How to Make Homemade Lasagna

Making homemade lasagna can be a bit time consuming, but is often worth the effort.

Lasagna is a hearty pasta dish perfect for serving a family or a group. There are numerous options for preparing lasagna. If you want to save time, you can purchase pre-made lasagna from a grocery store and simply heat it in the oven. You can make the entire dish from scratch, including the noodles and pasta sauce. If you want to make homemade lasagna in a reasonable amount of time, you can do so with some pre-made ingredients, such as canned pasta sauce and boxed lasagna noodles. These shortcuts will help you save time when making your homemade lasagna dish.

Things You'll Need

• 1 pound ground beef or Italian sausage
• Frying pan
• 32 ounce jar of pasta sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
• 16 ounce package of lasagna noodles
• Aluminum foil
• 12 ounces ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• Mixing bowl
• Spoon
• Cooking spray
• Baking dish, 13 by 9 inches
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Cook the ground beef or Italian sausage in a frying pan over medium heat until brown. Drain the grease. Add the pasta sauce, oregano and basil. Simmer over low heat for 15 minutes more.

3. Prepare the lasagna noodles by following the package directions. Set aside on aluminum foil.

4. Mix the ricotta cheese, egg and parmesan cheese in a mixing bowl until well combined.

5. Spray the baking dish with cooking spray. Layer the ingredients as follows: one layer of lasagna noodles, 1/3 of the meat and pasta sauce, 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture and one layer of mozzarella cheese. Repeat the layers twice more until all ingredients are layered in the baking dish.

6. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake in the center of the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil and bake an additional 20 minutes or until the mozzarella cheese is fully melted and beginning to brown.

References

• Allrecipes: Easy Lasagna II
• Allrecipes: Easy Lasagna I
• Cooks: Easy Baked Lasagna
• Taste of Home: Easy Lasagna Recipe
• Food Network; Classic Italian Lasagna; Giada De Laurentiis

Resources

• Allrecipes: Lasagna
• Cooks: Easy Lasagna
• Cooks: Homemade Spaghetti/Pasta Sauce
• Italian Mama Chef: Homemade Lasagna