Lasagna

Servings: 12

Ingredients:

  • 200 g Yellow Sweet Onion, diced (1 medium onion)
  • 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 25 g Garlic, minced (5 cloves)
  • 36 oz 93% Lean Ground Beef
  • 1 29 oz Can Tomato Sauce, no salt added
  • 1 29 oz Can Diced Tomatoes, no salt added
  • 1 6 oz Can Tomato Paste
  • 1/2 Cup Sofrito Tomato Cooking Base (found in the Spanish section)
  • 1 tbsp Black Pepper
  • 1 tbsp Dried Oregano
  • 2 tbsp Fresh Chives, sliced
  • 2 tbsp Fresh Basil, chopped
  • 1 tbsp Red Pepper Flake
  • 1 tbsp Garlic Powder
  • 1 Cup Fat Free Ricotta Cheese
  • 4 Cups Freshly Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
  • 1 Box Oven Ready Lasagna Noodles, no boil

Directions:

  1. Prep your ingredients: Dice your yellow onions, mince your garlic, slice your chives, chop your basil, and shred your cheese. Freshly shredded is always better, it allows that gooey factor/the cheese pull WOW!
  2. Heat a large pot with a lid to medium heat. A heavy bottom pot is best but any large pot will work just fine.
  3. Once the pot is hot add the extra virgin olive oil,and the diced onions. Cook the onions for about 5 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds or so to prevent them from burning.
  4. After the onions have cooked down add the minced garlic to the pot. Cook the garlic with the onions for 1-2 minutes, continuing to stir every 30 seconds.
  5. Then add the ground beef to the onion mixture. Cook the ground beef for about 10 minutes. Using a heavy spatula break up the ground beef into small pieces…about the size of a skittle or M&M.
  6. Season the meet with pepper, oregano, and garlic powder.
  7. Stir the ground beef every minute or so until the beef is just about fully cooked thru.
  8. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
  9. Once the meat is just about done, add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste. Stir everything together and then season with chives, basil, and red pepper flake. Stir the seasoning into the mixture and then turn the heat down to low and cover with a lid.
  10. Allow to cook for at least 15-30 minutes…the longer the better. The sauce will incorporate all those seasonings and the meat will continue to infuse with the sauce. Stir every 5 minutes, to prevent the bottom from burning.
  11. Once cooked, remove the pot from the heat and begin assembling your lasagna.
  12. In a large baking dish: 12 x 10 or 12 x 12 layer your ingredients. Starting with a thin layer of meat sauce, then a layer of lasagna noodles, trying to fully cover the meat sauce. I had to break a few noodles in half to cover everything…no one will ever know if you use a broken noodle! Then a layer of ricotta cheese, topped with a layer of mozzarella cheese. The cheese doesn’t need to fully cover the noodles because the cheese will melt and expand.
  13. For the next two layers you will follow the same order but you will use a slightly thicker layer of meat sauce.
  14. For the forth and final layer you will place the noodles on top of the cheese, then top with ricotta cheese, then meat sauce, and finally you will finish it off with the last of the mozzarella cheese.
  15. Cover the dish with tin foil, then bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes remove the tin foil and continue to bake at 375 degrees for another 10 – 15 minutes, until the top layer of cheese has melted and started to brown.
  16. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. This will allow the lasagna to hold its form when you cut it to serve. If you cut your lasagna too hot, it wont hold and will be more of a mush pile. (Technical I know! 🙂

Tips:

  1. If you are using the no boil lasagna noodles, you can easily spread the ricotta cheese on the noodle before placing it in the dish.
  2. When layering your noodles, each layer should go in the opposite direction of the layer prior. This will help hold everything together.

Kcals: 476 g / 38.3g P / 45g C / 17.2g F