Best Lasagna Recipes

The word 'lasagna' has an interesting etymology. According to some, it comes from the Greek word 'lasanon', which means chamber pot. The Romans then borrowed it, making it 'lasanum', as a humorous reference to a cooking pot. Eventually, the word 'lasagne', the plural form of 'lasagna', of Italian origin, was used to denote a dish that was cooked in a similar pot. This dish comprised layers of flat sheets of pasta, tomatoes, and minced meat, with grated cheese on top. Subsequently, the word 'lasagna' came to mean the pasta dish itself, and innumerable lasagna recipes were devised based on the basic recipe.

Hence, there are simply many, many delicious ways of cooking lasagna, including various types of meat fillings, cheeses as toppings, and even some yummy vegetable lasagna recipes. Here are a few of the best lasagna recipes that you can try out:

Lasagna Alla Bolognese

1lb ground beef
1 16-oz box of lasagna
1 onion, diced, medium-sized
2 celery stalks, diced
1 carrot, diced
¼ cup Italian parsley, finely chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
2 28-oz cans tomatoes, whole and peeled
½ stick of butter
¼ cup red wine
2¼ cups milk
3½ tbsp flour
Salt and pepper
½ cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

To make the Bolognese tomato sauce:

Take a saucepan and add three tablespoons of olive oil into it. Then add the onion, parsley, celery and carrot and stir-fry them on medium heat for about five minutes. Heat a frying pan until it gets quite hot and then put the ground beef into it and allow it to brown for around three minutes, making sure to stir it frequently. Then, add the wine on it and turn up the heat to high, allowing the wine to evaporate. Next add the meat along with the tomatoes to the stir-fried vegetables, adding pepper and salt to taste. Cover this and allow to cook on low heat for about an hour.

To make the Béchamel sauce:

Melt the butter in a saucepan on a low flame. Add the flour gradually, mixing continuously so that there are no lumps. Then, add in the cold milk, continuing to stir. Allow this to come to a boil on a medium-to-low heat, keeping on stirring, and cook for about 20 minutes. When the sauce is done, it should not be too thick or too thin. If it is too thick, add some more milk, and if it is too thin, add more of the flour and butter mixture, prepared separately.

To make the pasta:

Cook the lasagna in boiling water until tender, yet firm, and drain it out. Place them on a sheet of wax paper so that they do not stick together.

Assembling and cooking the lasagna dish:

Begin by preheating the oven to 375 degrees. Then, in a greased baking pan, spread a lasagna layer at the bottom, so that each piece just overlaps the next. Next, spread some Bolognese sauce over that, then on top of that spread some Béchamel sauce. Repeat this layering process until you come to the last two layers, where you need to reverse it so that the tomato sauce is the last layer. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over that and bake for about half an hour.

Classic Beef Lasagna Recipe

6 dried lasagna noodles
12 oz ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 14 1/2-oz can tomatoes diced, not drained
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
1 tbsp Italian seasoning, dried and crushed
1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 egg, beaten
1 15-oz container ricotta cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
6 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
Additional Parmesan cheese, grated

To make the sauce, cook the onion, garlic and the meat in a large sized saucepan until the meat becomes brown. Then drain the excess fluids off. And then add the pepper, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, tomato sauce, and the diced tomatoes into the meat, and bring to a boil. Then reducing the heat, cover the saucepan and simmer for about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally while this process is ongoing. In the meantime, cook the noodles for about 10-12 minutes, until it becomes tender and yet is firm. Then drain the noodles, rinse it in cold water, and keep it aside. For the filling, combine the Parmesan cheese, ricotta cheese, and the egg, and keep aside.

Take a 2-quart size rectangular shaped baking dish and spread about half a cup of tomato sauce at the bottom of it. Then put a layer of about half of the noodles on top of that. Then top this with about half of the filling. And on top of this add half of the mozzarella cheese and half of the meat sauce. Repeat this process, finally topping with Parmesan cheese. Put the baking dish into the oven and bake at 375 degrees F for about 30-35 minutes.

Vegetable Lasagna Recipe

8 oz lasagna noodles, dried
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups cottage cheese, cream-style
1 15-oz carton ricotta cheese
2 tsp Italian seasoning, dried and crushed
2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 cup onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp flour, all-purpose
1/2 to 1 tsp black pepper
1-1/4 cups milk
1 10-oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and thoroughly drained
1 10-oz package broccoli, frozen, chopped, thawed and drained
1 cup carrot, shredded
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
1 8-oz package mozzarella cheese, shredded

Cook the noodles for about 10 minutes until tender and yet firm, then drain it and keep it aside. Take a medium-sized bowl and combine the Italian seasoning, ricotta, cottage cheese, and the eggs, and keep aside.

Heat oil in a skillet and add the onion, garlic and mushrooms and cook until it becomes tender. Then add the pepper and flour, and then the milk. Allow it to cook, stirring, until it becomes slightly thick and is bubbly, and then remove from the heat. Add half a cup of Parmesan cheese, carrot, broccoli, and spinach.

Then take a 3-quart rectangular shaped baking dish, and grease it. Then layer the bottom with 1/3 of the noodles. Next spread a layer of 1/3 of the cottage cheese combination, and on top of that a layer of 1/3 of the vegetable mixture. Top that with a layer of 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat this process twice more, and put a layer of Parmesan cheese as the final topping. Bake this in an oven heated to 350 degrees F for about 35 minutes.