<p>Have to make a confession - I have never made lasagna in my life, so far…
Daughter has been after me for months, so I figured that this weekend would be perfect. Both kids are home for fall break and daughter will help eagerly.
So please share your recipes. Would like to make one from scratch, but of course am not going to make pasta from scratch 
Does it matter what brand of pasta one uses?</p>
<p>The easiest pasta is the kind you don’t have to cook (in boiling water) ahead of time. Not sure of the brand. It might not be the tastiest, but it isn’t awful. And it is much easier, I hate dealing with hot, large, floppy noodles.</p>
<p>One of the great technological developments in History is the no-boil lasagna noodle. It eliminates a pot, half an hour, and a lot of potential mushiness in lasagna cookery. I have used Barilla and Ronzoni with pretty much equal success; there was one other brand I used once that I really didn’t like, but I don’t remember what it was.</p>
<p>My lasagna consists of:</p>
<p>Red sauce (made however you want to make it, including I suppose by opening a jar).</p>
<p>Ricotta cheese (about 2 lbs for a big lasagna), into which I mix two beaten eggs.</p>
<p>A package of frozen chopped spinach, cooked and squeezed out, and a couple of shredded carrots, also cooked (after shredding) for a few minutes, both of which I mix into the ricotta, too. The carrots are definitely optional. But pretty.</p>
<p>A pound of mozarella cheese, with a few thin slices cut off, and the rest shredded.</p>
<p>Some grated Parmesan cheese. A little bit of olive oil.</p>
<p>You could stop there and be fine, but I also include either 1-1/2 lbs sweet Italian sausage, crumbled up and cooked, or a whole bunch of sauteed mushrooms, including some porcini or crimini or the like (for vegetarian lasagne).</p>
<p>The toughest part is choosing which baking dish to use, especially with no-boil noodles, which are less adaptable to different dish sizes than boil-your-owns. The second-toughest part is dividing up your ingredients so that you don’t run out of one or another before you finish. This requires some advance thought.</p>
<p>Start with a little oil coating the bottom of the dish, and then a few tablespoons of red sauce.
Then a layer of noodles. No-boils shouldn’t overlap, or touch the edges of the dish. Regular noodles should overlap a bit.
Then a 1/3-inch thick (precision not necessary!) layer of ricotta/veggie mixture
Then some of the mushrooms or sausage, if you’re using them
Then a generous sprinkling of mozarella
Then (not a lot of) sauce sprinkled on that.</p>
<p>Then repeat two more times, starting with the noodles. </p>
<p>Finish with a fourth layer of noodles on top, covered with however much sauce you have left, and the decorative slices of mozarella, and a sprinkling of grated Parmesan, and all of that drizzled with about a teaspoon of oil.</p>
<p>Note that you are going to need four layers of noodles, three of ricotta, three of grated mozarella, three (but I usually make it only two) of the sausage-or-mushrooms, and five (!) of red sauce. Red sauce planning can be challenging if you start with a standard large can of chopped tomatos, especially since the top layer really has to be juicy.</p>
<p>Bake at 325 for about 45 minutes. Let stand for at least 15 minutes before cutting and serving.</p>
<p>I use the recipe on the back of the Ronzoni lasagna box ( lasagna noodles have to be boiled though). It always turns out well.</p>
<p>You can use any lasagna noodles–cook or not–without cooking if you add a little extra water to the sauce. Really.</p>
<p>No boil lasagna noodle!!! I was in the dark ages! Thanks for the enlightenment, and keep those recipes coming… :)</p>
<p>I second dmd77’s advice about using regular non-cooked noodles with some extra water. The last 2 times I made lasagna I made it in a crockpot with uncooked noodles and a cup extra water mixed into the sauce. Cook on low for 5-6 hours. My husband liked it better than oven baked.</p>
<p>This is the most useful CC thread since the carmelizing onions in the microwave one.</p>
<p>JHS’s recipe is similar to mine, although I don’t put veggies into the ricotta - I use two or three finely chopped cloves of garlic and some oregano instead. And I use browned ground beef rather than sausage, mixed into the tomato sauce, since my family isn’t too keen on sausage (my Italian grandfather no doubt rolls over in his grave every time I make lasagna.)</p>
<p>Just trying to tempt you…Lasagna noodles are VERY easy to make from scratch and make a huge difference in the end product.
