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World's Best Lasagna

SUBMITTED BY: Johnchandler PHOTO BY: Heather

"It takes a little work, but it is worth it."

RECIPE RATING:

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PREP TIME	30 Min
COOK TIME	2 Hrs 30 Min
READY IN	3 Hrs 15 Min

SERVINGS

(Help)

Servings
USMETRIC

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

1 pound sweet Italian sausage
3/4 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
12 lasagna noodles
16 ounces ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

FOOTNOTES

Wine Tip
Try with an Italian red like Barbera or Chianti Classico.

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REVIEWS

Reviewed on Nov. 4, 2007 by MommyFromSeattle

Excellent and Authentic recipe! A little more work and ingredients, but well worth it. Use... MORE

Reviewed on Nov. 30, 2006 by mrsbaldes

Full Review

The reviewer gave this recipe 5 stars. This recipe averages a 0 star rating.

mrsbaldes
Nov. 30, 2006

I made this recipe using some tips and tricks from previous reviewers and from my experience having worked in an italian restaurant. This recipe does not have to be as time intensive as is recommended in the instructions. As another reviewer noted, it is not necessary to cook the noodles--just soak them in hot water while you are cooking the rest of the ingredients. You also do not need to cook the sauce. Sounds bizarre, but it's true. If you make the lasagna ahead and leave it in the fridge overnight, the flavors blend perfectly, no cooking required. For a chunkier tomato sauce, I subbed 1/2 of the crushed tomatoes with diced italian-flavored tomatoes. I layered everything in this order: sauce-noodles-ricotta mixture-sauce-meat-shredded mozzerella...i did 3 layers like this and then finished with a layer of noodles, sauce and shredded mozzerella and a generous sprinkling of parmesean on top. Following this method, I had the whole thing put together and in the fridge in less than an hour. It sat overnight and my husband had it in the oven when I got home from work. Fantastic recipe!

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133 users found this review helpful

I made this recipe using some tips and tricks from previous reviewers and from my experience... MORE

Reviewed on Jan. 6, 2004 by LYNN LUKE

WOW! This really is World's Best Lasagna! From reading all the reviews, I made these changes:... MORE

Reviewed on Jan. 27, 2004 by Zanne Peters

I've convinced 3 (now-ex) boyfriends, my husband, and even a couple Italian friends at school... MORE

Reviewed on May 1, 2004 by FIGHTPILOTSWIFE

I read all the reviews and really followed "Cookerbob"'s advise. Here's what I changed: used... MORE

Reviewed on Feb. 8, 2004 by canuckchef

What a great lasagna. Thank you John Chandler for this recipe. After reading several of the... MORE

Reviewed on Jul. 31, 2008 by Mickey

Full Review

Mickey
Jul. 31, 2008

I am giving this 5 stars b/c all of my friends liked it and asked me for the recipe! I made this for my women's group holiday dinner. I would personally give it 4 stars. It was a bit too meaty for me and there didn't seem to be enough ricotta (but I know a lot of peopele don't like ricotta anyways). I followed a couple reviewer's suggestions and soaked the noodles in a large roasting pan (try it -there is plenty of room to allow the noodles to lay flat) in VERY hot tap water for about 30 minutes. I added the browned meat / garlic / onion mixture to the tomatoes, paste, sauce, seasonings, etc. WITHOUT simmering. I assembled the lasagna the evening before (sauce, 6 noodles, ricotta, mozzarella slices, sauce, Parmesan, exact same layer again and sprinkled with shredded mozzarella and rest of Parm). I purchased a 1 lb. package of sliced mozzarella and ended up using all of it (and it turned out fine). Also purchased mild Italian sausage (not the sweet stuff - couldn't find it). Be sure to use fresh parsley. It gives the dish nice color and adds a fresh taste that you won't get from the dried stuff. Also, be sure to add fennel seed. It really adds nice flavor to the dish. Leftovers were yummy. I took some to my parents, and my mom had one square. My dad ate the other 4! This one's a keeper, and is worthy of all stars because of the compliments - and shortcuts. Try them, they REALLY, REALLY work!. Thanks!

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41 users found this review helpful

I am giving this 5 stars b/c all of my friends liked it and asked me for the recipe! I made... MORE

Reviewed on Mar. 19, 2008 by Sylvia

Full Review

Sylvia
Mar. 19, 2008

I quadrupled this recipe for 32 men, and it went over so well ... they came back for seconds, and asked for the recipe for their wives ... now how many men do you know that ask for a recipe? I made a few changes to this recipe based on past reviews and am glad I did ... here are my suggestons ... use fresh whole wheat lasagna noodles (found in the deli dept.) ... no need to cook them and they come in sheets ... make 3 layers for lasagna dish ... therefore, you would require 8 fresh lasagna sheets ... I had to read through a lot of reviews to figure out what to do with the italian sausage, as it doesn't explan in the recipe how to cook that ... what you do is buy mild italian sausages (couldn't find sweet italian sausage and I understand through most reviews that most people can't) ... you then remove the casing around the sausage, remove the meat and fry the meat until cooked in a frying pan ... instead of using 1 tbsp. salt in the sauce, I used 1 tsp. ... and it was perfect ... I suggest going with your taste ... same thing with the sugar ... go with your personal taste ... the layers were a little difficult to figure out so here is what works ... make 3 layers ... first layer is meat sauce, noodles, mozzarella cheese, and parmesan cheese ... 2nd layer is meat sauce, noodles, ricotta cheese mixture (add a little nutmeg for taste), parmesan cheese ... 3rd layer is meat sauce, noodles, mozzarella cheese, and parmesan cheese ... defiitely add the fennel seeds ... gives great f

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39 users found this review helpful

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World's Best Lasagna

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INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

DIRECTIONS

FOOTNOTES

REVIEWS