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Layers of tender pasta, rich meat sauce, and creamy ricotta cheese, all baked together under a blanket of bubbly, golden-brown mozzarella. This classic Italian-American comfort food is perfect for family dinners and special occasions.
For 8 servings
Prepare the Meat Sauce (Ragu)
Cook Noodles and Prepare Cheese Filling
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Layers of tender pasta, rich meat sauce, and creamy ricotta cheese, all baked together under a blanket of bubbly, golden-brown mozzarella. This classic Italian-American comfort food is perfect for family dinners and special occasions.
This italian_american recipe takes 170 minutes to prepare and yields 8 servings. At 965.48 calories per serving with 66.68g of protein, it's a moderately challenging recipe perfect for dinner or lunch.
Assemble the Lasagna
Bake the Lasagna
Rest and Serve
Replace the ground meat with a mix of sautéed vegetables like mushrooms, zucchini, spinach, and bell peppers. You can also add lentils for a heartier texture.
Substitute the tomato-based meat sauce with a creamy béchamel sauce. Layer with cooked chicken, spinach, and mushrooms for a delicious alternative.
Increase the red pepper flakes to 1-1.5 teaspoons and substitute 1/2 lb of hot Italian sausage for the ground pork for a spicy kick.
With a combination of ground beef, pork, and various cheeses, this dish is packed with high-quality protein, essential for muscle repair, growth, and overall body function.
The generous amounts of ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan cheese make this lasagna a good source of calcium, which is vital for strong bones and teeth.
The tomato-based sauce is rich in lycopene, a powerful antioxidant linked to a reduced risk of certain chronic diseases. Cooking tomatoes, as in this sauce, increases the bioavailability of lycopene.
A single slice of this lasagna contains approximately 750-850 calories, depending on the specific ingredients used, such as the fat content of the meat and cheese. It is a rich and hearty dish.
While delicious, traditional lasagna is a calorie-dense dish high in saturated fat and sodium. However, it also provides significant protein from the meat and cheese, and calcium. You can make it healthier by using leaner ground meat (like turkey), low-fat cheeses, and adding more vegetables like spinach or zucchini to the layers.
Yes, lasagna is a perfect make-ahead meal. You can assemble the entire dish, cover it tightly with plastic wrap and then foil, and refrigerate it for up to 2 days before baking. You may need to add 10-15 minutes to the covered baking time if baking straight from the fridge.
You can freeze it baked or unbaked. For an unbaked lasagna, assemble it in a freezer-safe dish, cover tightly with plastic wrap and foil, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before baking. To freeze a baked lasagna, let it cool completely, then wrap the entire dish or individual slices and freeze.
Watery lasagna is usually caused by using ricotta cheese that is too wet (drain any excess liquid), not simmering the sauce long enough to thicken, or not letting the lasagna rest after baking. Using low-moisture mozzarella also helps prevent excess water.