Description
Mom’s Lasagna is a classic Italian-American meat lasagna featuring layers of rich, slow-simmered tomato and ground beef sauce, creamy cottage cheese, shredded mozzarella, and grated parmesan, all baked to perfection. This recipe uses oven-ready noodles for convenience and benefits from an overnight refrigerated sauce for deep, developed flavors.
Ingredients
Scale
Sauce
- 3 medium onions, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 lb lean ground beef (preferably ground sirloin)
- 1 28-oz can whole tomatoes, crushed by hand (San Marzano recommended)
- 1 14½-oz can tomato sauce
- 1 6-oz can tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon dried basil, crushed by hand
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed by hand
- About 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 cups water
- Salt and pepper to taste
Lasagna Layers
- 1 lb box oven-ready lasagna noodles (no boiling required)
- 1 16-oz container whole milk small curd cottage cheese, drained
- 1 lb mozzarella cheese, shredded
- Grated parmesan cheese (to taste, use good quality)
Instructions
- Sauté Onions and Garlic: Heat olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add chopped onions with a good pinch of salt and sauté until they become soft and start to brown. Then add garlic and cook for about a minute until fragrant.
- Brown the Beef: Add the ground beef to the pot and brown it thoroughly, breaking the meat apart with a wooden spoon until no longer pink. Stir in dried basil and oregano, crushing them in your hand first to release their aromas.
- Prepare and Simmer Sauce: Crush the whole tomatoes by hand in a bowl then add them to the beef mixture. Also add tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, and sugar. Season with salt and pepper. Bring sauce to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer gently for about 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally.
- Cool and Refrigerate Sauce: Remove the sauce from heat and let it cool. Then refrigerate overnight – this step enhances flavor and makes assembly easier.
- Drain Cottage Cheese: Place the small curd cottage cheese in a fine mesh sieve over the sink and let it drain for 1 to 2 hours, stirring gently a few times to remove excess liquid.
- Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 350ºF (175ºC).
- Assemble the Lasagna – First Layer: Spread a ladle of sauce evenly on the bottom of an 11 x 15 inch lasagna pan. Lay 6 oven-ready noodles over the sauce, slightly overlapping. Spread half of the drained cottage cheese evenly over the noodles, then sprinkle half the shredded mozzarella on top. Generously spoon sauce over the cheese layer.
- Assemble the Lasagna – Second Layer: Repeat the layering with another 6 noodles, the remaining cottage cheese, and the remaining mozzarella. Add more sauce generously on top of this layer.
- Assemble the Lasagna – Top Layer: Place the final 6 noodles on top. Spoon sauce over the entire top layer and down the corners and edges to fully cover all noodles. Sprinkle grated parmesan cheese over the top.
- Bake Covered: Cover the pan with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes.
- Bake Uncovered: Remove the foil and bake uncovered for an additional 15 minutes until the top is golden and bubbly.
- Rest and Serve: Let the lasagna rest for about 10 minutes before cutting and serving. Enjoy your comforting homemade meal!
Notes
- This traditional Italian-American lasagna uses cottage cheese instead of ricotta, giving a lighter, slightly tangy layer.
- Simmering the sauce overnight in the refrigerator develops richer flavors and makes assembly easier.
- Oven-ready noodles save prep time by eliminating boiling, but ensure they are fully covered with sauce to soften properly.
- Use good quality parmesan cheese for a more flavorful finish.
- Resting the lasagna after baking helps it set and makes slicing easier.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 585 kcal
- Sugar: 5 g
- Sodium: 578 mg
- Fat: 26 g
- Saturated Fat: 11 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 11 g
- Trans Fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 50 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 39 g
- Cholesterol: 115 mg
