Lasagna with Homemade Sauce
I came up with this recipe after looking at a few lasagna recipes in all sorts of magazines. I combined a few techniques to come with my own version. I make a Bechamel sauce to make it creamier, which becomes the White Sauce. I also make my own tomato sauce that I combine with the meat, which becomes the Meat Sauce. Of course, you can easily play around with this recipe and amounts to make it your own!
I came up with this recipe after looking at a few lasagna recipes in all sorts of magazines. I combined a few techniques to come with my own version. I make a Bechamel sauce to make it creamier, which becomes the White Sauce. I also make my own tomato sauce that I combine with the meat, which becomes the Meat Sauce. Of course, you can easily play around with this recipe and amounts to make it your own!
- pepper to taste
- meat sauce
- 2 cups onion diced
- 5 cloves garlic minced or crushed
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 1/2 package ground turkey (2 lbs)
- 6 can tomato paste
- 1 28-oz can whole tomatoes in juice
- 1 14.5-oz can whole tomatoes in juice
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tbsp red wine
- 2 bay leaves (up to 3)
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- dried basil to taste
- Carbohydrate 23.689551943889 g
- Cholesterol 18.427190015 mg
- Fat 2.56401136066 g
- Fiber 5.15350826303164 g
- Protein 11.0601370122033 g
- Saturated Fat 0.463806302783333 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (245g)
- Sodium 308.396832836667 mg
- Sugar 18.5360436808574 g
- Trans Fat 0.360979425236666 g
- Calories 148 calories
Step-by-step
- You will need:
- for a 13x9 pan and a little leftover for a smaller pan(5x5?)
- 1 package of lasagna noodles prepared according to the directions on the box.
- Meat Sauce:
- In a food processor, process whole tomatoes(cans) till nice and smooth. Set aside.
- In a large soup pot(dutch oven), add oil and heat on med till oil is hot. Add onion and cook till soft about 5-7 minutes.Add ground turkey.Crumble over med heat. Cook till no longer pink.Add garlic stir and cook for 30 seconds. Add tomato paste and processed whole tomatoes....stir. Season with salt, pepper, wine, sugar and spices.Lower heat, simmer and cook for about 1 hr stirring every so often.
- Mushroom Layer:
- 16 oz sliced mushrooms
- salt and pepper to taste
- While the sauce is cooking, you can saute the mushrooms in a skillet with a bit of salt on med-high heat till nicely browned.Set the mushrooms aside.
- Ricotta Layer:
- 32 oz carton of ricotta cheese
- 3 TBS minced fresh parsley
- 2-3 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/4-1/2 cup Parmesan
- salt and pepper to taste
- In a med. bowl mix all ingredients until thoroughly combined.
- Bechamel (White) Sauce:
- 1 TBS olive oil
- 3 TBS flour
- 1 1/2 cups milk, if you need more you can add an additional 1/2 cup
- 1/2 -1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- salt,pepper, and nutmeg to taste
- In a saucepan, add oil and flour.
- Stir to combine. Add milk and stir to combine. Cook until the mixture is thickened about 3 minutes. Add cheese. Season to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Set aside.
- Assemble the lasagna:
- You will need some dried basil for sprinkling in between the layers and on top.
- You will need extra shredded mozzarella cheese for layering. You can use as much or little as you want. You can also use a mixture to include provolone, spicy jack, fontina, or muenster cheese. You get the idea!
- Grease a 13x9 glass pan. Place about 1/2 cup of meat sauce on the bottom of the pan and spread it evenly.
- Arrange 3 lasagna noodles on top. Place about 1 cup of meat sauce on top of the noodles add about 1 cup of ricotta cheese spread evenly.Add some mushrooms.Sprinkle some mozzarella cheese and basil or skip the mozzarella if you want it even lighter. Repeat layer or layers if you have a deeper pan. Otherwise use an overflow small pan for the rest. To the top layer you can add some white sauce(bechamel) and sprinkle with some shredded cheese(or use sliced cheese or a mixture of both) and basil.At this point you can bake the lasagna at 375 for about 50 some minutes covered. Uncover and bake an additional 20 minutes or till heated through. Or you can cover and place in freezer for a later date. Just bake frozen lasagna covered first and then remove cover and bake until nice and bubbly. Remember to give yourself plenty of time as the frozen lasagna will take quite a bit longer to bake. Let rest for 5- 10 minutes so the filling will not ooze out.
Whole canned tomatoes do the heavy lifting in this recipe, transforming after an hour of slow simmering into a deeply concentrated base that coats every layer. Because this preparation yields a substantial volume filling a thirteen by nine glass pan plus an overflow dish, it functions exceptionally well as a make-ahead meal that transitions directly from the freezer to the oven. When freezing unbaked pasta, wrap the dish tightly in multiple layers of plastic wrap and foil to prevent freezer burn, then bake directly from frozen at 375 degrees Fahrenheit, adding roughly twenty to thirty minutes to the original cook time. Structure depends entirely on moisture control; failing to thoroughly brown the mushrooms or letting watery ricotta break down can turn the layers into soup rather than clean-cut slices. To achieve structural integrity, let the baked pan rest undisturbed for ten minutes before serving so the starches and melted cheeses can set. Swapping the ground turkey for Italian pork sausage changes the fat content significantly, requiring extra blotting during the meat-browning stage to avoid an oily surface.
