Best Worlds Best Lasagna Bens Modified 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 tablespoon 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.

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.

WORLD'S BEST LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Combine beef and sauce in sauce pan. Put just enough water in sauce jar to rinse sides, shake it up, then add it to sauce. Mix and let simmer.
• While sauce simmers, combine all 3 cheeses, eggs, and salt and pepper to taste in large mixing bowl and mix well.
• In 13x9" casserole/baking dish, lay down thin layer of sauce on bottom, just enough to cover so noodles don't stick.
• Lay down first layer of UNCOOKED noodles, then a layer of sauce, then 1/2 of the cheese mixture. Follow with another layer of noodles, sauce, rest of cheese mixture, another layer of noodles, then finish with the rest of the sauce on top.
• Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees F for 55-60 minutes.
• Remove from oven, remove foil, then bake for an additional 10 minutes.
• Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before cutting to serve.

KATEL'S TWEAKED WORLD'S BEST LASAGNA

Steps:

• SAUCE:.
• In a large, heavy pot, cook sausage, ground beef until browned. Drain sausage and ground beef and reserve, leaving 2 tablespoons of fat in the pan. Cook onion over medium heat until well-browned (maybe 5 minutes?), but do not burn. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds (if garlic burns, it turns bitter).
• Add drained sausage and ground beef back to pan. Stir in anchovy paste, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce and wine/sherry/water. Now stir in sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons roughly chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley.
• Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer, covered, for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. (If you use an enameled cast iron Dutch oven, give yourself a pat on the back.). (The simmering cooks the sauce down to a very thick consistency.).
• Let sauce cool, then refrigerate in a covered non-reactive dish overnight to let the flavors meld.
• LASAGNA:.
• Soak raw, hard noodles in a large roasting pan with VERY hot tap water for 20-30 minute (Noodles won't be cooked but soft, and can complete its cooking in the oven.).
• (Alternatively, you may instead bring a large pot of water to a boil, seasoned with kosher salt. Boil lasagna noodles for 8-10 minutes. Drain noodles and rinse with cold water.).
• In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with eggs, 2 tablespoons parsley, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
• Spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of the 9x13-inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce on top, then sprinkle with 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese.
• For second layer: spread 1 1/2 cups meat sauce, 6 noodles, remaining ricotta mixture, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 1 1/2 cups sauce, remaining half of mozzarella slices, and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.
• Tear off aluminum foil to cover pan. Spray foil with cooking spray.
• Bake for 25 minutes, covered with foil, at 375 degrees F.
• Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes.
• Cool 15-20 minutes before serving.

THE BEST LASAGNA

Steps:

• Place the beef in a large bowl and "pull" it apart with two forks as if you were shredding pulled pork, breaking up the clumps and loosening the meat without compacting it.
• Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat has rendered and the meat is golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer the pancetta to a large bowl with a slotted spoon, leaving the fat in the pot.
• Spread the beef in an even layer in the same pot and cook undisturbed until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Toss and continue to cook, breaking up any clumps and scraping up any browned bits from the pot, until the meat is browned and completely cooked, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer the browned meat with a slotted spoon to the bowl with the pancetta, leaving the fat in the pot.
• Reduce the heat to medium. Add the carrots, celery, onions, half the garlic, the bay leaf, oregano, red pepper flakes, nutmeg, 2 teaspoons salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender but not browned, 6 to 8 minutes.
• Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until it's very fragrant and brick red colored, about 2 minutes. Stir in the wine, bring to a boil and reduce until the liquid is very thick and no smell of alcohol remains, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes and the reserved pancetta and beef, bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Add the basil and Parmesan rind and simmer, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated and the sauce resembles sloppy joes, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. There shouldn't be any rapid bubbles while cooking. Instead, the ragu should release occasional small bubbles. If the ragu reduces too quickly, add 1/2 cup of water and continue cooking. Repeat if necessary. The ragu needs the full 2 to 2 1/2 hour cook time to develop the flavors.
• Discard the bay leaf, basil and Parmesan rind. Break up any remaining clumps of meat with the back of a spoon, making an even textured sauce. Season with salt and set aside until ready to assemble.
• Arrange a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Cook the noodles, stirring occasionally and separating them to prevent sticking, until softened and bendable but are still hard and chalky in the center, about 5 minutes. Transfer the noodles to a large bowl of cold water and set aside until ready to assemble.
• Stir together the ricotta, 1 cup of the Parmesan, the remaining grated garlic and 2 teaspoons salt in a medium bowl until thoroughly combined. Set aside until ready to assemble.
• Lightly oil a 13-by-9-inch glass or ceramic baking pan. Spread 1 cup of the ragu evenly in the bottom of the pan. Lay a single layer of noodles over the ragu (if you're using long noodles, you will need to cut some noodles to fill the gaps). Spread 1 1/2 cups of the ragu over the noodles. Dollop 3/4 cup of the ricotta mixture over the ragu and spread lightly with a small offset spatula. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the mozzarella, followed by another layer of noodles. Repeat with the remaining pasta, ragu, ricotta mixture and mozzarella, creating 4 layers of pasta and ending with the remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella. (The lasagna should come just above the top of the pan but it will sink down slightly as it cooks.) Top with the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan.
• Lightly oil a piece of foil and cover the pan. Put the pan on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any drips. Bake the lasagna until bubbling gently around the edges, about 1 hour.
• Remove the lasagna from the oven and increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees F. Remove the foil and then continue to bake the lasagna until the top is browned and crisp around the edges, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Let sit 10 minutes before serving.