Classic Lasagna Bolognese:
fresh noodles, Beschamella sauce, parmesan cheese, and bolognese sauce.
And thats it. Marcella Hazan has the classic components in her cook book</p>
<p>I dont put spinach in my pasta as she does. Works fine.
<a href=“http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/352032[/url]”>http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/352032</a></p>
<p>My full-blooded Italian MIL used to make lasagna noodles from scratch that were as light as a feather. Her lasagna was SOOOO good. But even she switched to the no-boil noodles. When she did that, I gave myself permission too!</p>
<p>As you say “her Lasagna WAS so good” —operative word in the past tense. The home made noodles are not to be left in the past!!! ;)</p>
<p>^^^ point taken! :)</p>
<p>Ditto back of the Ronzoni box!!! Never fails. Though, I’m going to try the ‘add some extra water & don’t pre-cook the noodles.’ That’s a great tip. I’m invariably burning myself trying to heave the slipperly noodles out of the pot. And I didn’t want to pay a premium for no-boil.</p>
<p>I love to make lasagna rolls.</p>
<p>same recipe as for lasagne but instead of layering noodles, sauce, cheeses you take each cooked noodle separately and put the sauce and cheeses on the noodle and roll it up. Put the rolls into a pan, top with sauce and cheese and bake until cheese bubbly…mmmm I’ m hungry now.</p>
<p>Not very authentic, but I prefer a mix of 1/2 ricotta and 1/2 small curd cottage cheese to using all ricotta cheese. Also, us ground beef instead of sausage.</p>
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<p>I was about to post the above recipe. It’s a classic lasagne verdi al forno from Romagna and there’s no ricotta, mozzarella, sausages, or anything else that’s used in the southern Italian variety of lasagne that’s so popular in the US. Also, Marcella’s a purist when it comes to the noodles. Her words: “Lasagne is never, but simply never, made with anything but homemade pasta dough.” </p>
<p>After making this lasagne, you won’t want to eat any other. It takes a fair amount of time to make it, but it’s absolutely worth the effort. It’s not low in calories, so I only make it for Christmas Eve dinner. My new son-in-law’s company has a charity auction-- employees offer services rather than items and other employees bid on them and the money goes to several charities. My new son-in-law offered an Italian dinner and his boss won the item. I gave him this lasagne recipe to follow; it was a huge hit. His boss is still talking about it a year later.</p>
<p>If the OP has never made lasagna before, I would suggest a very simple recipe. I have never used no-bake noodles. I cook the lasagna noodles a minute or two less than the box says and drain in a colander. Homemade sauce is simple to make. Saute garlic clove and a little chopped onion, add tomato paste and crushed tomatoes and a little basil. If your family is used to jarred sauce, by all means, use that. I crisscross two layers of lasagna noodles, then layer sauce, ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, grated parmisan or romano and a layer of cooked ground beef. I usually have three layers total. The final layer only has three noodles across. I put a little sauce and grated cheese on top of that final layer and bake covered for 1 hour at 350. If this is your first time making lasagna, I would stay away from grated vegetables and bechamal. This is a homestyle Italian lasagna that my Italian in-laws love.</p>
<p>My wife makes the most wonderful lasagna. Has anyone mentioned that it is usually better the next day? The first time it comes out of the oven it is a little bit runny. One night in the fridge takes care of that and seems to let the flavors blend a bit also.</p>
<p>Sometimes she cooks it twice if we are having guests to achieve the same effect without preparing it a full day in advance.</p>
<p>Bromfield:
"His boss is still talking about it a year later. "
My photographer brother brought a very sophisticated art director from Vogue to my house for dinner. I made the Lasagna, salad and apple pie. He still claims that it was the best meal he had ever eaten.
I make Marcella’s Bolognese sauce in very large batches. It freezes quite well. So with the sauce in bags in the freezer, I can slap together the Lasagna as a last minute meal.</p>
<p>ps: my apple pie ROCKS</p>