Fabulous Lasagna Food

FABULOUS FOOLPROOF LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a medium skillet over medium heat, cook the sausage until brown and the juices run clear. Drain and set aside.
• In a small bowl, combine ricotta, egg, basil, thyme, garlic powder, oregano and half the shredded mozzarella. Mix well, and set aside.
• Coat the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with a little of the spaghetti sauce. Place three noodles in the bottom of the pan, not touching. Spread a layer of the ricotta mixture, a layer of sausage, and a layer of spaghetti sauce over the noodles. Repeat three more times. Top with the reserved mozzarella and Parmesan. Cover with foil.
• Bake in preheated oven 30 minutes, remove foil and bake 15 minutes more, until golden and bubbly.

CLASSIC ITALIAN LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking pan with cooking spray or with a napkin dipped lightly in olive oil and set aside.
• In a large skillet, brown the ground turkey over medium-high heat, breaking the meat apart into pieces with a wooden spoon. When turkey is cooked through, drain the grease and set aside.
• In a medium-size saucepan over medium-high heat, add 2 tablespoons olive oil and one tablespoon butter. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. When oil/butter is hot, add the garlic, stirring constantly. When the garlic is lightly browned, but NOT burned, add the onion and mushrooms. Continue cooking on medium-high heat until the vegetables are soft and browned and the fluid has mostly cooked out.
• Remove from heat and either using a handheld immersion blender or transferring the vegetables to a blender, blend the vegetables to a paste-like mixture. Return the pot to the heat (pour the pureed vegetables back in, if using a stand-alone blender) and add the tomato sauce and tomato paste. Stir to combine. Then add the diced tomatoes, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir.
• Cover and let the sauce sauce simmer for 30 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Right before using the red sauce in the lasagna, stir in the reserved ground turkey.
• While the red sauce simmers, if using lasagna noodles that need to be boiled, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and boil the noodles for half the time suggested on the box. Once the noodles are cooked, drain, but do not rinse. Add a dab of olive oil to keep them from sticking together. If you are using no-boil noodles, you can skip this step.
• Also while the red sauce is cooking, melt the four tablespoons butter and when melted, add the flour, stirring constantly to combine and letting the mixture cook, while stirring, for a minute or two. Gradually add in the milk, whisking constantly. Add the salt and pepper. Slowly whisk the white sauce, ensuring it doesn't burn on the bottom of the pan, while cooking it over medium heat. Continue slowly stirring or whisking while the white sauce cooks and thickens quite a bit, about 5-7 minutes. Add a pinch of mozzarella for good luck, if you wish!
• To begin layering the lasagna, keep in mind that you'll have three layers of noodles as well as three layers of the sauces and cheese - so plan on splitting all the sauce and cheese piles into thirds so you don't run out at the end! On the bottom of your lightly greased baking pan, layer three pre-boiled noodles or four no-boil noodles, slightly overlapping the no-boil noodles. Layer the red sauce, white sauce, Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, spreading all to the edges and top with another layer of noodles. Again, layer the red sauce, white sauce, Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses and top with the final layer of noodles. Layer the sauces and cheeses again.
• Cover the lasagna with a greased layer of aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and let the lasagna sit for 15 minutes before cutting and serving.

FABULOUS LASAGNA

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Crumble sausage into large skillet; cook on medium-high heat until evenly browned, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, mix egg, ricotta, seasonings and 1 cup mozzarella until blended.
• Drain sausage. Spread 1/4 cup pasta sauce onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray; top with layers of 3 noodles, 1/4 each of the ricotta mixture and sausage, and a scant 1/2 cup pasta sauce. Repeat layers 3 times. Top with remaining cheeses; cover.
• Bake 1 hour or until heated through, uncovering for the last 15 min. Let stand 10 min. before cutting to serve.

