Aunt Nancys Lasagna Recipes

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.

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer; drain. Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, oregano, pepper and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 40-50 minutes or until thickened., Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°. cook noodles according to package directions; drain. Discard bay leaf from meat sauce. Stir in olives., Spread a fourth of the sauce in a greased 13x9-in. baking dish. Top with three noodles and a third of the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers. Top with remaining noodles, sauce and cheese. , Bake, uncovered, 35-40 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil and cook the lasagna noodles for 10 to 12 minutes. Drain the noodles and drizzle them with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, and then set the noodles aside for later use. (If you are using no-boil noodles, skip this step.)
• Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet set over medium heat and cook the shallots until softened and translucent, 4 to 5 minutes. Add in the garlic and zucchini, and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the spinach and cook until wilted, 2 to 4 minutes.
• In a large bowl, stir to combine the ricotta, Parmesan, salt, pepper and egg, and set aside for a later use.
• To assemble the lasagna, spoon 1/2 cup of the Chunky Marinara Sauce into the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Top with 5 noodles, slightly overlapping. Spread one-third of the ricotta mixture over the noodles, then add one-third of the cooked zucchini and spinach, evenly distributing over the ricotta. Top with 2 cups of the mozzarella, then top with 1 cup of the sauce. Repeat the layering two more times, ending with a layer of noodles and a sprinkle of mozzarella.
• Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes.
• Remove the foil and continue to bake until bubbling and cooked through, 10 to 20 minutes more. Cool for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
• Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan set over medium heat and add the carrots, celery and onions, and cook until soft and translucent, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute, then stir in the oregano, chile flakes, tomato puree, chopped tomatoes and their juices, basil leaves and some salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook until the sauce has thickened, about 30 minutes.

Steps:

• For the Meatball Mix: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients. Roll meatballs into desired size and bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. For the lasagna, instead of rolling into desired size, spread mix out evenly on a sheet pan and bake. Break up the meat for lasagna.
• For the Meat Sauce: In a stock pot (or large cooking vessel) brown the ground beef. Add the celery/carrot/onion mix and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and the seasonings. Let simmer for 2 hours.
• For Aunt Angie's Lasagna: Using a 1/2 hotel pan or medium to large baking dish, coat the bottom with a thin layer of meat sauce. Lay out 4 pieces of lasagna so they go up the side of the pan with an additional 3 to 4 inches hanging over the edge. Do the same in the other direction of the pan using pieces of pasta. Add another layer of meat sauce, followed by 1/2 of the meatball mix. Then top the meat with 1 pound of the ricotta cheese, 1 pound of mozzarella, and 1/4 cup of Romano. Add a layer of pasta and repeat to have 2 layers. Fold over the remaining pasta to cover the top. Top with meat sauce and place in preheated oven and bake until proper serving temperature is reached or top is golden brown.

Steps:

• 1. Brown ground beef and drain off the fat. Add in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, garlic powder, and salt. Simmer and stir occasionally.
• 2. In medium bowl combine the cottage cheese, parmesan cheese, parsley flakes, eggs, and salt and pepper.
• 3. Layer in a 9x13 pan starting with the noodles, then cheese filling, then meat sauce, then mozzarella cheese. Repeat until all ingredients are used. Save a bit of mozzarella cheese for the last few minutes in the oven.
• 4. Bake for 30 minutes at 375*. Let stand for 5-10 minutes before cutting.

Steps:

• Cook and drain meat; add salsa and simmer 10 minutes. Beat eggs and stir in ricotta cheese. Layer in 13 inch baking dish as follows: 1/2 the tortillas, 1/2 the ricotta mix, 1/2 the grated cheese, 1/2 the meat. Repeat layers.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes.

Steps:

• Brown meat in oil. Add garlic, onion, tomato paste, water, and seasonings. Simmer for one hour. Cook noodles. Arrange in large baking dish, alternate noodles, cheeses, and sauce. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.