Content

• Ingredients
• To step
• Method 1 of 2: Make a simple lasagna
• Method 2 of 2: Add new ingredients
• Tips
• Warnings
• Necessities

Lasagna is one of the most popular main dishes of Italian cuisine and is popular with countless families. You can easily adapt the dish to your own taste and although it looks complicated, it is actually quite easy to prepare. Whether you want to make a classic Italian ground beef lasagna or add other ingredients, read on to spice up your lasagna as much as possible!

• Preparation time (Classic lasagna with minced meat): 20-30 minutes
• Cooking time: 60-70 minutes
• Total time: 80-100 minutes

Ingredients

Classic lasagna with minced meat

• 450 to 900 grams of meat, according to preference (Italian sausage, ground beef, lamb or a combination of meats)
• 450 grams of ricotta
• 450 grams of grated mozzarella
• 1 white onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 400 grams of chopped tomatoes
• 800 grams of tomato sauce
• 170 grams of tomato paste (optional)
• 1 pack of lasagne sheets (9-12 sheets)
• Grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano, according to preference
• 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil
• 100 grams of Cheddar (as topping)

To step

Method 1 of 2: Make a simple lasagna

1. Cook the lasagne sheets in boiling water. Try to avoid breaking the sheets because to build the lasagna later you will need whole sheets. Add a pinch of salt and prepare them according to the instructions on the box. Often the blades have to cook for about 10 to 12 minutes. Stir the pan every 1 to 2 minutes to prevent the lasagne sheets from sticking to the bottom of the pan. When they are done, you can drain the pasta and set the trays aside to cool.
   • You will need a large pot two-thirds full of water to cook the pasta. However, while the lasagne sheets are cooking, you can already move on to the next step.
   • Some companies sell lasagne sheets that don't require cooking. To be sure, check the packaging to see if cooking the pasta is necessary.
2. Pour a teaspoon of olive oil into a large frying pan and place over medium heat. Wait for the oil to heat up and shine. This means that the pan is hot enough. Adding the lasagna ingredients too early can make the meat tender and greasy.
3. Add one diced white onion and two cloves of garlic to the onion. Bake these for 2 to 3 minutes until they turn translucent. This means that you can see through the onion a bit. It is not necessary for the onion to be fully cooked at this stage.
   • Do you want to add more vegetables to your lasagna? Add 100 grams of carrots, celery or bell pepper to the pan to make the sauce slightly heartier. Fry these vegetables for 1 to 2 minutes with the glassy onion and garlic.
4. Add 450 grams of meat to the pan and fry well. Stir the meat into the onion and garlic and cook over medium heat. Add salt and pepper while roasting. If you have enough time, you can also roast the meat in a separate pan. However, this is not necessary.
   • If you are using sausage, it is best to remove the skin so that only the soft flesh remains.
   • You can also add half a teaspoon of oregano, basil, or rosemary if you like. A teaspoon of Italian herbs is also a delicious addition.
5. Transfer the meat and vegetables to a large saucepan. The pan should be large enough for both the sauce and tomatoes.
   • Now is a good time to check if the lasagne sheets are already good. These should have become slightly softer, but still have the necessary strength.
6. Toss the sauce and tomatoes together in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour the 800 grams of sauce, 400 grams of chopped tomatoes and the 170 grams of tomato puree together in a pan and stir the mixture well. Heat the whole over medium heat until the sauce starts to bubble gently.
   • You can also replace the homemade tomato sauce with a kilo of pasta sauce from a jar.
   • Now add the necessary herbs and spices such as garlic powder, sugar and other herbs. Add 1 teaspoon at a time. Many chefs use sugar as a counterpart to the natural acids in tomatoes.
   • If the sauce is boiling too hard, you can turn the heat down a little. The intention is for the sauce to bubble very quietly.
7. Let the sauce boil for 10 to 15 minutes. The longer you let the sauce cook slowly, the richer it will be. Stir the pan regularly and also scrape the bottom with your spatula so that the sauce does not burn. If you want to build the lasagna, you can remove the sauce from the heat and let it cool slightly.
   • The sauce does not need to be cold to build the lasagna. However, let it cool down a bit; this way you can work with it more easily.
8. Stir a beaten egg into the ricotta. Use a fork to beat an egg and then mix it with the ricotta. By adding the egg, the cheese will bind to the pasta layers, creating a beautiful whole in the oven.
9. Spoon a thin layer of the sauce into a large baking dish. Use a bowl with high edges or go for a large baking pan. Spread the sauce evenly over the bottom so that it is completely covered.
10. Cover the sauce with a layer of lasagne sheets. You should need about three blades to completely cover the bottom of the bowl. Make sure that the lasagne sheets overlap each other slightly. It is okay if the pasta sheets overlap each other by a few centimeters, but you can also cut the sheets to size with scissors. Make sure that the entire bottom of the dish is covered with pasta.
11. Cover the lasagne sheets with about a third of the ricotta. Spread a nice layer of ricotta over the pasta so that you can taste the cheese with every bite. Make sure to keep two-thirds of the ricotta - you'll need it for the next layers.
12. Spoon a third of the sauce over the ricotta. Use a serving spoon to scoop the sauce out of the pan and into the baking dish.
13. Now spread a thick layer of mozzarella over the sauce. This cheese is the last part of your first layer of lasagne. Make sure the sauce is barely visible unless you want to keep your lasagna slightly healthier and less fat.
14. Add the following layers in the same order - pasta, ricotta, sauce, mozzarella - until you run out of lasagne sheets. The top layer should consist of mozzarella. Keep adding layers to your lasagna until you have a delicious full bowl.
    • Add a layer of freshly grated Parmesan cheese or Pecorino Romano. Then put the dish in the oven.
15. Place the lasagna in the oven at 190 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and then place it in the preheated oven. To prevent the sauce from running over the edges of the dish during cooking and soiling your entire oven, you can place the dish on a baking pan if necessary. All the ingredients of the lasagna are actually already cooked, so cooking in the oven is purely to melt the cheese and allow the flavors to mix. If you're not very patient, you can take the lasagna out of the oven earlier if you want.
    • Remove the foil from the dish 5 minutes before the end of the cooking time. This gives the top cheese layer a nice golden brown color.
16. Let the lasagna cool for 10 minutes before serving. This gives the cheese the chance to harden a bit again and prevents the layers from sliding off each other while scooping the dish onto plates.

