Shelleys Lasagna Recipes

GRANDMA GUARNASCHELLI'S LASAGNA WITH MINI BEEF MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Make the sauce: In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and season with 1 tablespoon salt. Stir in the red pepper flakes and sugar, and cook for about 2 minutes. Then add the tomatoes, with their juices, and the oregano. Cook for a few minutes over high heat, stirring from time to time. Taste for seasoning, add the basil leaves, and remove from the heat.
• Make the meatballs: Put the beef and veal in a large bowl and spread the meat all over the bottom of the bowl and up the sides a little. (This will help you to distribute the seasonings evenly through the meat.) Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons salt. Then sprinkle the bread crumbs, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and parsley all over the meat and use your hands to mix the ingredients together. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and garlic. Drizzle the egg mixture over the meat. Mix the meat thoroughly with your hands.
• Test a meatball: Form 1 small meatball (about 1 inch in diameter) with your hands. Heat a splash of the canola oil in a small skillet over high heat. When the oil begins to smoke lightly, add the meatball, lower the heat, and cook it over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Taste for seasoning and texture. If it seems too wet, add some more bread crumbs to the mixture in the bowl. If it is too dry, add a splash of water. Adjust the seasoning of the mixture in the bowl as needed. Roll the remaining meat into balls; you should have about 40 very small meatballs.
• Cook the meatballs: Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add half of the remaining canola oil. When the oil begins to smoke lightly, remove the pan from the heat and add half of the meatballs in a single layer, spreading them apart somewhat so they have a chance to brown instead of steaming. Return the pan to high heat and brown the meatballs, turning them so they brown all around, until medium-rare, 2 to 3 minutes. Use a slotted spoon or spatula to transfer them to a baking sheet lined with a kitchen towel to drain. Wipe out the skillet and repeat the process with the remaining canola oil and meatballs.
• Cook the pasta: Bring 6 quarts water to a rolling boil in a large pot over high heat and season with 1/2 cup salt. The pasta water should taste like seawater. Add the lasagna sheets, stirring with a slotted spoon to make sure they do not clump or stick to the bottom, and cook for 4 minutes. Drain in a colander, rinse under cold water, and drain again. The pasta should still be very firm to the touch. Separate the sheets carefully so they don't stick together.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Assemble the lasagna: Spoon a thin layer of the sauce over the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Arrange a layer of pasta sheets over the sauce. Sprinkle one-fourth of the mozzarella, ricotta, and Parmigiano-Reggiano over the pasta, and then add another thin layer of sauce. Dot the surface with about one-third of the meatballs, spacing them evenly. Repeat the layering process two more times. Add a final layer of pasta and top it with the remaining sauce and cheese.
• Bake the lasagna: Cover the dish tightly with foil and put it in the center of the oven. Bake for 45 minutes. Then raise the oven temperature to 450 degrees F and remove the foil. Bake the lasagna until the top browns slightly, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the lasagna from the oven and allow it to cool for 15 minutes or so before serving.

CLASSIC LASAGNA

Steps:

• Make the sauce: Heat oil in a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Add sausage, if using, and cook, stirring occasionally, until it's starting to brown but not yet crisp, about 5 minutes.
• Add onion and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is totally softened and translucent (without letting it brown), 8 to 10 minutes. Add tomato paste and continue to cook, stirring until the tomato paste has turned a deeper brick red color, tinting the oil and onions a fiery orange color, about 2 minutes.
• Using your hands, crush the whole tomatoes into smaller, bite-size pieces and add them and the crushed tomatoes, stirring to scrape up any bits from the bottom of the pot. Fill one of the tomato cans halfway with water and add it to the pot. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomato sauce has thickened and flavors have come together, 20 to 30 minutes.
• Make the lasagna: Heat oven to 375 degrees and set a large pot of salted water to boil.
• Set aside 1 cup mozzarella. In a medium bowl, combine remaining mozzarella, ricotta, 1 cup Parmesan and cream; season with salt and pepper and set aside.
• Cook lasagna noodles in the large pot of salted boiling water until just softened (before they are even aldente), about 4 minutes. Drain and separate any noodles that are trying to stick together, slicking them with a bit of olive oil to prevent them from sticking further.
• Spoon a bit of sauce on the bottom of a 3-quart baking dish and top with a layer of noodles, avoiding any heavy overlap.
• Top with about 1 ¼ cups of sauce, and dollop ¼ of the cheese mixture over. Top with another layer of noodles and repeat three more times, ending with the last of the noodles (depending on size of the noodle/shape of the baking dish, you may have a few extra noodles) and the last of the sauce. Top with reserved 1 cup mozzarella and more Parmesan, if you like.
• Cover loosely with aluminum foil and place baking dish on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet (to prevent any overflow from burning on the bottom of your oven).
• Bake until pasta is completely tender and cooked through and sauce is bubbling up around the edges, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove foil and increase temperature to 450 degrees. Continue to bake until lasagna is golden brown on top with frilly, crispy edges and corners, another 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool slightly before eating.

