Italian Lasagna Recipe

With an Italian sausage-based meat sauce laced with red wine and plenty of veggies, an ultra cheesy and creamy parmesan and basil peppered ricotta filling, and an easy way of prepping lasagna noodles, our Italian Lasagna Recipe is one for the books!

There are a lot of lasagna recipes out there. Like thousands. Soo why choose our Italian Lasagna Recipe? Let’s explore.

1. Ease. I promise you, aside from a lasagna you can simply pop in the oven from the freezer section of the grocery store, this is as easy as homemade lasagna gets. Thanks to a trick I learned from Ina, we soak the noodles in water while we prep everything else and they cook directly in the sauce. This not only makes it easier to prepare but cuts the cooking time for the noodles AND the lasagna itself.
2. Help. We take a wee bit of help from the grocery store by using store-bought marinara. And it can be the cheap stuff. By simmering it with onion, garlic, red wine and Italian sausage there won’t be even a tiny resemblance of anything store-bought.
3. Flavor. Our lasagna is FLAVORFUL. From the Italian sausage to the red wine to the generous amount of parmesan cheese, every bite is brimming with goodness.
4. Classic. While I love a mushroom or butternut squash lasagna, when it comes to traditional lasagna you have to keep it classic. And we do.
5. Veggies. Yup, we sneak quite a few veggies in there and you won’t even know it in the end. Plus it adds to number three – veggies = flavor.

Ingredients in our Italian Lasagna Recipe

The meat sauce

Onion + garlic. What would Italian lasagna be without onion and garlic? And if you can, use fresh garlic.

Carrots + celery. I love to sneak veggies in where I can and lasagna is no exception. Our sauce mimics a bolognese-style sauce where the hallmarks are an addition of carrot and celery.

Ground beef. A classic in lasagna.

Italian sausage. Italian sausage has incredible flavor and it’s a great way to make store-bought shine. I like to use sweet Italian sausage but if you like heat use regular or hot.

Red wine. No sauce of mine is complete without a splash (or two or three!) of red wine. We use it in our spaghetti and meatballs, short rib ragu and so much more.

Marinara. Honestly, you can use whatever you want. Even the cheap stuff.

The filling

Even though our meat sauce is without a doubt deliciious, my favorite part of a lasagna is the creamy, cheesy filling. Here’s what you need for ours:

Ricotta. Only whole milk ricotta will do.

Mozzarella. Grate it yourself please!

Parmesan. I love the taste of nutty parmesan cheese so we really go for it. Again, shred your own!

Egg. This adds structure and richnness to the filling, don’t skip it!

Salt + pepper. Ricotta doesn’t have much salt so don’t skimp here. Seasoning each layer is what makes a good lasagna great.

Basil. I like to pepper fresh basil throughout the cheesy filing. It adds a bit of freshness you can’t get with dried herbs.

Everything else

Cheese. If the cheesy ricotta filling wasn’t enough for you, we add another layer of mozzarella and parmesan to ensure every bite is cheesy as possible.

Lasagna noodles. While I love the no-cook lasagna noodles, for a classic lasagna I like to use old fashioned noodles. Stay tuned for our trick on how to make it as easy as possible.

Let’s make Lasagna!

Soak the noodles. Fill a baking dish with VERY hot water. It’s important it’s hot! Gently lay the lasagna noodles in the water one by one making sure they don’t stick together. Let them soak while you prep everything else for the lasagna.

Make the meat sauce. Heat a large skillet to a medium heat. Add a little bit of olive oil. Swirl the pan and then add the diced carrot, celery, onion and some salt. Sweat the veggies for 4-5 minutes until they soften. If they start to brown, turn the heat down to medium low. Add the garlic, stir and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.

Add in the Italian sausage and ground beef. Increase the heat to medium-high. Use a wooden spoon to break the meat into very small pieces. Cook stirring often until all the meat is cooked through, this should take about 10 minutes, give or take.

Prep! I like to maximize my time so while the meat sauce cooks and in between stirring, use this time to shred the cheese if you haven’t already.

Finish the sauce. When the meat is cooked through, add the red wine. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer until slightly reduced. Add in the jarred marinara. To get every last bit of sauce out pour a little bit of water into the empty jar of sauce, put the lid back on and shake to get any remaining sauce out of the jar. Pour into skillet with the sauce and meat mixture. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cover and let the sauce cook while you make the ricotta mixture.

Mix the cheeses. Add ricotta, 1 cup shredded parmesan, 2 cups shredded mozzarella, 1 large egg, 1/2 teaspoon salt and finely chopped basil to a medium bowl. Stir to combine.

Dry the noodles. Drain the water from the baking dish, remove the noodles and dry them on paper towels.

Get the rest of the cheese ready. Combine the remaining 2 cups mozzarella cheese and 1 cup parmesan cheese together. Set aside.

How to make lasagna

• Spread 1 1/2 cups pasta sauce on the bottom of the baking dish.
• Layer with three lasagna noodles. Use a fourth noodle to fill in the gap at the bottom if there is one. Cut the nooodle to size.
• Spread another 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over the layer of noodles.
• Sprinkle the meat sauce with 1 cup of the mozzarella and parmesan mixture.
• Dollop half of the ricotta mixture on top of the mozzarella and cheese. Use an off set spatula or back of a spoon to gently spread the ricotta in an even layer.

• Lay another three noodles on top of the ricotta. Again use a fourth noodle to fill in the gap at the bottom if there is one. Cut the noodle to size to fill in the gap nicely.
• Spread another 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over the layer of noodles.
• Sprinkle the meat sauce with another 1 cup of the mozzarella and parmesan mixture.
• Dollop the remaining half of the ricotta mixture on top of the mozzarella and cheese. Use an off set spatula or back of spoon to gently spread the ricotta in an even layer.
• Lay one last layer of (3) lasagna noodles on top of the ricotta. Use a fourth noodle to fill in the gap at the bottom if there is one. Cut the noodle to size.
• Spread the remaining meat sauce on top of the noodles.
• Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

Bake!

Cover the lasagna with foil, pop in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, increase the heat and baked until golden brown and bubbly.

Wait at least 20 minutes to cut and serve!

Tips and Tricks for Success

• Be sure to separate each lasagna noodle in the water making sure they don’t stick together.
• Season every layer! Taste each layer, if it needs more salt, add it!
• Shred your own cheese. Pre-shredded cheese not only lacks flavor but it doesn’t melt well. I know it’s an added step but you could do it the day before.
• Cover the lasagna tightly with foil. This will help the lasagna steam and cook quicker.
• Which brings us to, don’t forget to spray the foil with non-stick cooking spray! You don’t want to lose any of that cheesy topping.
• And finally LET THE LASAGNA REST. This is so so important. I like to let it rest for 30 minutes but 20 should cut it. If you cut and serve right away it will fall apart.