it because I was afraid the other veggies had a little bitterness, but I may have gone a little overboard. We’ll see tomorrow. If it sucks, they’ll have to eat the one with meat.

If they both suck, I’ll blame my son in law.

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Something a little different that was a real winner last night, Lasagna Soup.

We do a soup fest ever xmas eve for my family. Along with Shrimp Gumbo, Chicken Corn Chowder, and Ramadan Soup, we had Lasagna Soup which my gf made up from several different recipes.

Basically it was a tomato based soup/sauce with sausage and Italian seasonings. Thirty minutes before serving we broke a box of lasagna noodles into the simmering soup. During serving each bowl is “garnished” with a big spoonful of a ricotta/parmesan/beaten egg mixture.

It was delicious, served with lightly toasted Italian bread. Everyone picked it as the winner this year. My gumbo came in second place.

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That sounds really yummy!

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Yeah, you can overdo it. It’s not so much the sweetness to me, but the carrotiness. I made a lasagna two weeks ago where I wanted to sneak in a little more veggies for the kids, but it just ended up too carroty and more orange than usual. The kids didn’t say anything (and they’re usually good about saying something when they don’t like the food); but they didn’t quite eat it with the same gusto. I definitely noticed and will not up the carrots in the future. I normally use about one cup onion to half cup celery and half cup carrot for about a pound and a half of beef. It make a positive difference in terms of balancing acidity and rounding out the flavor (every traditional bolognese recipe I’ve seen includes them) but too much is noticeable.