CHEESY SHELL LASAGNA

Steps:

• In a nonstick skillet, cook beef and onions over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Drain. Stir in the tomatoes, spaghetti sauce and mushrooms. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. , Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions; drain., Place half of the pasta in an ungreased 13x9-in. baking dish. Top with half of the meat sauce, sour cream and provolone cheese. Repeat layers. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese., Cover and bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes. Uncover; bake 10 minutes longer or until the cheese begins to brown. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

OLD SCHOOL LASAGNA WITH BOLOGNESE SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Tomato Sauce:
• In a medium pot, heat the olive oil and add the onions and garlic. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. When it turns light brown, add the thyme, bay leaf and tomatoes. Simmer for 20 minutes, then taste for seasoning. Add more salt and pepper, if desired. Remove and discard the thyme and bay leaves. Stir in the basil leaves and shut off the heat to allow the sauce to "rest."
• Pasta: Bring the water to a boil over medium heat. Add the salt and the lasagna sheets. Cook for 4 minutes, drain and rinse under cold water. The pasta should still be very firm to the touch. Separate the sheets carefully so they don't stick together.
• Divide the tomato sauce in half and reserve half for the Bolognese and half for the lasagna.
• Assemble the lasagna:
• Spoon a thin layer of the sauce in the bottom of the baking pan. Arrange a layer of pasta sheets over the sauce. Sprinkle some of the mozzarella and Parmesan over the pasta and another thin layer of sauce. Repeat the layering process 2 more times. It is important there be remaining cheese and sauce for the top. Cook's Note: I love to get a corner piece from the pan and pick at the crispy edges of the top layer. When you finish, there should be 4 layers of pasta and 5 layers of filling.
• Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and put it in the center of the oven. Bake for 45 minutes. Raise the temperature of the oven to 450 degrees F and remove the aluminum foil. Bake until the top browns slightly, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool for 15 minutes or so before serving.
• Make the Bolognese while the lasagna is baking:
• In a large wide pot over medium-high heat, add the olive oil. Add the ground beef and cook until brown, about 4 to 5 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up the pieces. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Remove the beef from the pot and set aside. Set the pot back over the heat and add a little more olive oil. Add carrots, onion and celery. Cook until browned, about 5 minutes. Add the beef back to the pot, then add the reserved 1/2 recipe of tomato sauce. Cover slightly and simmer for 20 minutes.
• When done, finish with milk, taste, season and serve, spooned over the lasagna.

SHELLEY'S LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• In frying pan brown onions and ground beef.
• Combine rest of ingredients (except cheeses) to make sauce. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
• In lasagna pan or 9x13-inch baking pan, spray lightly with non-stick spray. Build your lasagna in this order, 1/3 sauce, one layer noodles, sliced cheese, 1/2 cheddar, 1/3 sauce, layer of noodles, last of cheddar, 1/3 sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella.
• Bake uncovered for 40 minutes.

LASAGNA-STUFFED SHELLS

Steps:

• Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat; add 1/2 of the ground beef with a big pinch of salt and pepper and cook until the beef is seared and crumbly, about 5 minutes. Remove beef from the pan and cook the remainder. Set all meat aside.
• Lower the heat to medium-low and add 1 tablespoon olive oil and the onion. Saute until aromatic, about 2 minutes. Add tomato paste and oregano, followed by the ground beef and one jar of sauce. Stir to combine and reduce to a simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add shells and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender yet firm to the bite, about 9 minutes. Strain; feel free to reserve some pasta water to add to the sauce if you like.
• Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in another pan over medium heat and add the garlic. Saute until lightly golden. Transfer garlic to a mixing bowl with ricotta, mozzarella, spinach, basil, and lemon zest and juice. Add salt to taste.
• Pour remaining tomato sauce into a 9x13-inch baking dish. Spoon the cheese mixture into the shells followed by the meat mixture. As you finish stuffing each shell, place it in the sauce. Top with Parmesan cheese.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the shells are hot in the center and the mozzarella cheese is melted and bubbly, 25 to 30 minutes.

SHELLY'S LASAGNA

Steps:

• Brown ground beef, stirring till no large lumps remain.
• Push meat to sides of pan and let water cook away until water has evaporated.
• While there is still water in the pan, pour in dried onion flakes.
• When water is gone and only grease remains, stir and then drain the meat through a colander.
• Add remaining spices and stir.
• Then add the spaghetti sauce and let simmer.
• While sauce is simmering, combine Cottage Cheese and Ricotta Cheese in mixing bowl.
• Beat together with a mixer until smooth.
• (At this point you can put the baby spinach in a food processor and chop finely and add to cheese mixture, if desired) Once sauce has simmered 15 to 20 minutes, gather cheese mixture, sauce, noodles and Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.
• Pour a layer of sauce into 13 x 9 inch baking pan or casserole dish.
• Using DRY noodles, spread the Cottage and Ricotta cheese mixture on each noodle and place in pan side by side.
• Then pour a layer of sauce over the cheese.
• Sprinkle with Parmesan to cover and then add a thick layer of shredded mozzarella.
• Repeat until there are 3 layers of each.
• (Note: When using dry noodles sauce should be a bit more thin than if using cooked noodles. The dry noodles will absorb the liquid and cook along with the rest) Cook in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 40- 45 minutes.
• Keep covered loosely with aluminum foil for the first 30- 35 minutes so cheese doesn't brown too much.
• Once it has baked, remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes to make cutting easier.

LASAGNA STUFFED SHELLS

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Fill a large pot with lightly-salted water and bring to a rolling boil; stir in the shell pasta and return to a boil. Cook the pasta uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pasta has nearly cooked through but still very firm to the bite, about 5 minutes. Drain well and rinse with cold water.
• While the shells are cooking, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat; cook and stir the beef and onion in the hot skillet until the beef is crumbly, evenly browned, and no longer pink. Drain and discard any excess grease; stir in the tomato paste, tomato sauce, salt, oregano, and garlic powder. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Spread half of the sauce into a 9x13-inch baking dish.
• Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl. Stir in the cottage cheese, 3/4 of the mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper. Spoon the cheese mixture into the shells and set them into the prepared baking dish. Once all the shells have been filled, pour the remaining meat sauce over the shells and sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella cheese.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the shells are hot in the center and the mozzarella cheese is melted and bubbly, 25 to 30 minutes.