Classic Lasagna

kelly's kitchen, recipes, Style at a Certain Age

Hello! Happy Sunday. Today I have an ultimate comfort food, Classic Lasagna. I love a layered casserole and the classic Italian layered casserole, Lasagna is a perfect meal when the weather turns chilly. While I am calling this Classic Lasagna, I have a few tricks up my sleeve to make this an extraordinary lasagna with the additional (optional) sauce mix-ins of Calabrian Chiles and olive tapenade, two ingredients that add great flavor and a little heat. Another way to make this a stand-out lasagna is the addition of fresh pesto as the penultimate layer before the last layer of cheese. Let’s jump right in!

The Summary

Today we are making a classic lasagna with a few special flavor mix-ins

Be sure to find the shoppable key ingredients and equipment at the end of the post

Classic Lasagna

Meat Sauce

Before we start on the meat sauce, I want to share my favorite trick for keeping the ground beef moist and tender. Simply mix ½ teaspoon of baking soda with 1 tablespoon of water. Pour this mixture over the raw ground beef and toss the meat to coat. Set aside while we sauté the onion.

In a Dutch oven over medium heat, sauté the diced in onion in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, until the onions are transparent and get a little browning. Add the ground beef to the pot and brown it, breaking it up as it cooks. Season the ground beef with 2 teaspoons or so of kosher salt. Once browned, scoot the beef and onions to the sides of the pot and add the tomato paste to the center. Stir and sauté the tomato paste until it turns a dark rust color. Then mix the tomato paste into the beef and onions.

Add the diced tomatoes and their juices, along with the tomato puree. Toss in a bundle of fresh herbs and the bay leaves. Stir and season with another pinch of kosher salt. Bring to a low boil and cover. Reduce the heat to low and let simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Then uncover and continue simmering for another 15-20 minutes, to let the sauce reduce and thicken slightly. When you switch to uncovered simmering, if you like, stir in the olive tapenade and the Calabrian Chiles. Preheat the oven to 400º F.

Remove the bundle of herbs and fish out the bay leaves. Cut the heat. Stir together the egg and the ricotta cheese. Season with a pinch of kosher salt and black pepper. Set aside.

Build the Lasagna

In a 12x9-inch casserole dish, start with a layer of meat sauce. Then noodles. Spread about half of the ricotta and egg mixture over the noodles and top with about ⅓ of the grated mozzarella. Lay another layer of noodles on the cheese, in the opposite direction of the last layer of noodles.

Continue layering with meat sauce, noodles, ricotta, and mozzarella until you’ve used all the meat sauce.

When you’ve layed the last layer of noodles, top with more mozzarella and pesto (if using) top the pesto with grated cheddar (or more mozzarella) and fresh grated parmesan.

Bake the lasagna covered for about 15 minutes. Then uncover and continue baking for another 40-50 minutes, until the insides are bubbling, and the cheese on top is melted and browning.

Let the lasagna rest for 30-40 minutes before slicing and serving.

So Alex tells me this is the best lasagna I have ever made! Which is saying a lot because I have made many, many lasagnas. There are a lot of nuanced flavors happening with this lasagna with the olive tapenade in the sauce, along with the fresh herbs. The cheddar adds a sharpness to cut through the mild mozzarella. Another exceptional flavor is the addition of the fresh pesto; it adds a complexity of freshness that really sets this lasagna over the top!

I hope you give this recipe a try, it’s a winner for sure! Take care and be well. xo Kelly

Key Ingredients and Equipment

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Classic Lasagna