Easy Lasagna Recipe: A classic Italian dish of pasta, meat sauce, and cheese.
- Carbohydrate 5.95745757992 g
- Cholesterol 57.598074848252 mg
- Fat 10.8996799530896 g
- Fiber 0 g
- Protein 19.8320285548257 g
- Saturated Fat 5.60627118850345 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (121g)
- Sodium 268.951793544441 mg
- Sugar 5.95745757992 g
- Trans Fat 0.980800071191558 g
- Calories 205 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- In a large skillet, cook and stir ground beef until brown. Add mushrooms and onions; saute until onions are transparent. Stir in pasta sauce, and heat through.
- In a medium size bowl, combine cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, grated Parmesan cheese, and eggs.
- Spread a thin layer of the meat sauce in the bottom of a 13x9 inch pan. Layer with uncooked lasagna noodles, cheese mixture, mozzarella cheese, and meat sauce. Continue layering until all ingredients are used, reserving 1/2 cup mozzarella. Cover pan with aluminum foil.
- Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes. Uncover, and top with remaining half cup of mozzarella cheese. Bake for an additional 15 minutes. Remove from oven, and let stand 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
Moisture Management and Sauce Ratios
Ground beef must be browned thoroughly and drained of excess rendered fat before combining with onions and canned mushrooms, preventing grease pooling on top of the melted mozzarella. Blending cottage cheese, part-skim ricotta, grated parmesan, and eggs creates a cohesive dairy binder that thickens as proteins coagulate under heat. Spreading a thin layer of meat sauce directly on the bottom of the thirteen-by-nine-inch pan prevents the bottom layer of noodles from sticking to the metal during baking.
Resting and Thermal Equilibrium
Allowing the baked pan to rest for ten to fifteen minutes off the heat allows internal starches to gelatinize and excess moisture to redistribute evenly throughout the layers. Slicing immediately out of the oven causes the internal structure to collapse because thermal energy keeps the dairy fats liquefied and unstable. Uncovering the pan for the final fifteen minutes of baking at three hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit browns the reserved half cup of mozzarella without burning the underlying sauce.
