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Barefoot at Brunch

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The Most Scrumptious Lasagna

in Recipes

One of my absolute favorite things to make from scratch is lasagna. I learned how to make lasagna when I studied abroad in college, so this recipe holds a lot of good memories for me. Everyone in my program (there were about forty of

It’s a labor-intensive process, but this delicious lasagna is well worth the work:)

us) lived in the same building together, and this lasagna recipe featured prominently at the Friendsgiving celebration we threw for ourselves. Not really your traditional Thanksgiving fare, but turkeys were in short supply in Switzerland, so we made do.

Making lasagna from scratch is a pretty labor-intensive process, not gonna lie. It takes a LONG time, and there are a lot of ingredients and steps. But it’s so worth it – I honestly think that knowing how much work went into making a meal makes it taste that much better in the end. The sense of pride I always get while watching other people enjoy this dish, knowing how hard I had to work to make it for them, makes the whole process worthwhile for me. (And even if you’re not too concerned one way or the other whether other people are enjoying the food you made, trust me – you’ll be proud of yourself for making this masterpiece.)

A few words of advice:

First, the order in which you cook things is important here. I would recommend that cooking the noodles, draining them, drizzling with olive oil, and setting aside to cool be one of the first things you do. The process of assembling the lasagna can be super miserable if you’ve just dumped a heap of scalding noodles into the strainer moments before you’re going to be trying to pick them up and layer them into the pan. (Can you tell I speak from experience? Because I do – don’t do this.)

Second, get started on the sauce before you get going with anything else. The sauce definitely requires the most attention, and the longer it can simmer so the flavors can meld, the better it’s going to be. One of the great things about this recipe is that the flavor of the sauce really shapes the dish, and you can add or subtract ingredients from the sauce as you like. As you’ll see below, I like to add onion, garlic, carrots and mushrooms to my sauce (in addition to various herbs, spices, and meat.) If that sounds good to you, go for it; otherwise, feel free to add/subtract as desired for your own signature spin.

Third, start earlier than you think you really need to. Just trust me on this. I’ve made this recipe numerous times, and it always ends up taking longer than expected. (Three and a half hours from the time I first started washing and chopping veggies to when the finished product came out of the oven last time, if you were wondering.)

Okay! So you get the idea – start early, expect it to be time consuming, don’t touch hot things. Right. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get to the recipe:

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The Most Scrumptious Lasagna

Ingredients

  • 1 package lasagna noodles

Sauce

  • 2 large sweet onions
  • 5 medium carrots
  • 5 large garlic cloves
  • 2 cups kale (finely chopped)
  • 2 16 oz packages mushrooms
  • 2 15 oz. cans petite diced tomatoes
  • 1 28 oz. can tomato sauce
  • 1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
  • 5 tbsp butter
  • 1/2 cup dry red wine
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Nutmeg
  • Fennel seeds
  • 1/2 cup chopped parsley
  • 1/2 cup chopped tarragon
  • 1/2 cup chopped rosemary
  • 1 cup chopped basil

Meat Filling

  • 1 pkg. spicy sausage
  • 1 pkg. ground beef (approx. 1 lb.)

Cheese Filling

  • 16 oz. ricotta
  • 16 oz. mozarella (shredded)
  • 16 oz. Parmesan, Asiago, Romano, or whatever other kind of cheese you prefer (shaved or shredded)
  • 2 large eggs
  • Sprinkle of pepper
  • Sprinkle of nutmeg

Instructions

Initial Prep

  1. Boil generously salted water in a large pot. Add lasagna noodles and cook according to box instructions.

    (Note: Lasagna noodles are kind of annoying to cook. You'll have to stand there for a few minutes after putting them in the water and jostle them around until they're all under the water.)

  2. Once noodles are cooked (you want them al dente, otherwise they'll get too soggy while baking in the oven), drain them and drizzle with olive oil. Set aside to cool.

  3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

  4. Meanwhile chop the garlic and onions; wash and chop the mushrooms, carrots and kale. Set aside.

Make the Sauce

  1. Melt 3 tbsp. butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and onion and cook for a few minutes, until the onion is translucent. 

  2. Add the mushrooms and carrots. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Add the fennel seeds. Allow the mixture to cook until the mushrooms have released their liquid and that liquid is reduced by half. This will take about 15-20 minutes.

  3. Once the liquid is reduced, add the chopped kale. Stir to combine.

  4. Add in the cans of tomatoes. Stir to combine and allow to cook for a few minutes.

  5. Add two more tbsp. butter, the red wine, another generous sprinkle of salt and pepper, and about 3/4 tbsp. nutmeg. Stir to combine and reduce heat to medium. Leave to simmer, stirring occasionally, while you move on to the next steps.

Prepare the Rest of the Ingredients

  1. Remove the casings from the sausage. Place the sausage and the ground beef into a skillet with a little olive oil; break into small pieces with a spoon and cook until almost cooked through.

  2. Wash and chop the herbs. Reserve about 1/4 cup of them in a small bowl.

  3. Stir the non-reserved herbs into the sauce.

  4. In a medium bowl, mix together the ricotta, the mozarella, and about half of whatever other cheese or cheese mix you're using. Add the eggs, the pepper and the nutmeg. Stir with a rubber spatula until thoroughly combined.

  5. Once the meat is cooked and the cheese is mixed, remove the sauce from heat.

Assemble the Lasagna

  1. In a 9x13 pan, layer the ingredients as follows:

     Sauce, noodle, cheese, meat, sauce, noodle, cheese, meat, and so on. 

     Really however you want - the order of layering isn't that important, as long as you put sauce as the first layer and end with noodle, sauce, cheese. Don't worry if you can't get the cheese mixture spread in a perfect layer - it will be sticky/lumpy, so just make sure the lumps are evenly distributed so that it will melt evenly as it cooks.

  2. Once you add the final layer of cheese mix to the top, there will probably be gaps (see above instruction.) Use the remaining shredded cheese you reserved to sprinkle over the top, so there is an even cheese layer. 

  3. Sprinkle the reserved herbs on the top of the lasagna.

  4. Bake in the preheated oven for about 35 minutes, until the cheese begins to turn golden brown on top.

  5. Remove from oven and let rest for about 5 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Recipe Notes

I usually put the pan containing the lasagna on a sheet pan, just to prevent any issues with sauce bubbling over the sides of the pan and getting the oven dirty:)

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