Lasagna
Apologies for the uninspired portrait of this lasagna; it was taken in haste as it came out of the oven and sat for a few minutes while we gathered plates and forks and tore off paper towels in lieu of napkins for everyone around the table who had come to celebrate Mike’s birthday.
W chose lasagna for dinner, and the next day my friend Emily Richards’ beautiful new cookbook arrived in the mail – a book of recipes from the kitchens of her extended Italian family. When I make a lasagna – not that I have for ages – I generally make a big pot of meaty tomato sauce, grate piles of mozzarella and then wing it, starting with tomato sauce spooned over the bottom of the pan, then noodles, more sauce, spoonfuls of ricotta, grated cheese, and so on. I used fresh lasagna sheets this time, which are as inexpensive as dried noodles if not as convenient to keep stashed in your cupboard, but are a dream to work with – there’s no boiling and handling slippery noodles, or crunchy edge from the no-boil kind that didn’t manage to get adequately covered with sauce.
Emily is a fantastic cook and a solid recipe writer, and excels in the realm of Italian home cooking; when she came to visit this summer, she brought me a gnocchi board handmade by her dad, and deftly mixed and shaped a batch for dinner one night as we hung out in the kitchen. If I went out looking for a lasagna recipe, there’s no one I’d trust more.
Fortuitously, I had just simmered a big batch of fresh tomato sauce in the slow cooker, and cooked up a bunch of ground beef and Italian sausage that needed cooking. I followed her direction fairly loosely (I think I added more ricotta), but in the end was layers of meaty sauce, ricotta, grated cheese and fresh pasta sheets, baked as per her instructions, and it came together like a dream.
Emily’s Meat Lasagna
AuthorJulie
In a large, heavy skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat and saute the onion until soft. Add the garlic and oregano and cook for another minute, then add the beef and cook, breaking the meat up with a spoon, until it's browned and no longer pink. Season with salt and pepper. Add the tomato sauce and simmer for a few minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350F. Spread 1 cup of the sauce in the bottom of a 9x13-inch or lasagna pan. Top with a layer of lasagna sheets, another cup of sauce, some of the ricotta cheese and some of the mozzarella. Repeat with pasta sheets (I cut mine to fit), sauce and cheeses. I put all the ricotta in between the first two layers, then top the last pasta sheet with sauce and mozzarella, and then the Parmesan.
Cover with foil. (Emily recommends putting your lasagna on a baking sheet, but I like to live dangerously.) Bake for 45 minutes, then uncover and bake for an additional 30 minutes, until bubbly and golden.
Ingredients
Directions
In a large, heavy skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat and saute the onion until soft. Add the garlic and oregano and cook for another minute, then add the beef and cook, breaking the meat up with a spoon, until it's browned and no longer pink. Season with salt and pepper. Add the tomato sauce and simmer for a few minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350F. Spread 1 cup of the sauce in the bottom of a 9x13-inch or lasagna pan. Top with a layer of lasagna sheets, another cup of sauce, some of the ricotta cheese and some of the mozzarella. Repeat with pasta sheets (I cut mine to fit), sauce and cheeses. I put all the ricotta in between the first two layers, then top the last pasta sheet with sauce and mozzarella, and then the Parmesan.
Cover with foil. (Emily recommends putting your lasagna on a baking sheet, but I like to live dangerously.) Bake for 45 minutes, then uncover and bake for an additional 30 minutes, until bubbly and golden.
Sounds good and easy. Where do you get the lasagna ‘sheets’. I am from Calgary but down in AZ right now. Thanks
What would you consider to be “good” bottled tomato sauce?
Just to let you know, I shared this recipe on my Facebook page in Australia as I am often asked for my “Canadian” lasagna recipe as Australians use a white sauce in the middle layer.
Emily’s recipe is similar to my mother’s and is always delicious. For a lighter version, she mixes cottage cheese and ricota cheese and adds one or two eggs into the cheese mixture.
A pan of lasagna gives me good memories of growing up in Canada. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
I have read also another great recipes on how to do lasagna. Definitely that is good, however I would add also more herbs , especially thyme to meat.