Mom's Lasagna

This is my mom's lasagna recipe that I grew up with.  I have tweaked it a bit with the addition of red wine and added some spice to it with red pepper flakes.

Sauce:
2 TB olive oil
a few shakes of red pepper flakes - if desired for more spice
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 lb. sausage - sage or italian
16 oz. crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce
6 oz. tomato paste
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup red wine - you can omit the red wine if desired, just replace it with the same amount of water
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. parsley

1/2 tsp. oregano

salt and pepper to taste

Ricotta filling:

1 lb. ricotta cheese

1/2 tsp. parsley

2 eggs

Additional ingredients:

4 cups shredded mozarella cheese

1/2 box no-boil lasagna noodles
parmesean cheese (if desired)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Add the olive oil to pan and cook the onions and garlic for 5 minutes to soften.  Add the sausage and cook until brown.

To the sausage mixture - add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, water and spices.  Simmer for about 30 minutes on medium heat uncovered.  Stir occasionally.

Note: To keep things clean while simmering the sauce, I recommend using a splatter screen over the top.

While the sauce is simmering, you can go ahead and make the ricotta filling.  Mix together the ricotta cheese, parsley and eggs.  Set aside.

Once the sauce is done simmering, you can start layering the lasagna in a 13x9 inch baking dish.  Start by spreading 1 cup of sauce in the bottom of your dish.  Layer the no-boil lasagna noodles on top.  Add another layer of the sauce and dot spoonfuls of the ricotta mixture on top.  Next, add a layer of mozzarella cheese (and parmesean cheese if desired). 

Repeat the layers, ending with mozzarella and parmesean cheese on top.

Cover the lasagna with foil and bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes.  Then remove the foil and bake another 25 minutes.  Let stand for at least 10 minutes before serving.




Sorry guys, as usual I forgot to take a picture of the finished product!  I will post it next time I make this lasagna.



Recipe from Mary Byrd