Chef Joel & Jenn: Beef Lasagna
Similar to our Butter Chicken recipe from a week ago, this isn't the first time we've tried to make Beef Lasagna. When we first started to cook at home in 2010 or 2011 we tried to make lasagna. The recipe we were following at the time assumed we had a no-boil lasagna noodle which we did not. Unfortunately for that meal, that meant that we had some ultra hard lasagna noodles in the middle of our lasagna. We didn't make the same mistake this time and it turned out really well.
This version of beef lasagna was incredibly simple but delicious. After we pre-heated the oven and cooked the noodles and ground beef it was time to combine all of our ingredients, arrange it in the pan, and cook it for a little under an hour. Everything went super smooth. We ran a little low on Mozerella but otherwise were good.
An hour later we took the lasagna out and enjoyed a perfectly cooked lasagna. If I was to do this recipe over again I think I'd season the sauce a bit more and make sure we had ample mozzarella left for the top layer. Otherwise, the noodles were cooked perfectly and it turned out to be a very delicious lasagna.
Ingredients
- 9 lasagna noodles
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound ground beef*
- 1 onion, diced
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 (15-ounce) package whole milk ricotta
- 3 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella, divided
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil a 9×13 baking dish or coat with nonstick spray.
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook lasagna noodles according to package instructions.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add ground beef and onion and cook until beef has browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the beef as it cooks; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Drain excess fat. Stir in tomatoes and Italian seasoning until well combined.
- In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, 1/2 cup mozzarella and egg; set aside.
- Spread 1 cup tomato mixture onto the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish; top with 3 lasagna noodles, 1/2 of the ricotta cheese mixture and 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Repeat with a second layer. Top with remaining noodles, tomato mixture, 1 cup mozzarella cheese and Parmesan.*
- Place into oven and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until bubbling. Then broil for 2-3 minutes, or until top is browned in spots.
- Let cool 15 minutes. Serve, garnished with parsley, if desired.
