Baked Lasagne

Title:
Baked Lasagne

Yield:
6 Servings

Categories:
Pasta,
Italian




Ingredients:





     1 lb Of lean ground beef, or


          -Italian sausage


     3 tb Olive oil


     1 lg Onion, chopped (to make 1


          -cup)


     1 lg Red or green bell pepper


          -(finely chopped)


     2 lg Garlic cloves, minced


    28 oz Italian plum tomatoes


     6 oz Can tomato paste


   1/3 c  Water


 1 1/2 ts Dried basil


     1 ts Oregano


     1 ts Sugar (optional)


          Salt


   1/4 ts Freshly ground pepper


     1    Bay leaf, broken in half


    15 oz Fresh ricotta


     4 c  Grated mozzarella cheese


   1/4 c  Freshly grated Parmesan


          -cheese


     1    Egg


   1/2 ts Salt


     8    Lasagne noodles (about 6


          -oz.)


     1 tb Olive oil


   1/4 c  Freshly grated Parmesan


          -cheese


   1/4 c  Freshly grated mozzarella


          -cheese






 Remove  sausage  casings and crumble sausage.   Brown meat in large pot,


 stirring occasionally to break up the meat. Drain off fat.


 


 Remove meat and set aside.  Heat 3 tablespoons oil in the same pot, add


 onion, garlic and bell pepper and cook over medium heat, stirring


 occasionally, about 5 to 8 minutes or until onion is tender.


 


 Stir  in the reserved meat, tomato puree, tomato paste, water, basil,


 oregano, sugar, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and bay leaf and


 bring to boil. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, about 2 hours, or


 until  flavors  mingle  and mixture thickens slightly (there will be about


 4 1/2 to 5 cups of sauce).


 


 Combine ricotta, 1/4 cup Parmesan, egg, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon


 pepper in a medium bowl; set aside.


 


 Bring  3  quarts  of  water to boil in  a  large  pot.


  Add  1 tablespoon salt,  then gradually add lasagne noodles so that water


 continues to boil.  Cook noodles until barely tender, about 5 minutes,


 stirring once or twice;  do  not  overcook. Drain noodles; rinse in cold


 water and drain well.   Return noodles to pot and toss them gently with 1


 tablespoon oil to prevent them sticking.


 


 Line  the  bottom of a a buttered 9 x 13 x 2-inch  pan with 4 lasagne


 noodles, cutting one as necessary to completely cover the bottom. Spread


 evenly with half of ricotta mixture (1 generous cup). Sprinkle evenly with


 half of mozarella (about 2 cups). Spread with half of the tomato/meat


 sauce.


 


 Top  with remaining 4 noodles, cutting one noodle as above so that the


 sauce mixture is completely covered. Evenly layer on remaining ingredients


 in the same order as above. Sprinkle the top of the lasagne evenly with 1/4


 cup Parmesan and  1/4  cup mozzarella.


 


 Bake  in a preheated oven at 375 for about 45 or 50 minutes or until


 lasagne is hot in center.  Remove from oven; let stand for 15 minutes. Cut


 in squares and serve on heated plates with garlic bread.


 


 From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini