Lasagna, ironically enough, is my mothers most famous and best recipe she ever makes. You must be thinking, what does a Cuban know about lasagna, but let me tell you, I think pure blood Italians would be impressed by this recipe. That’s right I am talking about you Joe Bastianich! (For those of you who don’t know who he is, he is one of the toughest judges to impress on Master Chef.) But if you don’t believe me, try it out for yourself.
Also, one of the best things about lasagna, is that it’s so much better the next day making it the perfect left over.
Can I prepare this lasagna and cook at a later time?
This is one of the great things about this dish. You can cook, assemble it and store it in the fridge until the next day. When you are ready to eat it, just pop it in the oven, heat it up and let that cheese melt on top! And bam, it’s ready to eat.
Is this lasagna recipe difficult to make?
Truth be told it’s fairly simple to make lasagna. The most time consuming part is assembling, but otherwise it’s basically making a meat sauce and boiling pasta.
How do you make lasagna?
- Making a meat sauce: To make your meat sauce, you are basically going to start by making picadillo (maybe this is why it comes out so good, because Cuban picadillo is the best). You first are going to saute your onions and garlic. Once cooked, add your ground beef and cook until fully browned. While your meat is cooking, add your canned tomatoes and tomato sauce into a blender and puree. Once the meat is cooked, add the sauce and stir. At this time incorporate your spices. Bring the meat to a simmer, cover it, and allow it to simmer.
- Boil your pasta: Bring a pot of water to boil and cook your lasagna noodles as directed by the box. You can opt to use the oven ready lasagna noodles if you wish, but I sometimes find that those still come out too hard and not fully cooked.
- Assembly: To assemble your lasagna, use an oven safe baking dish. First, lay out a layer of sauce and then a layer of your lasagna noodles. On top, add another layer of sauce, scoop out your ricotta cheese and spread it out evenly, add a layer of parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese. Then, add another layer of lasagna noodles and repeat the process of sauce, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, and mozzarella cheese. Keep doing this until you reach the top of the dish where you will finish with a layer of sauce and mozzarella cheese.
- Cook in the oven: In a 350F preheated oven, cook your lasagna for 35-45 minutes, until the cheese on top is melted and browned.
Serve and enjoy!
If you are wondering what picadillo is, click on the link here to learn how to make this simple and delicious weeknight meal!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lb of ground beef
- 1 cup of onions diced
- 3 cloves of garlic diced
- 2 8 oz cans of tomato sauce
- 1 28 oz can of whole tomatoes
- 1 tbls of garlic powder
- 1 ½ tsp of salt
- ½ tsp of Basil
- ½ tsp of oregano
- ½ tsp parsley
- ¼ tsp of cumin
- ½ tsp of black pepper
- 1 dried bay leaf
- 6 cups of mozzarella cheese
- 15 oz ricotta
- 3 tlbs of parmesan cheese
- 1 box of lasagna noodles
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to boil to cook your pasta and preheat your oven to 350F.
- In a medium-large size pot, heat your oil over medium-high heat. Once hot, saute your onions and garlic for 3-5 minutes. After, add your ground beef and cook until fully browned.
- While your meat is cooking, add your canned tomatoes and tomato sauce into a blender and puree. Once the meat is cooked, add the sauce and stir. At this time incorporate your spices (garlic powder, salt, black pepper, basil, oregano, parsely, cumin, and bay leaf). Bring the meat sauce to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer and cover it, and allow it to simmer for 10 minutes.
- While your sauce is simmer, cook your pasta noodles, as directed by the box. (You can opt to use the oven ready lasagna noodles if you wish, but I sometimes find that those still come out too hard and not fully cooked.)
- To assemble your lasagna, use a 9×13 oven safe baking dish. First, lay out a layer of sauce and then a layer of your lasagna noodles. On top, add another layer of sauce, scoop out your ricotta cheese and spread it out evenly, add a layer of parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese. Then, add another layer of lasagna noodles and repeat the process of sauce, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, and mozzarella cheese. Keep doing this until you reach the top of the dish (should be about 2-3 layers) where you will finish with a layer of sauce and mozzarella cheese. (You may have left over pasta and that's ok.)
- In a 350F preheated oven, cook your lasagna for 35-45 minutes, until the cheese on top is melted and browned.
- Serve and enjoy!
Are the two cans of tomato sauce the 8 or 15 oz size? I want to make sure I do this correctly.
Hi! They are the 8oz size cans. I will update the recipe to reflect it. Thank you for asking! Enjoy!