I made this for dinner this past Saturday night and it was a big hit! It does take time to make, so only make this when you have plenty of time.

We were planning to eat dinner around 7:30p and I started cooking at 5:30p. I placed it in the oven around 6:30-ish and we ate around 7:30-ish.

Recipe: Main Dish – Meat Lasagna

Tools:

• Chopping Board
• Knife
• Large/Deep Pan
• Spatula
• Large Plate
• Medium Size Bowl
• 2 Big Spoons
• Lots of Paper Towels
• Trash Can
• Pot
• Slotted Spoon
• Colander
• 9×13 baking dish

Sauce Ingredients:

• Butter
• Small or ½ Large Yellow or White Onion
• 1 Organic Green Bell Pepper
• Sliced Mushrooms (optional – my family doesn’t like them so I don’t use them)
• 1 lb of Grass-fed Ground Beef or 1 lb of ground pork Italian sausage (or half and half of each)
• 1 Tbs Fresh Minced Garlic
• 1 15oz Can Petite Diced Tomatoes – Drained
• 1 32oz Jar of Marinara Sauce
• 1/4 – 1/2 tsp Dark Brown Sugar
• 1/8 Lemon

Cheese Mixture Ingredients:

• 16oz – 20oz of Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese
• 1 8oz Pkg of Softened Cream Cheese
• 1 – 2 tsp of homemade or jar Basil Pesto
• ¼ Cup of Parmesan Cheese

Other:

• Lasagna Noodles
• Shredded Cheese of Choice (Mozzarella or Italian Cheese Blend)
• Salt
• Black Pepper
• Powered Garlic
• Italian Seasoning
• Pinch Red Pepper Flakes

Directions:

Place 16 – 20 oz of ricotta cheese on a large place and press it flat. Cover with paper towels, as the paper towels get wet, remove and replace. I went through a lot of paper towels, but drawing the moisture out of the ricotta will prevent the lasagna from being watery. I did this process for approximately 1 hour prior to layering. Alternatively, you could use a cheese cloth and squeeze the moisture out of the cheese.

Chop onion and green bell pepper in small equal size pieces. Place onion in hot pan with butter to brown over a medium-high heat. Add salt, pepper, and garlic powder. When onions are brown add green bell pepper, add more salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Continue to sauté over a medium-heat until brown. At this time, add the mushrooms if you show choose (add butter, and more seasonings as before). The key is to add seasonings to each layer of ingredients.

Add the ground meat, salt, pepper, a pinch of red pepper flakes, and 1 Tbs of fresh minced garlic. Continue to cook over a medium-heat until meat is browned.

Add the drained can of tomatoes, salt, pepper, and stir – then cook over a medium-heat the rest of the liquid out of them. Then add the jar of marinara sauce, salt, Italian seasoning, and stir – cook to reduce/thicken on a low-medium heat until the rest of the components are ready to layer.

Pre-heat oven to 375°.

Bring a pot of water with salt to a boil. Add noodles, stir and cook according to package instructions.

While cooking noodles, mix your Ricotta cheese, cream cheese, basil pesto, and parmesan cheese together in a bowl and set aside.

Once noodles are done, drain and rinse with cold water, and return to a pot of cold water (this will keep them from sticking together and getting gummy). Pat noodles dry just before layering. I placed paper towels out on my counter top, put 3 noodles down, and placed paper towels on top to pat dry.

Turn off the stove under the sauce.

Line up your 9×13 pan, sauce, cheese mixture, noodles, and paper towels on the counter for easy access.

Time to build…..

• Add a thin layer of meat sauce to bottom of pan
• Dry and layer 3 noodles (length wise in pan)
• Add more meat sauce
• Generous layer of shredded cheese
• Dry and layer 3 noodles (length wise in pan)
• Add entire cheese blend mixture
• Add more shredded cheese
• Dry and layer 3 noodles (length wise in pan)
• Add the remainder of the meat sauce

Cover with foil and puncture small vent holes with a knife. Bake for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and remove the foil. Add a liberal amount of shredded cheese of choice and bake for another 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes.

Done. Eat. Enjoy.

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