Authentic Italian Meat Lasagna with Ricotta Cheese
If you're looking for a classic Italian lasagna, get one from an Italian. Italian lasagna with ricotta is baked with luscious layers of sausage, ground beef, FOUR cheeses (goat cheese!) and two secret ingredients for authentic flavor. Ladle over some marinara sauce and for the best Sunday dinner the whole family will love.
Servings 8
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 box of no bake lasagna noodles I use Barilla
- 1 lb fresh mozzarella sliced or torn
For the cheese filling:
- 15 oz container of whole milk ricotta
- 3-4 oz goat cheese
- 1 egg
- 1-2 T fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup parmesan cheese divided
- half the zest of one lemon about 1 teaspoon; *see note below
For the sauce:
- 28 oz. can of whole tomatoes or bottle of passata pureed smooth if using can
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup water can substitute ½ cup of passata for half of the water
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb Italian sausage hot or medium
- 1 can of tomato paste 6 oz
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 2-3 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 T fresh parsley
- can add basil too if desired
- 8 oz shredded part skim mozzarella or thinly sliced mozzarella
Instructions
- Blend the ricotta mixture ingredients together including ½ cup of parmesan, goat cheese, egg, parsley, seasoning and lemon. Set aside15 oz container of whole milk ricotta, 3-4 oz goat cheese, 1 egg, 1-2 T fresh parsley, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 cup parmesan cheese , half the zest of one lemon
- Place whole tomatoes in a blender, if using, along with their juices and pulse until desired consistency is reached.28 oz. can of whole tomatoes or bottle of passata
- Heat olive oil in a 4qt. saucepan (or larger if doubling) over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent and rich in color, about 5 minutes. Briefly add garlic for 30 seconds until you smell it.1 Tablespoon olive oil, 1 cup chopped onion, 2 cloves garlic
- Add the beef and sausage and cook until browned about 8 minutes. Drain excess fat as needed.1 lb ground beef, 1 lb Italian sausage
- Reduce heat to medium-low and add tomato paste. Swirl around until softened and combined with meat and onions about 2 minutes. Add spices ending with sugar and quickly combine because you don’t want the sugar to burn but to caramelize just a bit.1 can of tomato paste, 1 Tablespoon sugar, 2-3 teaspoons kosher salt, 1 teaspoon oregano, 1 teaspoon pepper, 2 T fresh parsley
- Quickly add pureed tomatoes or passata and simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes. Check the seasoning after 20 minutes or so. Add the additional water/passata if the sauce seems too thick, starting with 1/2 cup and continue to cook. Add more salt/pepper or a little more sugar if the tomatoes are more on the acidic side.1 cup water
- In a deep lasagna pan, sparsely coat the bottom with a ladle or two full of sauce. This is so the noodles don't stick to the pan. Place the following layers over the sauce:Start with the noodles lined up next to each other. I usually get four to the pan. Don't crowd them so they have room to expand. Next tear half of the fresh mozzarella into pieces and place evenly over noodles. Spread on ½ of the ricotta filling evenly over the mozzarella and top with ⅓ of the sauce.1 box of no bake lasagna noodles, 1 lb fresh mozzarella
- Repeat then end with the last layer of sauce. Sprinkle over shredded mozzarella or thinly slice pieces of mozzarella and a sprinkling of parmesan
- Bake at 350° for 1 hour uncovered until golden brown on top. If the lasagna starts to brown too soon, cover loosely with aluminum foil so as not to disturb the cheese and then remove the foil for the last 15 minutes to brown.
- Rest on the stove for at least 15 minutes, uncovered. Slice into 12 pieces.
Notes
- Cut the recipe by ⅓ for a 9 x 13” pan. And a little less than that for a square pan. You might only get two layers in a square pan depending on how thick the pan is.
- 🍋 Note on the use of lemon in the ricotta filling. The bit of lemon is meant to enhance the ricotta and goat cheese. Lemons come in all sizes so I recommend starting with 1 teaspoon of zest. If the lemon feels to you like it doesn't work or scares you, feel free to omit it!
- Make up the individual layers up to three days before you plan to serve the lasagna. Build the lasagna the day of and bake!
- Make the lasagna the day before you plan to serve it and refrigerate covered first with plastic wrap and then foil. Bake the next day.
- Freeze the entire unbaked lasagna making sure the meat sauce is cooled completely. Cover with foil and then a double layer of plastic wrap and freeze for up to three months.
