Classic, Cheese Lasagna

Tonight I made lasagna from scratch for the first time. It took two hours of prep and one hour of cooking time. It was super good. However, as good as it was, next time I will use store bought sauce.


First I made the marinara sauce.
2 (28 oz each) whole, peeled plum tomatoes, undrained
3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped (2 Tblsp)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1. Pulse tomatoes and juices in a food processor until coarsely chopped.
2. Heat garlic and oil in a 5-quart pot over medium heat until garlic begins to sizzle, about 2 minutes. Add tomato puree, salt, and pepper, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes

While the sauce was simmering I cooked the lasagna noodles according to the instructions on the box.

The next step is to prepare the ricotta mix.

1 pound whole-milk ricotta cheese
1 large egg
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
freshly ground pepper
1 pound fresh mozzarella
Marinara
store-bought noodles, cooked
5 ounces coarsely grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 3/4 cups)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine ricotta, egg, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl. Season with pepper. Coarsely grate 1/2 of the mozzarella, and stir into ricotta mixture. Using your fingers, shred remaining mozzarella into 2-inch strips, and reserve.
2. Spread 1/2 cup marinara in a 9 by 13inch baking dish. Place a layer of noodles over marinara. Spread 1/3 of the ricotta mixture over noodles, and sprinkle with 1/3 of the parmesan. Place a layer of noodles over the cheese layer. Spread 1 cup marinara over noodles. Repeat layering (noodles, marinara, noodles, ricotta mixture, parmesan) 2 more times. Spread remaining marinara over cheese layer, then sprinkle with shredded mozzarella.
3. Place baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until cheese is golden brown and sauce is bubbling, 45-50 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.

This lasagna turned out great. I'd give it a 9 out of 10. The recipe was taken from the October '08 Martha Stewart Magazine. Here it is on their website, only the link on their site isn't working. But you can see the other three versions of lasagna from the article.