Description
Mom’s Lasagna is a classic Italian-American meat lasagna featuring a rich, slow-simmered tomato and ground beef sauce layered with oven-ready noodles, creamy cottage cheese, shredded mozzarella, and grated Parmesan. This comforting casserole is perfect for family dinners and delivers deep, savory flavors enhanced by a homemade sauce that tastes even better the next day.
Ingredients
Scale
Meat Sauce
- 3 medium onions, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 lb lean ground beef (preferably ground sirloin)
- 1 (28-oz) can whole tomatoes, crushed by hand (preferably San Marzano)
- 1 (14½-oz) can tomato sauce
- 1 (6-oz) can tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon dried basil, crushed by hand
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed by hand
- About 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 cups water
- Salt and pepper to taste
Lasagna Assembly
- 1 lb box oven-ready lasagna noodles (no boiling required)
- 1 (16-oz) container whole milk small curd cottage cheese
- 1 lb shredded mozzarella
- Grated Parmesan cheese (use good quality)
Instructions
- Sauté aromatics: Heat olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add chopped onions with a pinch of salt and cook until softened and beginning to brown. Add finely chopped garlic and cook for about one minute until fragrant.
- Brown the beef: Add the ground beef to the pot, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Cook until the meat is fully browned and no longer pink.
- Add herbs and tomatoes: Stir in crushed dried basil and oregano. In a separate bowl, crush the whole canned tomatoes by hand and add them to the pot along with tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, and sugar. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well.
- Simmer the sauce: Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cover. Let it simmer gently for about 1½ hours, stirring occasionally to develop rich flavor.
- Cool and refrigerate: Allow the sauce to cool completely, then refrigerate overnight. This resting step intensifies the flavors.
- Drain cottage cheese: Before assembling, drain the cottage cheese in a fine mesh sieve over the sink, stirring gently several times over 1 to 2 hours until most liquid has drained off.
- Preheat oven and prepare pan: Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Lightly ladle some sauce to cover the bottom of an 11×15 inch lasagna pan.
- First layer: Arrange 6 oven-ready noodles over the sauce, overlapping slightly. Spread half the drained cottage cheese evenly over the noodles. Sprinkle half the shredded mozzarella on top, then spoon a generous amount of sauce over the cheese.
- Second layer: Repeat with another 6 noodles, the remaining cottage cheese, the remaining mozzarella, and more sauce.
- Top layer: Place 6 final noodles on top. Spoon sauce over the entire surface and along the edges to ensure all noodles are well covered. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.
- Bake lasagna: Cover the pan with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes uncovered to brown the top.
- Rest and serve: Allow the lasagna to rest about 10 minutes after baking before cutting and serving. Enjoy your hearty homemade meal!
Notes
- This is a classic Italian-American lasagna featuring meat sauce, cottage cheese, mozzarella, and Parmesan.
- Simmering the sauce overnight enhances the depth of flavor.
- Oven-ready noodles save time by eliminating the need to boil before assembly.
- Draining cottage cheese prevents the lasagna from becoming watery.
- Use good quality grated Parmesan for best taste.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 585 kcal
- Sugar: 5 g
- Sodium: 578 mg
- Fat: 26 g
- Saturated Fat: 11 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 11 g
- Trans Fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 50 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 39 g
- Cholesterol: 115 mg
