Lasagna

Lasagna, the ultimate family dinner. Hearty, meaty, cheesy goodness. Whether its for Sunday dinner, a family party or a potluck at work, with Tedesco's, your Lasagna will be a fan favorite!


Ingredients

• 1 box lasagna noodles
• 32 oz whole milk ricotta cheese
• 32 oz shredded park skim mozzarella cheese
• Grated Parmesan cheese
• Black pepper
• salt
• Dried oregano
• 2 pounds ground beef
• 2 pounds ground sweet Italian sausage
• 2 jars of Tedesco’s Classic Tomato Sauce

Method                    

1. Cook pasta al dente (85% cooked. You want a little firmness left, strain pasta in cold running water, and cover in EVOO. Set aside.
2. Cook ground beef and ground sausage together in a skillet. Season meat with a little salt, black pepper, and oregano. (option: season ground beef like meatballs for extra flavor)
3. In a large baking dish, spread a thin layer of Tomato sauce on all sides
4. Running longways, lay lasagna noodles half in and half out of the pan. Lay noodles on the bottom surface slightly overlapping each other to fill the bottom out.
5. Layering begins: EACH LAYER receives a light layer of tomato sauce, a layer of crumbled meat mixture, a light layer of shredded mozzarella, grated parmesan, and heaping tablespoons of ricotta cheese. (Note: don’t worry about spreading the ricotta cheese out, as it will spread as it cooks and melts down. For layering purposes, you can simply put dollops of ricotta randomly throughout the layer. )
6. After the toppings are added to the bottom layer, put in a layer of lasagna noodles right on top. (DO NOT touch the noodles draping outside the pan yet. These will be used as the top layer.)
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 as many times as ingredients/ pan size allow. (typically 4-5 layers depending on pan size)
8. When you're out of toppings or space in the pan, fold over the pasta draping outside the pan. Fill in the rest of the top layer with pasta and cover in a heavy layer of Tomato sauce.
9. Cover in foil, and bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 minutes.
10. Remove from oven, and add a generous layer of mozzarella cheese on top. Put back in the oven and bake until cheese on top if thoroughly melted/browned to your liking.

Notes: It's best to allow this to cool for a few minutes, to avoid it being a total mess when cutting and trying to scoop out of the pan.  Also, depending on the oven, cook times may vary so keep an eye on it.