Saturdays are meant for family and friends gathering. Even during this Covid-19 situation, meeting loved ones are really chicken soup for one’s soul. This night my close friends are coming over and since it has been this rainy weather for the past weeks, a warm dish like this very easy lasagna recipe with homemade tomato sauce is the perfect dish. Not only is it full of flavour, I’ve also just made some homemade tomato sauce that will be put to great use in this dish.
Ingredients list for this lasagna is easy and simple to prepare. I have some homemade tomato sauce that I made earlier but you can also replace the tomato sauce with those you find in grocery stores:
- 6 pcs pasta sheet
Cheese mixture
- 150 g parmigiano-regginano cheese
- 150 g mozzarella cheese
- 250 g ricotta cheese
Meat sauce
- 300 g minced beef
- 2 cups homemade tomato sauce Check out my homemade tomato sauce recipe
- 1/2 medium onion Finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic Finely chopped
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper grounded
Portion is for 4 persons and if you have more people, just adjust accordingly. If you like to have more pasta layers, feel free to increase the portions of the cheese and meat sauce accordingly.
I’ve read that some recipes call for spices such as basil, oregano or cinnamon and I’ve yet to try them out honestly so if you have, please let me know how it goes.
Making this lasagna is really easy, it’s basically preparing each of the ingredients set and assembling them together for the final bake. I usually like to do the easy tasks first, that is, getting the cheese mixture done, getting the pasta sheets ready. Oh, do remember to add some cooking oil and salt to the water when boiling pasta sheets, so they do not stick together after cooking. Then cook the meat sauce and you are ready to do the assembly.
My ingredients are just enough for 3 layers – meat sauce, cheese mixture, meat sauce, of course with pasta sheets on the base layer and in-between the meat sauce and cheese mixture.
I was happy this easy Lasagna with homemade tomato sauce was well-received by my friends, and of course, we paired it with a very light-bodied Pinot Noir from Australia.
Easy and simple lasagna recipe with homemade tomato sauce
Ingredients
- 6-8 pcs pasta sheet
Cheese mixture
- 150 g parmigiano-regginano cheese
- 150 g mozzarella cheese
- 250 g ricotta cheese
Meat sauce
- 300 g minced beef
- 2 cups homemade tomato sauce Check out my homemade tomato sauce recipe
- ½ medium onion finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp Himalayan salt
- 1 tsp black pepper freshly crushed
Instructions
Prepare the cheese mixture
- Combine ricotta cheese, parmigiano-regginano cheese, and mozzarella cheese into an even mixture. Leave some parmigiano-regginano cheese, and mozzarella cheese to top over the lasagna before baking.
Prepare the meat sauce
- Heat oil in pan, add chopped garlic and onions and saute until onion caramelised
- Add minced beef and cook until well done.
- Add homemade tomato sauce. Add salt and pepper. Cook over simmering fire. Set aside the meat sauce.
Boil the pasta
- Add some oil and salt into the water. Boil the pasta sheets until they turn al dente.
Assemble and bake
- Pre-heat oven to 200 degree celsius.
- Layer pasta sheets on the base of the baking tray. Then add on layer of meat sauce, then layer of pasta sheets, then layer of cheese mixture, then pasta sheets, and finally a layer of meat sauce.
- Sprinkle parmigiano-regginano cheese and mozzarella cheese on top of the final layer of meat sauce
- Cover with foil and pop into pre-heat oven and bake for 30 min.
- Remove foil and bake for another 10 min.
- Ready to serve and enjoy!
Homemade Char Siew Noodles
Mantova, the sleeping beauty of Italy
5 March 2021 at 1:24 amGood stuff!
4 May 2021 at 1:19 pmThis is fantastic! Trying this out with minced chicken instead for a change.