Classic Italian Lasagna

I remember that my grandfather LOVED my mom's lasagna. After his passing, I don't think she's made it again, preferring the much easier baked ziti.

Mamma's lasagna wasn't like this.

I discovered this recipe by checking out Emily's blog. It originally came from Mel's blog.

My husband actually did most of the cooking for this lasagna, bringing his lasagna total to 4. Definitely allot yourself a good two hours from start to finish. My original plan was to put this together last night then bake it today, but that just didn't happen. I started putting it together around 4 this afternoon. Then, I discovered my block of mozzarella had gone bad and was thrown out. Oops. So, I went to the store only to hit traffic on my way back. Add in a baby feeding, and things didn't get started until almost 5. Bedtime starts in these parts around 7. Oy.

But, we went forward and made this. It was worth it. I asked M, "Was it worth all the work?" and he replied that it was...definitely what I was expecting him to say. We both thought it was delicious. The Boy was being...stubborn? He could only be persuaded to eat by saying it was the only way he could go to the playground after dinner. Yep, we bribe our son. He said it was good, but really wouldn't eat it.

Anyway. Go make this. I suggest you do it sooner rather than later. But definitely make sure you give yourself the time!

Oh! Some changes to the recipe:

• Put some of the red sauce on the bottom of your pan. We found that the bottom layer of pasta didn't cook properly and stuck to the spatula as it came out of the pan. This resulted in some ugly food photography.
• Also leading to some ugly food photography was that things were a little too gooey. We waited the 15 minutes that were suggested, but I think it could have used another 5 minutes to cool properly. (It also helps to explain the kind of ugly picture of the lasagna).

Edited to add: This was quite tasty as leftovers too! YUM! Next up is, how did it freeze? :)

Classic Italian Lasagna
Printable Version
Printable Version with Picture

*Makes one 9X13-inch pan of lasagna (and requires the use of several pots and skillets…but don’t worry, you can wash those up in a snap while the lasagna is baking)

Red Sauce:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
4 cloves fresh garlic, finely minced (see garlic tutorial here)
1/2 large onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)
8 ounces mushrooms, chopped
2 (8-ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning (or a mix of dried oregano and basil)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

White Sauce:
3 cups milk (not skim, I used 1%)
5 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

9 lasagna noodles, boiled for half the time on the box (or use 12 of the no-boil noodles, of which I far prefer the Barilla brand)
1 pound ground turkey
1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded
8 ounces Parmesan cheese, shredded

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking pan with cooking spray or with a napkin dipped lightly in olive oil and set aside.

In a large skillet, brown the ground turkey over medium-high heat, breaking the meat apart into pieces with a wooden spoon. When turkey is cooked through, drain the grease and set aside.

In a medium-size saucepan over medium-high heat, add 2 tablespoons olive oil and one tablespoon butter. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. When oil/butter is hot, add the garlic, stirring constantly. When the garlic is lightly browned, but NOT burned, add the onion and mushrooms. Continue cooking on medium-high heat until the vegetables are soft and browned and the fluid has mostly cooked out. Remove from heat and either using a handheld immersion blender or transferring the vegetables to a blender, blend the vegetables to a paste-like mixture. Return the pot to the heat (pour the pureed vegetables back in, if using a stand-alone blender) and add the tomato sauce and tomato paste. Stir to combine. Then add the diced tomatoes, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir. Cover and let the sauce sauce simmer for 30 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Right before using the red sauce in the lasagna, stir in the reserved ground turkey.

While the red sauce simmers, if using lasagna noodles that need to be boiled, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and boil the noodles for half the time suggested on the box. Once the noodles are cooked, drain, but do not rinse. Add a dab of olive oil to keep them from sticking together. If you are using no-boil noodles, you can skip this step.

Also while the red sauce is cooking, melt the four tablespoons butter and when melted, add the flour, stirring constantly to combine and letting the mixture cook, while stirring, for a minute or two. Gradually add in the milk, whisking constantly. Add the salt and pepper. Slowly whisk the white sauce, ensuring it doesn’t burn on the bottom of the pan, while cooking it over medium heat. Continue slowly stirring or whisking while the white sauce cooks and thickens quite a bit, about 5-7 minutes. Add a pinch of mozzarella for good luck, if you wish!

To begin layering the lasagna, keep in mind that you’ll have three layers of noodles as well as three layers of the sauces and cheese – so plan on splitting all the sauce and cheese piles into thirds so you don’t run out at the end! On the bottom of your lightly greased baking pan, layer three pre-boiled noodles or four no-boil noodles, slightly overlapping the no-boil noodles. Layer the red sauce, white sauce, Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, spreading all to the edges and top with another layer of noodles. Again, layer the red sauce, white sauce, Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses and top with the final layer of noodles. Layer the sauces and cheeses again.

Cover the lasagna with a greased layer of aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and let the lasagna sit for 15 minutes before cutting and serving.