Grandma Graziano’s Lasagna

Updated at: Thu, 17 Aug 2023 04:46:43 GMT

Step 1

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the noodles, 3-4 sheets at a time, and lay them out on a clean dish towel to dry. (I often multitask and do this while making the sauce and cheese filling).

Step 2

Place a small amount of olive oil in a sauce pan over medium heat. (Don’t let it get too hot or you will deal with a lot of sauce splatter later). Place two cloves of chopped garlic in hot oil and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Step 3

Add crushed tomatoes, stirring as you do. If the pan is too hot and the tomatoes start to burn, you may need to add 1/2 cup of water to prevent burning. Add 1 tsp tomato paste and stir quickly so it doesn’t burn, then immediately

Step 4

Lower the temperature and bring the sauce to a simmer. Add bay leaf, Italian seasoning, a small pinch of sugar, and salt and pepper to taste. Leave it to simmer 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Step 5

Once the sauce is finished, in a mixing bowl, mix half of the sauce with half of the ricotta. Season with additional Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper to taste. (My MIL doesn’t do this, but sometimes if I find it too gloopy to spread and add an egg. If she knew I did that though she would call me a ‘merigan).

Step 6

Add a layer of tomato sauce to the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish. Then add a layer of noodles, top with cheese/sauce mixture, then top with generous handful of mozzarella and sprinkle with Parmesan. Repeat 2-3 more times or until you are out of noodles. Top with remaining mozzarella and sprinkle with extra Parmesan.

Step 7

Spray sheet of aluminum foil with oil. Cover lasagna and bake at 375 for an hour or until bubbly. Remove foil in last 20 minutes to melt the cheese.

1 liked

0 disliked