More recipes like this one:
Easy Cheesy Ravioli Lasagna » this is a STAPLE in my house. The Best Baked Ziti » I always bring this to new moms. Grandma Georgia’s Chicken and Rice Casserole » not a lasagna, but a hugely comforting casserole with the best, creamiest rice and chicken Zucchini Lasagna » a light and fresh summer version! Poblano, Corn, and Zucchini Lasagna » this is old but SO good. Vegetarian to boot. White Lasagna with Chicken and Pesto » can’t go wrong with this combo! Eggplant Parmesan from Table for Two Manicotti Recipe from Dinner at the Zoo
Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram I went rock climbing with my brother Nathan a few days ago. This is the same guy who recently completed an Ironman, so needless to say he was not impressed with my upper body strength (or lack thereof). It was really fun, although I am still suffering the consequences. When I got home that night I picked up [18-month-old] Charlotte to say hello and nearly dropped her. This, after a strenuous hour or two in which I could not even climb the routes marked at a level “zero” for intensity. Whoever was in charge of playing the background music that night at the quarry must have been feeling particularly vindictive toward all the newbies who were afraid of falling. In a slight daze from the exertion and nerves, I heard an angry scream-o voice in the background: “Let the bodies hit the floor! Let the bodies hit the floor!” Yes, that horrid horrid song that we all wish we didn’t know. It didn’t exactly inspire confidence in my ability to not fall to my death. Well, back to the present, obviously I lived through my traumatic rock-climbing experience (and have gone many times since. That stupid song ALWAYS plays in my head. (And no, I still can’t get through the routes marked “zero.” Some things never change, and my lack of athletic skill is one of them.)
Sausage Lasagna Recipe with Ricotta Cheese
But one thing I HAVE gotten better at after all these years? LASAGNA. I posted a recipe for lasagna back in the day and it was fine, but I knew I could do better. So I got to work testing.
Why I’m not using Béchamel
Technically, Italians (the ones in Italy) use Béchamel sauce instead of ricotta to layer their lasagna. I don’t do this for a few reasons: A) ain’t nobody got time for that, 2) I LOVE the flavor of ricotta in lasagna, and D) that’s not how my mama made it, and probably yours too. This is an Italian-American version of lasagna and that’s not an apology. Here we are on our first couple of tests. (Tried these batches with fresh mozzarella, do not recommend! It doesn’t melt the same.)
Sauce is freakin boss. I mean I feel like we should have already known this, but we can confirm: without an amazing sauce, there is no amazing lasagna. More on this below. Give me ALL the cheese. 1 pound of ricotta cheese is not enough and 2 pounds is a little too much, so I’m making you have a half pound leftover ricotta in your fridge, and I would be sorry about that if this Bacon Ricotta Crostini didn’t exist. But since it does, you’re welcome. Lasagna is not lasagna without at least 3 cheeses and a WHOLE LOT OF IT. I said what I said. An inconvenient amount of creamy, rich ricotta; nutty, salty parmesan; stretchy, gooey mozzarella. YES. Using no-boil lasagna noodles is not a cheapo hack that sacrifices flavor and texture. I actually much prefer no-boil noodles because they never turn out soggy. (Plus, boiling the noodles is usually the step that sends me crashing over the edge from “fun lasagna times!” into “omg I’ve been in this kitchen for hours will it ever end??” so it’s nice to be able to skip the agony)
I ended up landing on TWO sauce recipes that I love so much I couldn’t let them go. Both recipes work as the sauce in lasagna, but both are also stand alone recipes that are truly delicious over a plate of warm pasta. I wrote a post for each one of them:
This Easy Spaghetti Sauce is a 30-minute wonder that takes a jar of marinara from the store and turns it into something magically flavorful with just the right herbs, plus fattiness from the sausage. Use this sauce for your lasagna if you need to get dinner done! This Homemade Bolognese Sauce is another story. It’s the big guns, the Bambino. It takes longer to make but is SOOO delicious. We are using fresh vegetables, fresh aromatic herbs, then simmering long and slow. It uses beef AND pork as is traditional, plus wine and cream. It takes at least 90 minutes if not more, and you will have a little bit of sauce leftover when using it to make this lasagna; but I think the wait and slight inconvenience are well worth it. I prefer to use Bolognese in my lasagna, if time allows. It is deep and creamy and oh so delicious!