SKINNY LASAGNA, FABULOUS AND NOODLE FREE (GLUTEN-FREE)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a 9 x 9-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
• In a microwave-safe bowl, add onions and mushrooms. Cook in the microwave for 4 minutes. Drain liquid. Next, place zucchini in a microwave-safe bowl and cook in the microwave for about 3 minutes, until soft. Drain liquid.
• Coat a large nonstick pan with cooking spray. Add ground turkey and garlic. Cook, breaking up the pieces until browned. Once browned, stir in 1 cup pasta sauce, cooked onions and mushrooms, Italian seasoning, and pepper. Mix well.
• In a bowl, mix together the ricotta cheese and egg. Combine well.
• To assemble lasagna: Spread ¾ cup pasta sauce on the bottom of baking pan. Add ½ of cooked zucchini. Spread ½ ricotta mixture over zucchini. Spread the entire turkey mixture over top of the ricotta. Add remaining zucchini over top of turkey. Add remaining ricotta. Spread remaining pasta sauce over the top of the ricotta. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese all over. Finally sprinkle top with Parmesan cheese.
• Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes.
• Remove foil and let casserole sit for 15 minutes. Cut into 6 slices.
• This casserole freezes great!

FABULOUS FRUIT LASAGNA

Steps:

• 1. Heat oven to 350˚F.
• 2. Lay 3 cooked lasagna (or chocolate) noodles in the bottom of 9-inch-square glass or metal baking pan you've coated with nonstick spray or buttered.
• 3. In a large bowl, combine the ricotta and mascarpone cheeses, white sugar, and egg, and beat until almost smooth.
• 4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, chili powder, and melted butter. Mix well.
• 5. Gently fold the sliced strawberries into the raspberries, blackberries and blueberries, being careful not to crush the raspberries.
• 6. Top the first layer of lasagna noodles with one-third of the berry mixture followed by one-third of the flour-sugar-spice mixture and one third of the cheese-egg-sugar mixture. Repeat, adding two more layers of all three components.
• 7. Bake for 45 minutes in an oven or over indirect heat in covered barbecue grill, until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Remove, cool for 10-15 minutes, and then serve with fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

MOM'S FABULOUS LASAGNA

Steps:

• For the sauce, in a large, 12-inch nonstick skillet, cook the ground meat and onion until the meat is cooked through. Drain any excess grease. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, dried basil, salt and pepper. Simmer the sauce for 20 minutes.
• For the filling, in a medium bowl mix the ricotta, egg, basil, parsley, salt, and Parmesan cheese.
• To assemble the lasagna, lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking pan. Spread 1/2 cup or so of the sauce over the bottom into a thin layer. Layer as follows: 3 noodles, red sauce, creamy filling, mozzarella, 3 noodles, red sauce, creamy filling, mozzarella, 3 noodles, red sauce, remaining mozzarella. (Basically, all layers - the noodles, red sauce, mozzarella - are split into three layers and the creamy filling is divided among two layers.)
• Cover with greased foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover, bake 20-30 minutes more until hot and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

MOM'S LASAGNA

Steps:

• In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and a three-finger pinch of salt and sweat them until they're translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the neck bones and let them brown, about 5 minutes. Add the ground veal, beef and sausage, and season with another healthy pinch of salt. Cook until the meat is browned, about 10 minutes. Stir in the white wine, tomatoes and their juice, and the bay leaves. Scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon, making sure to get all of the browned bits into the sauce. Season the sauce with salt, to taste, and simmer for 2 hours over medium heat. Remove the bay leaves and neck bones and let cool. Skim any fat that rises to the surface.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium heat. Add enough salt so that it tastes seasoned and allow the water to return to a boil. Add the noodles and cook until al dente. Drain well and set aside.
• In a medium bowl mix together the ricotta, parsley, basil, oregano, eggs, and Parmesan with a pinch of salt.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Ladle about 1 cup of sauce on the bottom of a lasagna pan. Arrange a layer of noodles followed by a layer of sauce and then some of the ricotta mixture. Top with a layer of mozzarella, smoothing it with a spatula to the edges. Repeat the process until the pan is full. Finish with a final layer of noodles, sauce, the mozzarella, and Parmesan.
• Cover the lasagna with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour. Uncover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let it rest, 5 to 10 minutes before serving.