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1 pound sweet Italian sausage
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup minced onion
3 cloves garlic, crushed (or minced garlic in a jar)
2 (28 ounce) can Hunt’s crushed tomatoes (use only 1 can for lasagna)
2 (6 ounce) cans Hunt’s tomato paste
2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned Hunts tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Transfer to your Crock Pot. I cook the sauce on medium or low for at least 8 hours
For the Meatballs:
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 1/4 cups Italian seasoned bread
crumbs
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 egg, beaten
In a bowl, mix the ground beef, bread crumbs, parsley, garlic, onion, and egg. Shape the mixture into 16 meatballs. Toss them in the crock pot. Cook at least 6-8 hours
For Lasagna:
You need:
24 ounces ricotta cheese
1 egg
teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
12 Lasagna noodles
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain your noodles, and rinse them with cold water. (I use clean rubber gloves to assemble so the noodles dont have to be too cold) In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, nutmeg, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
- Preheat your oven to 375
- To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 inch casserole/baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
- Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.
This recipe will make about 10 servings.
Serve with Star Puffs and Dipping oil!