Aunt Judis Lasagna Recipes

LASAGNA WITH WHITE SAUCE

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink, breaking it into crumbles; drain. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, bouillon and seasonings. Cover and cook over medium-low heat 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. , Meanwhile, melt butter in a large saucepan; stir in the flour, salt and pepper until blended. Gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir until thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in half the cheese; set aside. , Pour half the meat sauce into an ungreased 13x9-in. baking dish. Layer with half the lasagna noodles and remaining meat sauce. Top with remaining noodles. Pour white sauce over noodles. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. , Cover and bake at 400° until bubbly and noodles are tender, 40 minutes. If desired, uncover and broil 5-6 inches from heat until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley as desired.

THE BEST EVER LASAGNA

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, cook onion in olive oil over medium heat until tender, 4-5 minutes. Add garlic; cook 1 minute. Stir in tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, 3-4 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes, water, fresh basil, 2 teaspoons sugar and salt. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally., Meanwhile, cook bulk sausage in a skillet over medium heat until no longer pink, breaking into crumbles, 8-10 minutes; drain. Add to sauce; simmer until mixture is thickened, about 1 hour longer., While sauce simmers, preheat oven to 350°. Place sausage links on a rimmed baking sheet; roast until cooked through, 35-40 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly; slice into 1/4-in.-thick pieces., In a small bowl, mix ricotta cheese, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, egg, dried basil and remaining sugar., In a greased 13x9-in. baking dish, spread 2 cups sauce. Arrange 4 noodles over sauce; spread with a third of the ricotta mixture. Add 7 provolone slices, a third of the sliced sausage and 1-1/2 cups mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers 2 more times, using only 1 cup sauce per layer. Spread with 2 cups sauce (reserve remaining sauce for serving on the side), remaining 2-1/2 cups mozzarella cheese and the Parmesan cheese (dish will be full)., Place dish on a rimmed baking sheet and bake, uncovered, until bubbly and deep golden brown, 60-65 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before serving. Serve with remaining meat sauce.

AUNT ANGIE'S LASAGNA RECIPE

Steps:

• For the Meatball Mix: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients. Roll meatballs into desired size and bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. For the lasagna, instead of rolling into desired size, spread mix out evenly on a sheet pan and bake. Break up the meat for lasagna.
• For the Meat Sauce: In a stock pot (or large cooking vessel) brown the ground beef. Add the celery/carrot/onion mix and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and the seasonings. Let simmer for 2 hours.
• For Aunt Angie's Lasagna: Using a 1/2 hotel pan or medium to large baking dish, coat the bottom with a thin layer of meat sauce. Lay out 4 pieces of lasagna so they go up the side of the pan with an additional 3 to 4 inches hanging over the edge. Do the same in the other direction of the pan using pieces of pasta. Add another layer of meat sauce, followed by 1/2 of the meatball mix. Then top the meat with 1 pound of the ricotta cheese, 1 pound of mozzarella, and 1/4 cup of Romano. Add a layer of pasta and repeat to have 2 layers. Fold over the remaining pasta to cover the top. Top with meat sauce and place in preheated oven and bake until proper serving temperature is reached or top is golden brown.

CLASSIC LASAGNA

Steps:

• Place the onions, garlic, carrot and celery in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade; pulse until finely minced but not puréed.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the sausage into the pan and cook, stirring occasionally and breaking the sausage into small pieces, until slightly browned but not cooked all the way through, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the partially cooked sausage to a plate. Set aside.
• Add the remaining tablespoon olive oil to the pan, reduce the heat to medium, and add the minced vegetables. Cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are very soft, 6 to 8 minutes. Do not brown; reduce the heat if necessary.
• Add the wine; continue cooking, stirring to scrape any brown bits from the bottom of the pan, until the wine is mostly absorbed by the vegetables, a few minutes.
• Add the tomatoes, cream, salt, pepper, sugar, thyme and bay leaves and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the sauce is thickened, about 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, transfer the sausage to a cutting board and chop into smaller pieces (big chunks don't work well in lasagna).
• Add the sausage back to the pan and continue simmering, covered, until the sausage is fully cooked and the flavors meld together, about 10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Fish out the bay leaves and discard.
• Combine the ricotta, cream cheese, egg, garlic, Parmigiano-Reggiano, salt and pepper in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Process until evenly combined. Add the basil and pulse until finely chopped.
• Preheat the oven to 375°F.
• Spread about 1½ cups of sauce in the bottom of a 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Arrange 3 noodles over the sauce. Dollop a third of the ricotta filling over the noodles, then spread evenly to cover. Sprinkle with ¾ cup of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat the layering of sauce, noodles, ricotta filling and mozzarella 2 more times. Top with the remaining 3 noodles. Spoon the remaining sauce over the noodles, then sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella and ¼ cup Parmigiano-Reggiano.
• Spray a large piece of foil with nonstick cooking spray. Cover the lasagna tightly with the foil, sprayed side down. Bake for 40 minutes. Carefully uncover and increase the oven temperature to 400°F. Bake, uncovered, until the noodles are tender, the sauce is bubbling, and the edges are golden and puffed, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand for about 15 minutes before serving.
• Make-Ahead Instructions: The lasagna can be assembled and refrigerated up to 1 day ahead of time.
• Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The lasagna can be frozen for up to 3 months. If freezing it prior to baking, when you're ready to cook it, defrost in the refrigerator for 24 hours, then proceed with the baking instructions in the recipe. If the lasagna is already cooked, you can either put it in a freezer-safe container that just fits the leftover piece, or you can cut into individual pieces and wrap each one tightly in plastic wrap and then foil. Reheat it, covered with foil, in a 325°F oven until hot.

EASIEST EVER LASAGNE

Steps:

• Heat a large non-stick frying pan until hot. Add about half the mince and fry it over a medium heat for 4-5 minutes until browned. Stir it with a wooden spoon and press out any lumps while it is frying. Tip the browned mince into a bowl. Tip the remaining raw mince into the pan and add the garlic and oregano. Fry it as you did with the previous batch, then return all the mince to the pan and mix it together.
• Tip in the mushrooms and roasted veg sauce, and squirt in the ketchup (you can be generous). Season with black pepper and salt if you like. Stir well to mix everything together, turn the heat up under the pan and bring to the boil, then turn it down so it bubbles gently. Cover the pan and cook for 30-35 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes to mix everything together. As it cooks, the mushrooms will shrink and make the mince more saucy.
• While you're waiting for the meat to cook, break the egg into a large bowl and beat it with a whisk or fork to break up the white and the yolk. Pour the cream into the bowl, then grate about two thirds of the cheese and add to the bowl. Be careful, a grater looks innocent enough, but it's sharp so mind your fingers. Season with a good grinding of black pepper. Beat well to mix. Now turn the oven on to 180C/gas 4/fan 160C.
• Lay the lasagne in a dish and cover with boiling water. Leave for 5 minutes. Take an ovenproof dish measuring about 28-30cm x 22-23cm and 7.5cm deep. Spread about a couple of spoonfuls of meat sauce over the bottom, then cover with 3-4 sheets of lasagne (lift them out of the water with tongs) overlapping them slightly to make them fit if you need to. Drizzle over just a little of the cheese sauce - about 2-3 spoonfuls.
• Spoon over half the remaining meat and spread it out, right to the edges of the dish. Cover with 3-4 more sheets of lasagne, then spoon over the remaining meat, spreading it out evenly and almost to the edges. Cover with 3-4 more sheets of lasagne.
• Pour what's left of the cheese sauce over the top. Jiggle the dish so the sauce runs to the edges and squelch the corners of the pasta into the sauce so there's none poking up. Grate the rest of the cheese evenly all over, then grate over about 1⁄2 teaspoon of nutmeg. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until bubbling and golden. Leave to stand for 5 minutes before decorating the top if you like. Cut into 6 portions and serve with a salad.

