Cheese Lasagna From Scratch Recipes

EASY FOUR CHEESE LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
• In a blender or with an electric mixer, blend tomato sauce and cottage cheese together until smooth. Spoon a little of the sauce mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Place a layer of cooked noodles over the sauce, and sprinkle a portion of the mozzarella, the cheddar and the parmesan over the noodles. Repeat layering of sauce, noodles and cheese; finish with a cheese layer.
• Bake in preheated oven 30 to 45 minutes, until cheese is bubbly and golden.

CHEESE LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain and lay lasagna flat on foil to cool.
• In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, Parmesan, eggs, salt and pepper; mix well.
• In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium heat and saute garlic for 2 minutes; stir in spaghetti sauce and Italian seasoning. Heat sauce until warmed through, stirring occasionally, 2 to 5 minutes.
• Spread 1/2 cup of sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Cover with a layer of noodles. Spread half the ricotta mixture over noodles; top with another noodle layer. Pour 1 1/2 cups of sauce over noodles, and spread the remaining ricotta over the sauce. Top with remaining noodles and sauce and sprinkle mozzarella over all. Cover with greased foil.
• Bake 45 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and top is golden.

CLASSIC CHEESE LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine ricotta, egg, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl. Season with pepper. Coarsely grate 1/2 of the mozzarella, and stir into ricotta mixture. Using your fingers, shred remaining mozzarella into 2-inch strips, and reserve.
• Spread 1/2 cup marinara in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Place a layer of noodles over marinara. Spread 1/3 of the ricotta mixture over noodles, and sprinkle with 1/3 of the Parmesan. Place a layer of noodles over the cheese layer. Spread 1 cup marinara over noodles. Repeat layering (noodles, marinara, noodles, ricotta mixture, Parmesan) 2 more times. Spread remaining marinara over cheese layer, then sprinkle with shredded mozzarella.
• Place baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until cheese is golden brown and sauce is bubbling, 45 to 50 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

CHEESE LASAGNA FROM SCRATCH

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a skillet, and add the chopped onion and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat until softened, then add the salt, pepper and sage. Stir in wine, allow most liquid to boil off. Stir in the undrained tomatoes and tomato paste, simmer 15 minutes until thickened.
• Put the ricotta, 1-1/2 cups mozzarella, and grated cheese blend in a bowl. Grate in the nutmeg, and mix well with a fork.
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Boil and drain noodles on kitchen towels.
• Spread half the sauce in the bottom of a 13 x 9 x 2 baking dish, and cover with a single layer of noodles. Layer half the ricotta mixture over the noodles. Put another layer of noodles on top of the cheese filling, layer the last of the cheese, top with the last of the noodles, and then cover with remaining sauce.
• Bake uncovered 20 minutes, spread additional mozzarella, and bake another 10 minutes, until cheese is melted. Rest 15 minutes before cutting.
• Note: Grated cheese blend is imported parmesan/romano/asiago/fontina/provalone -- I keep 1 and 2 cup bags of grated cheese in the freezer for cooking -- salty, so adapt recipe for salt.

SUPER CHEESY HOMETOWN LASAGNA

Steps:

• For the meat sauce: In a stockpot or Dutch oven, combine the beef (do not brown first), tomato sauce, tomato paste, chili powder, sugar, salt, pepper, garlic salt, bay leaves and onion. Add 2 cups water. Mix until combined. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Stir in the vinegar and simmer for another 30 minutes.
• For the lasagna: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and place the dish on a rimmed baking sheet.
• In a medium bowl combine the ricotta, basil, parsley, garlic salt, red pepper flakes, if using, and egg and stir until well blended.
• Spread 2 cups meat sauce across the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Place 4 noodles over the sauce-it is okay if they overlap slightly. Dollop 2/3 cup of the ricotta mixture on the noodles, then spread it in an even layer. Top the ricotta with 4 slices ham, then 4 slices provolone. Sprinkle 1 cup mozzarella over the provolone. Repeat the layering-sauce, noodles, ricotta, ham, provolone, mozzarella-twice more. Top with another layer of noodles, then the Parmesan and the remaining mozzarella.
• Cover the baking dish tightly with foil. Bake until the dish is bubbling and the noodles are cooked (you can test by poking with a sharp knife to make sure the noodles are soft), about 50 minutes. Remove the foil and return to the oven until the cheese is bubbling and golden brown, another 10 to 15 minutes. Let the lasagna rest for 10 minutes, then serve warm.

PERFECT FOUR-CHEESE LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large skillet, cook and crumble beef with onion and garlic over medium-high heat until browned, 5-7 minutes; drain. Stir in herbs and tomato sauce. In a bowl, mix eggs, cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese., Spread 1 cup meat sauce into a greased 13x9-in. baking dish; layer with 4 noodles, cottage cheese mixture, an additional 4 noodles and half the remaining meat sauce. Repeat last 2 layers. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and remaining mozzarella cheese., Cover with greased foil; bake until cheese is melted, 50-55 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Freeze option: Cover and freeze unbaked lasagna. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 350°. Bake lasagna as directed until heated through and a thermometer inserted in center reads 165°, increasing time to 1 to 1-1/2 hours.

CHEESY LASAGNA

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, cook beef, onion and green pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in tomato paste, water, brown sugar, oregano, vinegar and garlic powder., In a greased 13x9-in. baking dish, spread 1 cup of meat sauce. Layer with three noodles, 1 cup meat sauce and mozzarella cheese; three noodles, 1 cup meat sauce and Monterey Jack cheese; three noodles, 1 cup meat sauce, provolone cheese and the Parmesan cheese., Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until cheese is melted. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

SECRET INGREDIENT FOUR CHEESE LASAGNA

Steps:

• In 10-inch nonstick skillet, cook beef over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until brown; drain.
• Stir in hot water, milk, sauce mix and uncooked pasta. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat. Cover; simmer about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender. Remove from heat; uncover.
• In food processor, place carrots. Cover; process until smooth. Stir processed carrots into pasta mixture. Sprinkle with parsley.

CHEESY BEEF LASAGNA

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. Cook and drain lasagna noodles as directed on package, using minimum cook time.
• Meanwhile, in medium bowl, stir together cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, eggs, pesto and salt. Stir in 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Set aside.
• In 12-inch skillet, cook beef and onion over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is thoroughly cooked; drain. Stir in pasta sauce.
• Spread 1 cup beef mixture in baking dish; top with 3 noodles and 2 1/2 cups cheese mixture. Top with 3 noodles, 2 cups beef mixture and 3 more noodles. Top with remaining cheese mixture, 3 noodles and remaining beef mixture. Sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese.
• Cover; bake 40 to 45 minutes. Uncover; bake 20 minutes longer or until cheese is browned. Let stand 10 to 15 minutes before serving.