Classic Lasagna with Meat Sauce

The ultimate comfort food. A dense lasagna with hearty meat sauce and an abundance of cheese.

Yesterday flew by.  Like I went into the office at 7:30 and before I knew it it was noon. Not that I mind too much.  I was super glad when the day was done but man Monday almost didn't exist for me. I am torn about whether or not I want the trend to continue today.

After a day like Monday all I want is to come home to a nice comforting meal. For me, that meal is lasagna. Lasagna was something I always requested from my mom when I came home from college. There is just something about the layered pasta, red sauce, and cheesy goodness that I cannot get enough of. 

This meal is a little time consuming for a week night but in my mind it is well worth the extra effort. Plus it leaves plenty of leftovers.  I will be eating this all week long.

Classic Lasagna with Meat Sauce

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Keywords: bake entree ground beef pasta Italian

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Ingredients (serves 8)

• 1 1/2 cups fat-free ricotta cheese
• 6 ounces part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, divided
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh oregano
• 5 garlic cloves, minced and divided
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 12 ounces extra-lean ground beef (93% lean)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 (28-ounce) canned crushed tomatoes
• Cooking spray
• 12 lasagna noodles, cooked
• 1 ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated (about 1/4 cup)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°.

Combine ricotta, about 1/2 cup mozzarella, 2 tablespoons parsley, oregano, 1 garlic clove, and egg; set aside.

Place ground beef in a large non­stick skillet over medium-high heat; sprinkle with peppers and remaining 4 garlic cloves. Cook for 9 minutes or until beef is browned, stirring to crumble; drain. Return beef mixture to pan; stir in marinara sauce, and remove from heat.

Spread 1/2 cup meat sauce in bottom of a broiler-safe 11 x 7–inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Arrange 4 noodles along the bottom of the dish. Top noodles with 1 cup meat sauce, and then 1/2 of the ricotta mixture. Repeat.

Arrange remaining 4 noodles on top. Spread remaining meat sauce over top noodles. Sprinkle evenly with remaining 4 ounces (1 cup) mozzarella cheese and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

Cover with foil coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until bubbly.

Preheat broiler to high. (Keep lasagna in oven.)

Broil lasagna for 1 to 2 minutes or until cheese is golden brown and sauce is bubbly. Remove from oven; let stand 10 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons parsley.

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Italian Sausage with Gnocchi & Red Peppers {SRC}

Up the ante with this dinner of hot Italian sausage served with gnocchi, red peppers and onions. 

Finally March is over. I wouldn't normally be so happy but March has not been a very good month. I am ready to say goodbye and move on to April.  Hopefully April will bring warm weather and sunny skies.

The end of the month also means it is time for The Secret Recipe Club reveal. I had a newbie from New Zealand, Couscous and Consciousness.  She had many tempting dinners to pick from but ultimate I ended up with Italian Sausage with Gnocchi and Red Peppers.  The night I made this it was cold and rainy outside. I couldn't think of a better way to warm up than with this comfort food dish.

The recipe was essentially just how I made it only I subbed out lemon juice for the original preserved lemon and added some onion. I was a bit skeptical on how it would turn out once I put in the chicken broth but was happily surprised to have the liquids thicken right up.  The hot Italian sausage made the dish a bit hot but you could use sweet Italian sausage if you don't like heat. Overall the flavors were bold but the dish wasn't too heavy as it would have been with a tomato sauce.

We will be certainly having this again. Thanks for the great recipe, Couscous and Consciousness!

Italian Sausage with Gnocchi and Red Peppers

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

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Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 lb Hot Italian pork sausages
• 1 red pepper, seeded & cut into strips
• 1 small onion, sliced
• olive oil
• flaky sea salt
• 12 oz frozen gnocchi
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• generous handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

Instructions

Remove the sausages from their casings and break the sausage meat into bite-sized pieces.

Set a large skillet over medium heat with a tablespoon of olive oil. As soon as the oil is heated, add the sausages pieces. Move them around in the pan from time to time, until they begin to brown. Once the sausage is browning add the red pepper and onion strips.

Sprinkle with a small touch of sea salt and continue cooking until the sausages are brown and crispy and the peppers softened. Remove from the pan and set aside.

While this is cooking, make the gnocchi according to package directions.

Add another couple of tablespoons of olive oil to the pan, and then add the gnocchi. Stir them around to coat them all in the oil, and then fry for a few minutes to brown a little. Pieces will stick to the bottom of the pan.

As soon as the gnocchi have browned a bit, add the sausages and peppers back into the pan, stir to combine.

Add the bay leaf, lemon juice and chicken stock. Stir and scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen all those stuck bits. Cook until the liquid thickens.

Remove from the heat and discard the bay leaf. Sprinkle parsley over the top and serve immediately.

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An InLinkz Link-up

fitting in with the neighbors making stuffed bread and WIAW

It is Wednesday and feels like it should be Friday. Monday was the worst ever. Seriously.


Tuesday wasn't so hot either. Hopefully today will be better.

