Best Kims Lasagna Recipes

WORLD'S BEST LASAGNA

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
• Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

SPINACH-ARTICHOKE LASAGNA

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Boil a kettle of water (an electric kettle works great here).
• Meanwhile, heat a medium saucepan over medium-high. Add the olive oil and artichoke hearts and cook, stirring occasionally, until the artichoke hearts fall apart, become jammy and start to brown at the edges, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the spinach, season with salt and pepper, and stir until considerably wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and return the saucepan to the stove (no need to wash it out).
• Make the béchamel sauce: In the saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking constantly until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Still whisking constantly, slowly add the half-and-half. Raise the heat to high and bring to a simmer, whisking all the while, then immediately reduce the heat to continue simmering, now whisking occasionally, until the sauce thickens to the consistency of gravy, 10 to 20 minutes. Season generously with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
• Add half of the béchamel to the bowl with the artichokes. Stir to combine and cool slightly, for about 15 minutes. While the mixture cools, place the lasagna noodles in a large high-sided pan or dish, pour over the recently boiled water from the kettle and let soak until the noodles are softened but not soggy, about 15 minutes. Add the cottage cheese, Parmesan and egg to the artichoke mixture, season with salt and pepper and stir to combine.
• Assemble the lasagna: In an 8-inch square baking pan or dish, add enough béchamel to thinly coat the bottom. Put down a single layer of lasagna noodles, about 3 noodles, letting the ends rise up the edges of the pan. Spread half of the artichoke mixture evenly over the noodles. Turn the pan 90 degrees and put down another layer of lasagna noodles, again pressing the ends up against the edges of the pan. Spread half of the béchamel evenly over the noodles. Repeat these layers once more with the remaining lasagna noodles, artichoke mixture and béchamel, ending with the béchamel. Evenly sprinkle the mozzarella on top. (At this point, you can cover the lasagna and refrigerate it for up to 24 hours if not baking right away.)
• Bake the lasagna until the sauce is bubbling at the edges (especially in the corners of the pan), and the mozzarella and the exposed ends of the noodles are golden brown and crispy, 15 to 20 minutes. (Add more time if baking directly from the refrigerator.) Let cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing so that slices won't collapse when transferred to plates.

CLASSIC LASAGNA

Steps:

• Make the sauce: Heat oil in a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Add sausage, if using, and cook, stirring occasionally, until it's starting to brown but not yet crisp, about 5 minutes.
• Add onion and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is totally softened and translucent (without letting it brown), 8 to 10 minutes. Add tomato paste and continue to cook, stirring until the tomato paste has turned a deeper brick red color, tinting the oil and onions a fiery orange color, about 2 minutes.
• Using your hands, crush the whole tomatoes into smaller, bite-size pieces and add them and the crushed tomatoes, stirring to scrape up any bits from the bottom of the pot. Fill one of the tomato cans halfway with water and add it to the pot. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomato sauce has thickened and flavors have come together, 20 to 30 minutes.
• Make the lasagna: Heat oven to 375 degrees and set a large pot of salted water to boil.
• Set aside 1 cup mozzarella. In a medium bowl, combine remaining mozzarella, ricotta, 1 cup Parmesan and cream; season with salt and pepper and set aside.
• Cook lasagna noodles in the large pot of salted boiling water until just softened (before they are even aldente), about 4 minutes. Drain and separate any noodles that are trying to stick together, slicking them with a bit of olive oil to prevent them from sticking further.
• Spoon a bit of sauce on the bottom of a 3-quart baking dish and top with a layer of noodles, avoiding any heavy overlap.
• Top with about 1 ¼ cups of sauce, and dollop ¼ of the cheese mixture over. Top with another layer of noodles and repeat three more times, ending with the last of the noodles (depending on size of the noodle/shape of the baking dish, you may have a few extra noodles) and the last of the sauce. Top with reserved 1 cup mozzarella and more Parmesan, if you like.
• Cover loosely with aluminum foil and place baking dish on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet (to prevent any overflow from burning on the bottom of your oven).
• Bake until pasta is completely tender and cooked through and sauce is bubbling up around the edges, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove foil and increase temperature to 450 degrees. Continue to bake until lasagna is golden brown on top with frilly, crispy edges and corners, another 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool slightly before eating.