Contadina Classic Lasagna Food

CLASSIC LASAGNA

Steps:

• In large heavy pan lightly brown beef and onion in oil.
• Add tomatoes, paste, water, parsley, salt, sugar, garlic, pepper, and oregano; simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile cook lasagne as directed; drain.
• In 13x9x2" baking pan, spread about 1 cup sauce.
• Then alternate layers of lasagne, sauce, ricotta, mozzarella and parmesean cheese, ending with sauce, mozzarella and parmesean.
• Bake at 350 for 40 to 50 minutes until lightly browned and bubbling.
• Allow to stand for 15 minutes; cut in squares to serve.
• Makes 8 servings.
• I make this a lot and serve with Italian garlic bread and salad.
• It always gets a rave review, especially if the mozzarella strings with every bite.

TRADITIONAL CANADIAN LASAGNA

Steps:

• Brown the beef with the garlic; stir to break into small pieces of meat
• Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Add 4 cups cooked beef to 2 cups homemade tomato sauce; combine well
• Check again for seasoning
• Wring frozen spinach inside a thick tea towel until all liquid is dispelled
• Combine all ingredients
• Spread 1/2 cup Homemade Tomato Sauce onto the bottom of the pan; it will be sparse
• Place 4 lasagna noodles on top of the sauce (these will fit perfectly in the 11 x 13 inch casserole pan)
• Spread 1 cup of meat sauce very sparsely over the noodles; cover with 4 lasagna noodles
• Spread 1 1/4 cups of meat sauce very sparsely over the second layer of noodles; cover this layer of meat sauce with mozzarella cheese slices
• Cover the cheese slices with 4 lasagna noodles (at this point, you will need a couple of half pieces of noodles and ends if your casserole dish fans outwards as the surface area grows with each layer)
• Spread the entire cottage cheese and spinach mixture over the third layer of lasagna noodles; top this with another layer of lasagna noodles
• Cover the last layer of lasagna noodles with 1 1/2 cup of meat sauce, sparsely distributed over the noodles (if you have enough room, make one more layer of noodles and a final layer of meat sauce)
• The meat sauce will be the top of the lasagna; cover that with generous slices of mozzarella cheese
• Wrap tightly in plastic wrap; date and label; freeze for future use
• Bake frozen in 350 degree oven for 2 to 2 1/2 hours until bubbly and cheese on top just starts to brown (cover with tented foil while still baking, to avoid over browning, if necessary)
• Preheat oven to 350F
• Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes until bubbly and cheese on top just starts to brown (cover with tented foil while still baking, to avoid over browning, if necessary)
• If you have a lot left over, portion into individual pieces, wrap well, label, date and freeze and these make great individual lunches

CLASSIC CONTADINA® SPAGHETTI SAUCE

Steps:

• Combine sausage, onion and garlic in a large skillet. Cook over medium-high heat 4 to 5 minutes or until sausage is no longer pink inside, stirring to break up sausage.
• Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, mushrooms, oregano, basil, salt, sugar.
• Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cook, uncovered, 30 minutes. Serve over hot cooked pasta.

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.

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.

CONTADINA® BUTTERNUT SQUASH LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 13x9-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray; set aside. Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions; drain.
• Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat; cook onion and garlic 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Add squash, crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, basil, rosemary, balsamic vinegar and sugar. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer 12 minutes or until squash is tender.
• Remove from heat. Lightly mash squash with a potato masher.
• Stir together ricotta, egg and 2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese in a medium bowl; set aside.
• Layer 4 lasagna noodles, 1/3 sauce, 1/3 ricotta mixture and 1/3 mozzarella cheese.
• Repeat 2 more times ending with ricotta and mozzarella.
• Cover with foil. Bake 45 minutes. Remove foil. Sprinkle with remaining 2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese. Bake, uncovered, 10 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned.
• Remove from oven. Let rest 5 to 10 minutes. Sprinkle with additional chopped basil before serving, if desired.