Sunday we ended up having a later breakfast that included eggs, bacon, a leftover jalapeno cheddar cheese corn muffin, and strawberries. I guess it was more of a brunch given the amount of food and timing.

Lunch was stuffed Italian bread. Have you ever heard of such a thing?  I had no clue until moving to Connecticut. There are tons of people here with Italian heritage around us.  Thus there are also tons of Italian restaurants and delis. A staple at all of these food stores is stuffed Italian bread. Think a pizza rolled up with no sauce. Filling options are endless. Still not sure what the difference is between a Stromboli and stuffed bread.

Stuffed Bread with Spinach, Mozzarella and Pepperoni

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Keywords: pizza

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Ingredients (serves 6)

• 1 ball of store bought pizza dough
• 1 8oz bag of shredded mozzarella
• 1 bag sliced pepperoni
• 1 box frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a medium saute pan, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil. Add onion and cook until soft. Top with chopped spinach and heat through. Remove from heat.

Roll out pizza dough to a 9X13 rectangle.

Spoon spinach mixture on top of dough, leaving a centimeter of space to the edge of dough. Layer pepperoni slightly overlapping on top of spinach mixture. Cover with mozzarella cheese.

Gently roll dough into a cylinder and tuck edges in on ends and press closed.

Place pizza dough roll on a cookie sheet with seam side down.

Bake until cooked through and dough begins to brown, about 25 minutes. Allow time to cool slightly before slicing.

Serve with marinara sauce.

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This was fun to snack on around lunch time. I also loved the swirl of colors. I was being super wife and added pepperoni. No my favorite but Mr. J loves it.

Dinner I was on my own and had take out. A house salad and half a chicken parmesan sandwich.  Remember what I said about all of the Italian restaurants. Well, we live about 100 feet from one.  Oh so convenient when you want take out.

Is there a specific type of restaurant that you have more of around you?  Do you enjoy that type of food?

Skillet Lasagna

I have been seeing skillet everything for a while now.  Most of them involve a cast iron skillet.  I don't have one.

Hint, hint. Cough, cough.  My birthday is coming up.

Thus, I have been holding off on attempting any of these delicious creations.  Finally I decided I was tired of waiting.

I love lasagna.  It was one of those things I requested at home every break from college.  I don't make it regularly myself because well it makes a ton of food, a ton of dishes, and it takes a long time to make.  Definitely not ideal for a work day meal.

But then came the skillet lasagna.  It still makes a ton of food but you do everything in one pan and the cook time is only about 30 minutes.  Super easy.

First off you cook the onions, garlic and green peppers.  Then, you add in the meat to brown.

Followed by the pasta layer. I picked bow tie. I don't get why you would buy lasagna noodles to break them up.  Bow tie was on sale for $1 per box. They are exactly like mini lasagna pieces.  Topped with diced tomatoes and sauce.  Put the lid on and simmer for 20 minutes.

I was skeptical that the pasta would cook enough with the minimal liquids.  I basically stood hovering over the dish for the whole twenty minutes.

It was a long wait.  When the timer finally chimed off, I quickly took of the lid to sample the pasta.  Perfect. I don't know if I got lucky or what but the pasta was just past al dente.

The recipe calls for ricotta which I used sparingly since Mr. J hates ricotta. I added fresh mozzarella.  He didn't notice the ricotta and I was a bit peeved I didn't add more.  I love the extra cheesiness.

 

With the cheese added, you put the lid back on to soften everything up for about 5 minutes. 

Not bad for a Monday night dinner.  I had a cutting board, knife, and large spoon to clean in addition to the skillet. 

I am still working on the ton of food part.  We ate about 1/4 of this dish.  Let's just say I planned to have plenty available for lunch the rest of the week.

Skillet Lasagna

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Keywords: saute entree Italian

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Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 1 small green pepper, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 1/2 pound Italian sausage
• 10 lasagna noodles, broken into 2-inch pieces
• 1 8-oz can tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Instructions

Add the diced tomatoes along with their juice to a 1 quart (4 cup) measuring cup. Add enough water to bring the volume to 1 quart total.

Set a large nonstick skillet over medium heat and add the oil. When it starts to shimmer, add the onion, green pepper and the salt. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until the onion begins to brown, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and red pepper and cook just until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the meat, using a wooden spoon to break it apart. Cook until the meat is browned.

Add the broken noodles to the pan, but do not stir - just let them sit on top of the onion/meat mixture. Pour the tomato/water mixture and the tomato sauce over the noodles (again, don't stir). Cover the pan and bring the liquid to a simmer. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer and cook, now stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender (about 20 minutes).

Turn off the heat under the pan. Stir in 1/2 cup of the Parmesan and season to taste with salt and pepper. Drop the ricotta by heaping spoonfuls onto the top of the lasagna (don't stir to incorporate), then cover and let stand for about 5 minutes to allow the cheese to soften. Remove the cover and sprinkle with the basil and remaining Parmesan.

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