Lasagna From Scratch. Really.

 Today, I made the sauce and homemade ricotta. It is so easy to make, and so creamy and delicious!

The sauce has 1# ground beef, 1# mild italian sausage, 2 cl garlic, 1/2 c chopped onion, 2 cans tomato paste, 2 small cans tomato sauce, 1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 tsp italian seasoning, 1/2 tsp fennel seeds. Simmer 1 1/2 hrs after browning meats.

 Italian Sausage (removed from casings)

Ground beef, browned.

Sauce, ready to simmer.


The ricotta, I made 2 batches. You line a sieve with cheesecloth ( used an old flour-towel) over a drip pan. In a sauce pot add 2 C. whole milk, 1/2 C. heavy cream, 1 tsp salt, and bring to a boil. Immediately remove from heat and stir in 2T white vinegar and you'll see it curdle. Stir a bit, then pour through the sieve. Let sit 20 minutes at room temp- and you can refrigerate it up to 2 days. I've tried lemon, but vinegar gives me better results.  This yields about 8 oz.

For the homemade noodles in the AM. Make a well of 3 1/2 C. AP Flour. Put four 4 eggs in the middle. I'm kneading with a dough hook, 'cause I'm lazy, but it should be pliable but not sticky. Cover and let rest at room temp for 15 minutes. Roll out on a floured board and roll as thin as humanly possible without a pasta machine!!  I'm cutting large rectangles for the lasagna. Cook 30 sec's in boiling water, place in an ice bath quickly, then start layering.

Mix the ricotta with 1 egg and some parsley, then start with: Sauce, noodles, ricotta, mozzarella, repeat and top with mozz and parm.

Cover with foil (spray with cooking spray first to avoid stickage!) and bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool 15 minutes before cutting and serving.