Lasagna Love Meat Lasagna
This recipe has been adapted from one by Lasagna Love founder Rhiannon Menn.
Ingredients
- 2–3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 pounds ground beef, turkey or a mixture of both (Menn uses half and half)
- ½ cup finely chopped onion
- 1 large or 2 small cloves garlic
- 2 (14.5-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes (or 1 28-ounce can)
- 1 (24-ounce) jar of store-bought tomato sauce (or homemade)
- 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 tablespoon agave syrup
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- Pepper, to taste
FOR ASSEMBLY
- 16 ounces ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 pound mozzarella cheese, grated
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 zucchini, grated
- 1 yellow squash, grated
- 1 box no-boil lasagna noodles
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add beef and turkey, breaking into small bits as it cooks. Cook until meat is browned; drain off fat. Add onion and garlic and cook 2–3 minutes.
- Add crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste and water. Mix thoroughly. Add agave syrup, salt and pepper. Simmer 1½ hours, stirring every 10–15 minutes to prevent the bottom from burning.
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Combine ricotta and egg. Mix mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Reserve ⅓ of cheese mixture for topping. Add grated zucchini and yellow squash to the other ⅔.
- In a 9-inch by 13-inch pan, add 1½ cups of sauce, 1 layer of noodles, ½ of the ricotta mixture and ½ of the cheese/veggie mixture. Repeat these layers once more.
- Add another layer of 1½ cups of sauce, noodles, 1½ cups sauce and top with reserved mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
- Cover with foil, tenting so that it doesn’t stick to the cheese. Bake covered for 25 minutes; remove foil and bake another 20–30 minutes, or until the top is golden and a little bubbly.
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Rhiannon Menn is the founder of Lasagna Love.