Method 2 of 2: Add new ingredients

1. Add new flavors to the ricotta to give your lasagna a real taste sensation. While mixing the egg with the ricotta, you can further flavor the cheese by adding the following ingredients:
   • 100 grams of Parmesan cheese, grated
   • 1 teaspoon of salt and black pepper
   • 100 grams of parsley
   • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg.
2. Include "meaty" vegetables in your sauce to make the lasagna vegetarian. You can then omit the meat completely, but vegetables can also be an excellent addition to the meat. Fry the vegetables in some olive oil for about 5 to 7 minutes, add onions and garlic, then finish the sauce in the usual way. If you use the vegetables in addition to the meat, you can omit half of the meat and cook the vegetables in a separate pan. Then add them to the sauce with the meat.
   • 1 large eggplant, sliced
   • 1 large zucchini, sliced
   • 450 grams of white mushrooms, sliced.
3. Create a layer of eggplant on top of the sauce. Cut the aubergine into slices about half a centimeter thick and fry them in a little olive oil. Set them aside and blot the fat off the aubergine with a paper towel. Then add a layer of eggplant to the sauce. Toss a layer of mozzarella on top of this and keep building the layers in the usual way. Create a layer of eggplant on top of each layer of sauce. You can also add layers of the following vegetables:
   • Roasted pumpkin
   • Blanched spinach
4. Replace the pasta with polenta if you want to prepare a gluten-free version of the lasagna. Just because you can't eat pasta doesn't mean you can't eat lasagna. Simply replace the layers of pasta with layers of polenta and follow the usual recipe.
5. You can also replace the pasta with squash pieces to create individual servings. This ingenious recipe is low in carbohydrates and not exactly the same, but that doesn't make the dish any less flavorful. Prepare it like this:
   • Cut the pumpkin into pieces and remove the seeds.
   • Place the squash on a baking sheet, cut side down. Then let it cook in the oven at 230 degrees for about 45 to 60 minutes. Check if the squash is soft by poking it with a fork. Pour about 3 inches of water into the can to keep the squash from drying out.
   • Fill each pumpkin piece with 1 or 2 spoons of ricotta, then a layer of sauce, then mozzarella. Repeat this until the pumpkin is full.
   • Let the mini lasagne cook for 20 minutes at 230 degrees in the oven. The lasagna is ready when the top cheese layer has melted.
6. Substitute some ingredients with South American varieties to make a Mexican lasagna. You can use grilled chicken instead of minced meat, although this is not necessarily necessary. The principles are the same as for Italian lasagna, but replacing a few ingredients with something else creates a completely different dish:
   • Tomato sauce → Taco sauce
   • Ricotta / Mozzarella → Queso Fresco / Cheddar
   • Pasta → Corn tortillas
   • Italian spices → Cumin, cayenne, red pepper, onion powder
   • Add 1 can of black beans and 1 can of corn to the sauce.

Tips

• If you buy precooked pasta sheets, you don't have to cook them yourself. There are also hard pasta sheets that do not require precooking. Check in the store which version you buy and how it should be prepared. This way you can easily save yourself a step!
• For an authentic taste, it is best to make your own sauce. To do this, use celery, carrots, onion and chopped tomatoes.
• If you want, make the ricotta yourself. This is surprisingly easy and gives your lasagna just that little bit more flavor.
• If you are bold enough and like to experiment, you can also cook your lasagna in the dishwasher instead of the oven.

Warnings

• Make sure the meat is well cooked before adding it to the lasagna.

Necessities

• Large baking dish with high rim
• Aluminium foil
• Large saucepan