I made homemade lasagna the other night and it was too good not to share. It might be more time consuming, but let me tell you... it is WORTH IT! Here's how to do it:
Ingredients:
1 tbs olive oil
1 sweet yellow onion, diced
1 lb. ground beef
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chicken broth
40 oz marinara sauce
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Fresh lasagna noodles (do we need a recipe?!)
2 1/2 cups freshly grated mozzarella cheese
Cheese filling:
2 cups ricotta cheese
1 large egg
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
1 tbs fresh basil, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
STEP 1: Combine the cheese filling in a bowl
STEP 2: Make the meat sauce:
Heat the olive oil on medium and cook the onions for about 10 minutes, stirring, as not to burn.
Add the ground beef and and increase heat to medium-high. Use a ground beef tool my favorite is here (linked) to break up the meat so that it’s very fine. Cook for 8-10 min, or until cooked through. Add garlic for the last minute. Drain excess grease.
Add the chicken broth and use a silicone spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the pot and get all of the goodies. Add the marinara sauce and tomato paste. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover partially and let the sauce simmer for 30 minutes.
STEP 3: Preheat oven to 350
STEP 4: Boil and salt a pot of water to cook the lasagna noodles. Cook for about 5 minutes then transfer to a bowl of ice water to cool and then drain and lay flat for assembly.
STEP 5: Assembly!
Spread 1 large cup of meat sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch casserole dish. Next, add lasagna noodles, overlapping them if needed until they cover the bottom
Spread 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture over the noodles, followed by about 1 ½ cups of meat sauce.
Top with another layer of lasagna noodles, 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture, 1 ½ cups meat sauce.
Finish with 1 more layer of lasagna noodles, the rest of the ricotta mixture, and the rest of the meat sauce.
Top with the rest of Mozzarella cheese and about 1/2 cup of freshly grated parmesan.
STEP 6: Spray foil with nonstick cooking spray and place it spray-side-down on top of the baking dish to prevent the cheese from sticking to it.
STEP 7: Bake covered for 30 minutes then uncover and bake for another 30 minutes until top is brown and bubbly.
Let cool for 10 minutes and enjoy!