It’s lasagna time! For all you NJ Italian experts, I know, I know, your Nonna did it better, but lasagna has been a lifelong favorite of mine, so after years and years of experimenting this is my “basic family version.” I must note that each time I make this, I often add or subtract whatever vegetables I have on hand to add even more nutrition. A layer of thinly sliced zucchini or fresh spinach never hurt, and mushrooms are optional. Sometimes I do half-beef half-Italian sausage to change things up. It’s more of a template and method. I would also like to note that often I make “Brooklyn Bolognese” and then the following night turn what’s left of the sauce into lasagna. This way one night of cooking turns into multiple nights of eating:)
Ingredients:
Brooklyn Bolognese Sauce:
1 onion, diced
3 carrots, shredded
4 cloves garlic, smashed
2 lbs ground beef (80/20)
10 ounces mushrooms (optional), sliced
2 cans San Marzano tomatoes
2 TBSP tomato paste
A good bottle of wine
olive oil
black pepper
plenty of salt
6 sprigs fresh thyme
fresh basil
8 oz fresh ricotta
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded or torn from a fresh ball
1/2 cup grated parmesan
16 oz. lasagna noodles (oven ready, or classic, boiled al dente in salted water)
Directions:
Make Brooklyn Bolognese Sauce (recipe follows):
Preheat oven to 375F.
Cook noodles according to package directions in salted water. Always salt your pasta water. OR use oven-ready lasagna noodles. Once noodles are cooked to "al dente," drain. OR just begin with the dry, oven-ready noodles
Begin layering your lasagna in a deep pan that has been coated all around with a drizzle of olive oil:
start with a ladle-full of sauce, spread evenly on the bottom of the pan
next add a layer of noodles
spread fresh ricotta on top of noodles, and tuck in a few bits of fresh mozzarella, then sprinkle with black pepper and salt. Add a few torn pieces of basil evenly across the top.
add a few ladles of sauce to cover the noodles, basil and cheese.*
Repeat layering noodles, cheese, basil, sauce until pan is full.
Then add one more layer of noodles, but this time add sauce first, then cheese. The sauce should cover all of the noodles below. Then top layer of cheese should be “extra cheesy” so double-up on cheese to evenly cover all the sauce. This is the cheese that will get extra brown and crispy in the oven.**
Bake for 45-60 minutes in the oven, until the edges are bubbly, the cheese is brown, and the internal temp reaches at least 165F.
*Often I add other vegetables into the lasagna as well. Feel free to add a layer of thinly sliced zucchini, or fresh spinach under a layer of sauce, or anything else you fancy.
**If freezing the lasagna ahead of time, let the sauce cool then refrigerate the lasagna for 2 hours before freezing. If baking from frozen, it takes about 2 hours. Cook for the first hour with foil tented on top of the pan, then remove the foil for the last hour so cheese gets brown. Internal temp should always be above 165F before serving.
Brooklyn Bolognese Sauce:
Coat the bottom of a large pan with olive oil and set on medium heat. Sauté onion and carrots with plenty of salt until soft and slightly caramelized. While sauteing, add chopped thyme leaves and black pepper.
Meanwhile in a small pan, add garlic and a few tablespoons of oil and simmer on low heat for 30-40 min. This is your garlic confit.
Once the veggies are cooked, remove from the pan. Generously salt ground beef and add it to the hot pan with a little more oil. Turn the heat up to medium-high and brown the beef on all sides until its crispy and caramelized. Don't rush this step. Lots of dark color = lots of flavor.
[optional: while meat is browning, brown mushrooms in a pan with oil and black pepper. After mushrooms are brown and crisp on the edges, toss in salt. Then set aside with the veggies.]
Onces the meat is browned, return the veggies to the pan and stir in tomato paste. Finely mince and add the garlic from the garlic confit. Then add a few glugs of wine to deglaze the pan. Let the mixture simmer and reduce. Then add San Marzano tomatoes and about half a can of water to the pot.
Simmer on low while noodles cook. Add a little bit of water to the sauce if it begins to stick to the bottom of the pan.
