I’ve been making red sauce so long I’ve forgotten a few key points, which I rediscovered with this recipe. 1) Sausage tastes much better than ground turkey, so use some! 2) Crushed, sauced, and pasted tomatoes all have something different to offer the taste and texture, so use them all. I’ve includedthe full recipe for lasagna if you want to use your wonderful sauce for that.
Ingredients:
1 lb(s) sweet Italian sausage
3/4 lb(s) ground beef
2 garlic clove(s) -- crushed
3/4 cup(s) onion -- diced
28 oz(s) crushed tomatoes
7 oz(s) tomato sauce -- half of a regular can
12 oz(s) tomato paste
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp dried basil
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 bunch parsley
12 lasagna noodles
16 oz(s) ricotta cheese -- or cottage cheese
1 egg(s)
3/4 lb(s) mozzarella cheese -- sliced
3/4 lb(s) parmesan cheese
Directions
Meat Sauce:
1. In a large skillet or dutch oven, cook sausage, beef , onion and garlic until meat loses its pink color.
2. Add crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce and tomato paste, sugar, basil, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and half of the parlsey. Simmer low, partially covered, for 20 minutes stirring a few times.
Lasagna:
3. Cook noodles according to package directions, rinse with cold water and set aside. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
4. In a medium bowl mix together the ricotta cheese, egg, remaining parsley and 1/2 tsp. salt.
5. Assemble lasagna in 13x9 pan in this order:
- 1 1/2 c. best red sauce ever
- 6 noodles length wise
- half of ricotta cheese mixture
- 1/3 of mozzarella cheese slices
- 1/3 of parmesan cheese
- Repeat layers and top with remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Cover with tin foil.6. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove tin foil and cook up to 25 minutes more, cheese should be lightly “browned” and sauce bubbling on edges. Let cool approx. 15 minutes before cutting.
(Adapted from allrecipes.com World’s Best Lasagna)
