Italian Lasagna Recipe

Italian Lasagna Recipe makes an old fashioned classic three cheese lasagna that is creamy and delicious.

I put this recipe together this when I couldn't find the restaurant taste and quality from other recipes that I tried.

I tried mimicking the way my Italian friend, who owned and operated an Italian restaurant over 40 years ago, made his lasagna.

It was my son who added the sour cream to my original recipe over 30 years ago and we have been eating it that way ever since.

Add toasted butter and garlic bread to your menu for an amazing meal!

Italian Lasagna Recipe

• 1 (8 oz.) box lasagna noodles*
  
  
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  
  
• 1 lb. lean chuck ground beef
  
  
• 1 large bell pepper, chopped
  
  
• 1 medium onion, chopped
  
  
• 2 (28 oz.) cans crushed tomatoes
  
  
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
  
  
• 2 teaspoons sugar
  
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
  
  
• 1 teaspoon oregano
  
  
• 1/3 cup sour cream
  
  
• 2/3 cup Ricotta cheese
  
  
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
  
  
• 1/4 cup ground Romano Cheese
  
  
• 3 cups Mozzarella cheese, grated
  
  

Cook noodles according to directions on box until tender.

While noodles are cooking, place into a saucepan or large skillet, olive oil, ground beef, bell pepper, and onion.

Saute on medium heat until all pink color is gone from beef.

Add tomatoes, minced garlic, sugar, salt, and oregano to pan.

Cover pan and simmer on low heat, stirring frequently to prevent sticking, until thickened to the consistency of spaghetti sauce.

Takes about 15 minutes.

While sauce is cooking, mix sour cream and Ricotta cheese in a bowl and set aside.

When noodles and sauce are ready, assemble lasagna in a 9" x 13" baking pan.

Layer 1/3 of cooked noodles in bottom of pan.

Next layer 1/2 sour cream mixture.

Sprinkle with 1/2 of parsley.

Then spread on 1/2 of the tomato sauce.

Sprinkle with 1/2 of the Romano cheese.

Add another layer as above.

Top last layer with last 1/3 of noodles.

Sprinkle Mozzarella cheese over all.

Bake in a preheated 350F. oven for 25-30 minutes, just until cheeses are melted and starts to brown slightly.

Let cool a few minutes before serving.

The cheeses get very hot!

Serve with a tossed salad and toasted garlic bread for a delicious, complete meal.

*Lasagna Noodles come in 2 different shapes.

One shape is wide and flat.

The other shape has wavy edges

This wavy edged Lasagna Noodles is best to use because it allows a little sauce to run up under the edges for more moisture.

In addition, there is a non-boil version of the pasta.

Because of the length of time it takes to properly cook the noodles and other ingredients together for flavors to meld, I do not recommend the non-boiled version for this Italian Lasagna Recipe.

Traditional Italian Lasagna

SAUCE:

• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
  
  
• 1 large chopped onion
  
  
• 1/2 lb. lean ground beef
  
  
• 1/2 ground pork
  
  

• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
  

• 1/4 cup heavy cream
  
  

• 1 (28 oz.) tomato puree
  
  

• 1 (28 oz.) diced canned tomatoes, drained

Heat peanut oil in a saucepan until it simmers.

Add the chopped onions and sauté until soft. 

Add the ground beef, pork and salt.

Cook and stir until the meats no longer looks pink inside. 

Stir in the cream and cook until mixture thickens. 

Stir in the tomato puree and diced tomatoes.

Simmer 3 minutes or until the mixture is pipping hot. 

Place a lid on the pot, set it aside and keep it warm.

FILLING:

• 1 cup whole milk
  
  

• 1 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
  
  

• 1 cup Ricotti cheese
  
  

• 1/3 cup chopped basil
  
  
• 1 large egg, beaten
  
  

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix together Ricotta Cheese, basil, beaten egg and salt in a mixing bowl until well combined. 

Set it aside. 

Now, assemble your Traditional Italian Lasagna.

Grease the bottom of a 13" by 9" baking pan,  preferably a glass baking pan to see through with butter. 

Smear the bottom of the pan with 1/4 cup of the hot sauce.

To create your first layer.

Lay 3 uncooked Lasagna noodles in the pan lengthwise.

Spoon 3 tablespoons of the Ricotta Cheese mixture down the center of each noodle.

Level the mounds of filling with the back of a tablespoon.

Sprinkle 1 cup of the Mozzarella Cheese evenly over that. 

Spread 1 1/2 cup of the sauce over that. 

After making your 3 layers, sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese over the top.

Butter a large sheet of tin foil on the bottom and cover the top of pan. 

Bake in a preheated oven 375F. for 15 minutes.

Remove the foil and cook another 25 minutes or until it is lightly browned and bubbly.

Remove from the oven and cool about 10 minutes before serving.
 

History Of Italian Lasagna

History of Italian Lasagna Recipe is controversial.

The countries thinking the recipe began in their country are Greece, England and Italy.


Interesting, the name Lasagna is a Greek word. 

There is a wide range of dates touted. 

In addition to all that, those recipes of yesteryear were not like the recipes we know and love today. 

For example, the Italians introduced cheese to the recipe in the 1280s.

Those early recipes listed the spinach vegetable but did not list eggs or tomatoes.

Eggs were used in the recipe later and tomatoes, a very important ingredient now, appeared in the recipe in the 1880s in Naples, Italy.

The recipe slowly evolved over a long period of time.

My vote is that Italy originated the recipe.

Related Pages

Italian Chicken Casserole

Spaghetti Recipe

Return to Pasta Recipes


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