That said, you can totally make this recipe using a Béchamel sauce if you want a less-cheesy-more-creamy lasagna. Here’s another mind blowing fact: Italians (the ones in Northern Italy, anyway) don’t use a lot of garlic. Like, verrry sparingly. So I mean, if you want to live that life, go Italian all day long. But I’m keeping my 6-cloves-of-garlic-per-recipe standard, over here, like any self-respecting over the top American. There are a lot of things that would surprise you about “authentic” Italian recipes! (There is a hefty amount of garlic in each of my sauce recipes for this lasagna. ‘Merica.) Follow the instructions on either recipe to know how long to let it simmer. While it’s bubbling on the stove, putting together your ricotta mixture. We are using whole milk ricotta today: Guys, lasagna ain’t no diet food. Stop trying to cut corners. Put the Part skim milk Ricotta down. Whole milk ricotta is smooth, creamy, and spreadable. Part skim ricotta has had the fat stripped out of it, making it more watery. Whole Ricotta has the fat we need to get a consistently creamy, cheese ricotta layer that bakes into a creamy custard. And who doesn’t want a creamy custard layer in their lasagna, amiright?? And be sure to give this cheesy mixture a taste. Try not to eat it all! Slice your mozzarella cheese. Grate more Parmesan. We got our sauce, our ricotta mixture, our cheese, and our noodles. Let’s layer it up! Sauce first, just a bit to coat the bottom of the pan. Then your no boil noodles. Spread that ricotta all the way to the edges, then add some more sauce. Sliced mozzarella gives you the BEST cheesy layers. Use an offset spatula to spread the ricotta. Keep going… Last layer of noodles. The rest of the ricotta. I like to add parmesan underneath the mozz because it doesn’t melt as well, and will get too hardened in the oven. It’s best to have mozzarella on top, and preferably to cook it until it has glorious brown spots on it, and the edges are burned to a crisp. YES BURNED, TELL ME YOU DON’T WANT THAT OVERDONE MAILLARD ACTION! Ahem. Be sure to spray the foil with nonstick spray so the cheese doesn’t stick to the foil when you take it off. That’s always so sad! Once you’ve got it all in the pan, cover with greased aluminum foil and bake! Probably not a single one of you needs this, but at least it will be here for me every time I come back to this post to make lasagna from now on! And it’s a lot more legible than this, one of my notebook pages from when I was developing this recipe: For the second 30 minutes of baking, we are removing the foil to give the lasagna a chance to breathe a bit, release some of the excess moisture, and most importantly, melt and brown the cheese on top. After 60 minutes in the oven, your lasagna will be a beautiful melty specimen with spots of golden brown all across the top. If you are like my husband Eric, this is the point where you crank up the oven to broil, move the pan up to the top, and broil the heck out of the cheese to get blackened edges. Yummmm.
Apple Gorgonzola Salad Green Salad with Feta and Beets Strawberry Spinach Salad
Bread to serve with lasagna:
The Best Garlic Bread of Your Life » it’s my favorite, and it’s PERFECTION alongside this lasagna! One Hour French Bread Recipe » it’s fast. it’s perfect. Garlic Knots Recipe » your lasagna was already impressive, now we’re taking it to the next level with these gorgeous buttery garlic knots. Garlic and Rosemary Skillet Bread » baking this bread in a cast iron pan gives it the most incredible texture! Olive Garden Breadsticks » who needs to go out when you can be eating fresh hot breadsticks out of your own oven??
Veggies to serve with lasagna:
To reheat individual slices, simply pop them into the microwave (covered, so they won’t splatter) until heated through. If you’d rather reheat the whole lasagna, or a large portion of it, you can cover it with aluminum foil and warm it at 350 for about 30 minutes. If there are a couple slices missing from yesterdays dinner, add a couple tablespoons of water to the bottom of the pan, so that you don’t scorch your pan with the sauce remnants. You can also make the sauce AND ricotta mixture up to 24 hours ahead of time and store covered in the fridge, then assemble the lasagna right before baking.
How to freeze Lasagna
To freeze an unbaked lasagna, try to remember to bake it in a disposable pan so you are not holding a casserole dish hostage in the fridge. Then, make sure that the noodles and meat sauce have cooled to room temperature. Wrap the entire pan tightly in plastic wrap, then in aluminum foil, and make sure to tape a label onto the outside so you (or someone you’re giving it to) can remember what it is and how to cook it when they’re ready. To freeze an already baked lasagna, you can choose whether to freeze individual slices or the whole thing at once. Either way, you’ll want to follow the same process: first wrap in plastic wrap, then in aluminum foil, then label.
How to cook frozen Lasagna
To cook an unbaked frozen lasagna, first defrost it in the refrigerator overnight. Then let it sit on the counter for about 30 minutes while you’re preheating the oven. Of course, you’ll want to remove the plastic wrap. Make sure the dish is covered with foil but not plastic wrap. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes, remove the foil and continue baking for another 30-50 minutes until the top is bubbly and melted. To cook an already baked frozen lasagna, whether in individual slices or as a whole, first defrost in the refrigerator (overnight for a whole lasagna, just a couple hours for a single slice). You’ll want to let the whole lasagna sit on the counter for about 30 minutes while you’re preheating the oven. Remove any plastic wrap. Then, you’ll bake it at 350 for 30-45 minutes or until it’s bubbling and hot. It may take longer depending on its exact temperature when it went into the oven. If you’re just reheating a single slice, you can simply reheat it in the microwave once it has defrosted in the fridge. And just for fun, here is the original picture from when I posted this recipe way back in 2012:
