Meat and Ricotta Cheese Lasagna

Ingredients

Meat Sauce

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 pound of ground beef or a mix of half ground beef and Half Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 medium onion chopped fine
• 6 medium garlic cloves minced or pressed through a garlic press
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 28 ounce can tomato puree
• 28 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling

• 15 ounce ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 cup finely chopped basil
• 1 pound shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (about 1 cup)
• 12 no-boil lasagna noodles

Directions

Meat Sauce

1. Using a large cooking pot, heat the tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add the meat and cook breaking it apart to a crumbly texture until it has browned through.
2. Transfer the meat and any fat to a bowl and set aside.
3. Add one tablespoon of the fat back to the pot and turn heat to medium.
4. Drain off any additional fat from the meat and discard.
5. Add the onions and cook until tender, scraping up the brown bits from the pot and incorporating n. Add the minced garlic and pepper and cook for half a minute. Return the meat back to the cooking pot.
6. Stir in the tomato puree,the drained diced tomatoes and salt.
7. Save the liquid from the diced tomatoes for another time.
8. Bring to a boil, then turn down to very low and simmer for one hour.

Assemble the lasagna

1. Preheat the oven 400F.
2. Place the ricotta, cream, egg, salt, and pepper to the bowl of a food processor. Puree until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and mix in the chopped basil.
3. Stir the grated Parmesan and shredded mozzarella together in a separate bowl and set aside.
4. Place 1/4 cup of the tomato sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking, avoid using any big chunks of meat.
5. Place 3 noodles on the bottom of the dish.
6. Drop 3 tablespoons of the ricotta mixture in one tablespoon dollops along each noodle.
7. Roughly spread the cheese mixture out on each noodle with the back of the spoon.
8. Evenly sprinkle 1 cup of the grated mozzArella and parmesan mixture on top of the ricotta mixture.
9. Then cover each noodle with 1/2 cup of meat sauce.
10. Apply another layer of noodle and repeat the ricotta, mozzarella, meat sauce, and finally noodle again twice more.
11. In the last ricotta layer, use up the remaining ricotta mixture.
12. Place the final layer of lasagna noodles on and cover with the remaining meat sauce. Then spread the remaining mozzarella mixture evenly over the top.
13. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, uncover the lasagna and let the top brown lightly. Remove and place on a heat pad.
14. Let the lasagna sit for 10 minutes at room temperature prior to slicing and serving so it has a chance to set.