Mom’s Lasagna is one of my go to, all-time favorite comfort foods! It’s not only easy to make, but also tastes wonderful!
Is these anything more wonderful than a bubbling dish of pasta baked with cheese and sauce? It’s definitely one of my happy places. My mom has been making this dish for as long as I can remember and it’s one of my favorites! Easy to put together, and we always get to all the leftovers. I guess it does help that I started making a half batch since only Mike & I are eating it, but no leftovers at the end of the week = good food around here.
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The only I have with this dish at my house is how much ricotta to use. Mike’s not a big fan, and I could dip just about anything in ricotta and be a very happy girl. I go a little lighter on the ricotta layer when I make this, but I totally recommend using as much as you like!
The one change I’ve started making, purely to streamline things, is the use of oven-ready lasagna noodles. They’re awesome and save me SO much time. Before I would boil the noodles and have to cut them down to size. Now I preheat the oven, cook the meat, and assemble. Love it! This pasta is a must make. It may not be like the one an Italian grandmother makes, but it’s my mom’s recipe and around here it’s the jam.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 36 ounces of your favorite pasta sauce, or around that amount of sauce
- 16 ounces sour cream
- 16 ounces ricotta cheese
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- Oven ready lasagna noodles, or regular lasagna noodles cooked, and drained
- Dried parsley or chopped fresh basil, for garnish (if desired)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Pour about 1/4 cup pasta sauce in the bottom of a 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish. Turn the dish so the sauce evenly coats the bottom of the dish in a thin layer, adding more sauce as needed.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook ground beef until browned and no pink remains, 6 to 8 minutes, breaking the meat into small chunks as it cooks. Drain the grease.
- Return the skillet to the stove. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add in all but 1/2 cup of the pasta sauce. Stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together sour cream and ricotta until smooth and well combined. Add basil, nutmeg, parsley, salt, and pepper; stir to combine. (Feel free to adjust the seasoning to your taste. I like a lot of nutmeg and go heavy on it when I make this dish.)
Assembly:
- Line the bottom of the baking dish with lasagna noodles in a single layer.
- Pour half the ricotta mixture over the pasta, and spread it into an even layer. Sprinkle 1 cup of the mozzarella evenly over the ricotta. Pour half the meat sauce over the mozzarella and spread into an even layer.
- Place a single layer of noodles over the meat sauce and repeat the layers: remaining ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella, remaining meat sauce. Make another layer of past on top of the meat sauce. Pour the reserved 1/2 cup pasta sauce over the noodles and spread the sauce evenly (to keep the noodles moist). Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella evenly over the top of the dish.
- Cover the baking dish loosely with foil. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 5 minutes to let the cheese brown a little. (If the cheese doesn't bubble and brown like you want, turn your broiler to high for a minute or two until you get the cheese the way you like it.)
- Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
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