MAMA MIA'S LASAGNA RECIPE - (3.4/5)

Steps:

• Brown ground beef and Italian sausage in a large Dutch oven with a little olive oil, breaking up into small pieces. Remove meat and set aside. Pour all but a little (2 T) of the fat out of the pot and discard. In the remaining fat, sauté onions, garlic and parsley until onions are translucent. Deglaze pot with the red wine. Add tomato sauce, Worcestershire, mushrooms, and spices and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for at least an hour. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spoon a little bit of the sauce into the bottom of a Lasagna Pan, just to prevent the pasta from sticking. Layer 1/3 of the noodles into the bottom of the pan. Cover the noodles with a 1/3 of the sauce. Continue with 1/3 of the sliced mozzarella, then sprinkle with parmesan, then dollops of ricotta finishing each layer with 1/3 of the grated mozzarella. Do this three times. Bake for 1 hour. Cooks Notes: • I have gotten into the habit of making the sauce the day before, just because it doesn't seem as daunting of a process, and then all you have to do the day of is assemble the layers. • The original recipe called for two boxes of Pasta, but I have found that I always have almost a full box left over after I've completely covered the surface of the pan 3 times. If you like to have pasta leftovers with a little butter and cheese then you can boil two boxes. • We all know that Lasagna is better the second day. With that in mind, I will sometimes bake it one day covered with foil and reheat it the day of the event, uncovered. If the top doesn't look brown enough, I will turn the broiler on for 10 minutes or so at the end. • I have gotten into the habit of making the sauce the day before, just because it doesn't seem as daunting of a process, and then all you have to do the day of is assemble the layers. • The original recipe called for two boxes of Pasta, but I have found that I always have almost a full box left over after I've completely covered the surface of the pan 3 times. If you like to have pasta leftovers with a little butter and cheese then you can boil two boxes. • We all know that Lasagna is better the second day. With that in mind, I will sometimes bake it one day covered with foil and reheat it the day of the event, uncovered. If the tope doesn't look brown enough, I will turn the broiler on for 10 minutes or so at the end.