Beef Lasagna Recipe
Ingredients
- Lasagna Noodles (9)
- Olive Oil
- Minced beef (one cup)
- Onion
- Garlic
- Red Wine (1/4 cup) or Beef Broth
- Marinara Sauce (Homemade or Store Bought)
- Black Pepper
- Dry Thyme
- Sugar
- Parsley
- Cottage Cheese (16 ounces)
- Ricotta Cheese (15 ounces)
- Egg (1 large)
- Mozzarella
Method of Preparation
- Take 9 lasagna Noodles and cook into salted water until al-dente as per the instructions on the package (don’t over cook the noodles as they will soften a little bit when the lasagna is baked)
- Once cooked, drain the hot water and pour cold water to stop the cooking process and to keep them from sticking together
- Take a deep cooking pan and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, add 1 cup of minced beef and one small diced
- Cook the minced beef on medium heat for 5 minutes or until the meat is no longer pink
- Add two large, minced garlic cloves and cook for another minute or until fragrant
- Then add 1/4 cup of good red wine and cook until it is mostly evaporated
- Add three cups or 24 ounces of marinara sauce, ½ tsp of salt, ¼ tsp of pepper, ¼ tsp of dry thyme, ½ tsp sugar and 2 tsp of chopped parsley
- Bring the mixture to a simmer and then cover and cook for 5 minutes
- Take a large bowl, add 16 ounces of cottage cheese, 15 ounces or ricotta cheese, one cup of shredded mozzarella, one large egg and 2 tsp of finely chopped parsley
- Mix until well blended
- Take a deep 9*13 casserole dish, spread half cup of meat sauce (prepared in step 8) evenly on the bottom, and cover that with 3 lasagna noodles
- Now add 1/3 of remaining meat sauce evenly on top of noodles and sprinkle the top with one cup of mozzarella cheese
- Add half of the cheese sauce (prepared in step 10) on top and spread evenly
- Cover again with 3 lasagna noodles and start the process from step 11 again until you have 3 layers of noodles
- Pre heat the oven to 375 degrees F
- Cover the third top layer of noodles with remaining meat sauce and spread mozzarella cheese on top
- For baking it needs to be covered with aluminum foil
- Take 8-10 toothpicks and poke them evenly into the lasagna to keep aluminum foil from sticking with cheese
- Take a large sheet of aluminum foil (or join two sheets to make a large piece), loosely cover the top of the dish and seal the edges by pressing against the dish edges
- Now bake it at 375 degrees F for 45 minutes
- Then remove the foil and set the oven to broil for 3-5 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown
- Keep the lasagna to cool down for 30 minutes in the pan to make it easier to slice it
- Remove the toothpicks
- Add fresh finely chopped parsley on top
- Cut it into desirable pieces
- Enjoy the delicious lasagna
