December 16th, 2023

Boris Mann 17th December 2023 at 5:56pm

Went to Yuan Coffee

Made lasagna. The discussion came up recently on whether bechamel was part of classic lasagna. It isn’t for me, and this Spruce Eats Best Classic Lasagna agrees. The fresh mozzarella slices in that recipe sound great.

The Italpasta Oven Ready Lasagna package has a recipe:

Italpasta Oven Ready Lasagna with Meat Sauce

The recipe calls for ricotta but doesn’t list it in the ingredients.

Package Recipe

A few simple ingredients come together to make this no-fuss, classic lasagna. The best part is that there's no need to cook the noodles before assembling. Just layer with the sauce and cheeses, bake and serve!

Prep Time: 30 minutes Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes Serves: 8

Ingredients:

  • 1 pkg (375 g) ITALPASTA Presto Oven Ready Lasagne Noodles
  • 1 lb (450 g) each ground beef and ricotta
  • 2 cans (each 680 mL) pasta sauce
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1/2 cup (125 mL) grated Parmesan
  • 1/2 tsp (2 mL each salt and pepper
  • 4 cups (1 L shredded mozzarella)

Steps:

1. In saucepan, brown beef; drain fat. Add sauce; simmer for 20 minutes. In bowl, stir ricotta with eggs, Parmesan, salt and pepper.

2. Spread some sauce in bottom of 13 x 9-inch (3.5 L) dish. Top with noodles; cover with sauce. Layer with noodles, sauce, ricotta mixture and mozzarella; repeat once. Finish with remaining noodles, sauce and mozzarella. Cover with foil.

3. Bake at 375°F (190°C) for 50 minutes. Uncover; bake for 15 minutes. Rest for 10 minutes before serving.

I just made up my own.

Meat sauce:

  • 1lb lean ground beef
  • 1lb ground pork
  • 1 large can fire roasted tomatoes
  • 1 small can cherry tomatoes
  • bunch fresh Italian parsley
  • 2 small onions, minced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • salt and pepper
  • dried marjoram
  • balsamic vinegar
  • fish sauce

Ricotta filling

  • 2 eggs
  • ricotta
  • salt & pepper
  • lemon zest
  • grated havarti cheese

Plus one ball of mozzarella, grated in layers. Finished in the final open baking with some mozzarella on top.