CLASSIC LASAGNE

Steps:

• To make the meat sauce, heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan and cook 750g lean beef mince in two batches for about 10 mins until browned all over.
• Finely chop 4 slices of prosciutto from a 90g pack, then stir through the meat mixture.
• Pour over 800g passata or half our basic tomato sauce recipe and 200ml hot beef stock. Add a little grated nutmeg, then season.
• Bring up to the boil, then simmer for 30 mins until the sauce looks rich.
• Heat oven to 180C/fan/160C/gas 4 and lightly oil an ovenproof dish (about 30 x 20cm).
• Spoon one third of the meat sauce into the dish, then cover with some fresh lasagne sheets from a 300g pack. Drizzle over roughly 130g ready-made or homemade white sauce.
• Repeat until you have 3 layers of pasta. Cover with the remaining 390g white sauce, making sure you can't see any pasta poking through.
• Scatter 125g torn mozzarella over the top.
• Arrange the rest of the prosciutto on top. Bake for 45 mins until the top is bubbling and lightly browned.

AUNT PINKIE'S BREAKFAST LASAGNA

Steps:

• 1. Pre-Heat oven to 400 degrees.
• 2. You can use your favorite sausage gravy recipe if you have one just reduce the milk or cream to compensate for the juice from the tomatoes.
• 3. Make sauce: Brown the sausage and remove from pan. In the same pan, cook the onions in the sausage drippings to lightly brown (if you use a lean sausage like i do add a couple tablespoons oil or butter). Add in the butter and flour and stir well, cooking for about 3 minutes to take out the raw flour taste. Whisk in the milk and diced tomatoes with juice. Bring to a simmer. and add the sausage back in. If sauce seems to thick add in more milk if to thin add in flour in small amounts letting it thicken up each time you add a teaspoon of flour until it is at a gravy thickness. reduce to lowest heat and cover to avoid gravy skim as we call it :)
• 4. In a bowl, crack and whisk together eggs lightly salt and pepper if you want to (I add a couple tablespoons water to make sure they do not set to fast but this totally up to you ). Get a non stick frying pan ready with a little oil to cook the eggs. Scramble eggs until just starting to set and remove from heat to where you will be building the dish.
• 5. Remove sauce (gravy) to work area and let's get ready to layer :)
• 6. put about 1/2 cup gravy into bottom of 9x13 inch pan (or whatever is your favorite lasagna pan) add layer of oven ready lasagna noodles, layer of semi-cooked eggs, sprinkle of green onions, sprinkle of red peppers, 1/3 of Ricotta cheese just dolloped in random spots, 1/3 of cheddar and 1/3 of Mozzarella, now pour a ladle of sauce (gravy) over this and and repeat until you have 3 layers. Cover top layer of noodles with as much gravy as you can fit on it and top with remaining cheese. Spray a piece of tinfoil large enough to cover dish with cooking spray or brush with oil or butter to keep from sticking to cheese and cover tightly
• 7. Bake in pre-heated 400 degree oven for 30 mins. Remove foil and bake another 15 mins or until brown and bubbly. If you like a browner cheese just cook under broiler for a few mins watching closely to avoid burning. Let cool for 15 mins or longer to set.
• 8. I serve this for breakfast and dinner both and I serve it with a cornmeal biscuit (recipe posted)
• 9. This recipe is freezer safe for 2 weeks just make it ahead (uncooked), thaw it out and cook it the same as above directions. And pre-cooked freezer safe also, just defrost in microwave until heated through. (I have found to reheat from frozen state it is best to use defrost mode. I just defrost for a couple of minutes at a time.)

CAJUN LASAGNA

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Cook and drain noodles as directed on package.
• Spread 1 cup of the tomatoes in ungreased 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish. Top with 5 noodles, overlapping slightly as needed. Layer with half each of the remaining tomatoes, the shrimp, sausage, Alfredo sauce and mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over top.
• Cover dish with foil. Bake about 30 minutes or until center is hot and bubbly. Uncover; bake 15 to 20 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting. Sprinkle with parsley.