Looking for a Lasagna Recipe

[romantico]

My Mom's Birthday is next week and she mentioned yesterday that she has not had Lasagna in a long time. I've never made it before and was curious if anyone had a good (and simple) recipe for lasagna. I tried google but am overwhelmed with all the various kinds of recipes. I'm looking for a nice homemade meat lasagna recipe and was curious if anyone here had one (or any tips since I've never made it before) Thanks!

[Paulie]

1. I've had good luck following the recipes on the lasagne noodle boxes

I prefer no cook noodles for my lasagne.

Good luck

[OriginalGeek]

8. EXACTLY what I came in to post.

so easy and delicious. I can't even make my own sauce so I use jars from the grocery store and it's still a pretty good lasagna and you get a whole pan of it for about the same price as one serving at Carrabba's.

We usually brown hamburger and mix that into the jar sauce and if we're feeling really froggy we might let it simmer with a little red wine for a while before using it. I also increase the amount of mozzarella and paremesan cheese on top but those are simple alterations that don't screw things up. (I love cheese so I use a lot).

I've been known to layer in a little thinly-sliced deli pepperoni on occasion too.

[Kali]

9. me too

but I have to say, stouffers regular meat lasagna is so damn close to my homemade without the work or the mess, that I hardly ever make it anymore

[hlthe2b]

2. The folks in the Cooking & Baking group almost certainly will come through...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1157

Give it a try

[Trajan]

3. Ah ... Lasagna !

I do not have a precise recipe, but some advice ...

> Yeah ... no cook noodles are good, just make sure they have ample sauce to cook in (no bare spots)

> Use real Ricotta cheese, not cottage cheese.

> Fresh Mozzarella cheese .... I also will shred a little Gruyere to mix into the Mozzarella, and some Parmesan Reggiano, to give it a stronger, cheesier character

> My mom cooked Sweet Italian Sausage, cut into 3/4-1" sections, along with smallish Meatballs of about the same size, in her homemade sauce, for hours .... Simmering the sauce and meat brings a lot of love to the party ....

Follow another recipe for timing ... Good luck .....

[LiberalEsto]

10. I mix a raw egg into the ricotta

and I use part-skim ricotta and mozzarella. Sometimes I also mix a little chopped parsley or basil into the ricotta.

We don't eat meat, but my first mother-in-law, who is Italian, used to make lots of small meatballs just a bit larger than jelly beans, and tuck those everywhere in her lasagna instead of layers of ground beef.

[Trajan]

11. yeah ... like that ....

we mix egg in as well, along with parsley and or basil..... ricotta does well with savory aromatics ...

My mom is half Italian, and I was raised with the constant smelll of garlic and spaghetti sauce in the house ... she loved using Italian sausage or small meatballs in many of our dinners ... I still love that kind of Italian comfort food ....

Yum

[LiberalEsto]

12. Did she make broccoli rabe steamed until wilted?

I love that stuff.

She also used to cook up a mix of freshly picked garden vegetables - something she called giambotte, I think. And she'd serve a pie filled with cooked rice, sweetened ricotta and eggs for Easter. How that woman could cook! She even made sausage using an old-fashioned meat grinder. She basically taught me a lot about cooking, since I wasn't that fond of my family's Estonian food (potatoes, meat, sauerkraut, split pea soup) and never learned to make it.

[applegrove]

4. Use a mixture of harvarti, mozzarella & white cheddar instead of just mozza. Sprinkle

dried tarragon on each cheese layer. Use Hunts tomato sauce as the tomato sauce (add oregano & garlic).

[romantico]

5. Thanks!

Thanks so much for the tips!

[MiddleFingerMom]

6. I used to make a killer Chicken-Broccoli Alfredo lasagna, but you want red sauce.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

7. best with cottage cheese, moz and parmesan

MUCH less expensive too. The real trick is not to boil the noodles too long or they will break on you.

Happy Birthday to your Ma!

[talkingmime]

13. It's simple. Get the "pre-cooked" lasagne noodles - they look like cardboard.

Get three jars of spaghetti sauce, at least one tub of ricotta, a bag of baby spinach, and whatever sort of meat you want to put in it (pre-cooked).

Use a glass caserole dish (large) and cover the inside surfaces with olive oil. Put down layers in order, sauce, noodles, filling, ricotta. Repeat until you've only got half an inch remaining. Cover it in aluminum foil and bake it at 375 for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and let it go another 30 minutes in the oven. It will be done by then.

If you need help with any part of it, PM me.

Note: Mushrooms, garlic, red pepper, and shredded carrot make it much more interesting.

[LeftofObama]

14. World's Best Lasagna recipe!

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/worlds-best-lasagna/Detail.aspx

I have made this a few times and I always get compliments on it. Here's the secret...Make the sauce the day before just like the recipe calls for. Let it simmer per the directions, then let it cool and put it in the refrigerator. This will allow all the flavors to "marry". The next day when you're ready to make your lasagna just heat it up and make the lasagna according to the recipe. You will get rave reviews!