By Alison Roman
Updated Feb. 28, 2024
- Total Time
- About 2 hours
- Rating
- 4(3,699)
- Notes
- Read community notes
While not a 30-minute meal, this lasagna is quicker and more straightforward than most. If you’re in a real time crunch, use your favorite jarred red sauce. For greater success with the lasagna noodles, which have a tendency to stick together, boil them in the largest pot possible or work in batches — they need as much water as possible to move freely so they don’t clump. This lasagna can be assembled, baked and refrigerated up to five days ahead, or frozen up to a month ahead if wrapped tightly.
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Ingredients
Yield:6 to 8 servings
- 2tablespoons olive oil
- 1pound Italian sausage, sweet or hot (optional), casings removed
- 1large yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2garlic cloves, finely chopped
- Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
- 2tablespoons tomato paste
- 1(28-ounce) can whole, peeled tomatoes
- 1(28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- Kosher salt
- 1½pounds fresh mozzarella, grated or shredded into small pieces
- 16ounces (2 cups) whole milk ricotta
- 1cup coarsely grated Parmesan, plus more for sprinkling on top (optional)
- ¼cup heavy cream
- Freshly ground pepper
- 1pound dried lasagna noodles (not the no-boil variety)
- Olive oil
For the Sauce
For the Assembly
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
966 calories; 57 grams fat; 26 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 23 grams monounsaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 65 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 11 grams sugars; 48 grams protein; 1352 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Make the sauce: Heat oil in a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Add sausage, if using, and cook, stirring occasionally, until it’s starting to brown but not yet crisp, about 5 minutes.
Step
2
Add onion and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is totally softened and translucent (without letting it brown), 8 to 10 minutes. Add tomato paste and continue to cook, stirring until the tomato paste has turned a deeper brick red color, tinting the oil and onions a fiery orange color, about 2 minutes.
Step
3
Using your hands, crush the whole tomatoes into smaller, bite-size pieces and add them and the crushed tomatoes, stirring to scrape up any bits from the bottom of the pot. Fill one of the tomato cans halfway with water and add it to the pot. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomato sauce has thickened and flavors have come together, 20 to 30 minutes.
Step
4
Make the lasagna: Heat oven to 375 degrees and set a large pot of salted water to boil.
Step
5
Set aside 1 cup mozzarella. In a medium bowl, combine remaining mozzarella, ricotta, 1 cup Parmesan and cream; season with salt and pepper and set aside.
Step
6
Cook lasagna noodles in the large pot of salted boiling water until just softened (before they are even al dente), about 4 minutes. Drain and separate any noodles that are trying to stick together, slicking them with a bit of olive oil to prevent them from sticking further.
Step
7
Spoon a bit of sauce on the bottom of a 3-quart baking dish and top with a layer of noodles, avoiding any heavy overlap.
Step
8
Top with about 1 ¼ cups of sauce, and dollop ¼ of the cheese mixture over. Top with another layer of noodles and repeat three more times, ending with the last of the noodles (depending on size of the noodle/shape of the baking dish, you may have a few extra noodles) and the last of the sauce. Top with reserved 1 cup mozzarella and more Parmesan, if you like.
Step
9
Cover loosely with aluminum foil and place baking dish on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet (to prevent any overflow from burning on the bottom of your oven).
Step
10
Bake until pasta is completely tender and cooked through and sauce is bubbling up around the edges, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove foil and increase temperature to 450 degrees. Continue to bake until lasagna is golden brown on top with frilly, crispy edges and corners, another 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool slightly before eating.
Ratings
4
out of 5
3,699
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Cooking Notes
Ned
A great hack I recently read about has you put your uncooked lasagna noodles into a large deep tray and pour hot tap water over them. Allow to sit in this hot water bath for ten minutes, re-distributing them occasionally from top to bottom of the tray. They come out perfectly pliable, undamaged, and ready to use for your lasagna recipe. Shake any excess water off them ever so gently and layer into your cooking pan (or the same tray you used for the bath). Fantastic!
Eric S
When I cover with foil any baked casserole or lasagna with cheese on top, I first spray or wipe oil on the underside of the foil to reduce sticking.
Gail
Because tomato sauce can react with aluminum and even create holes in the foil, I cover the lasagne with a sheet of parchment paper before sealing it with foil.
Deb
Basil & onion.Hostessed at an upscale Ital. restaurant in ATL long ago. Their basic marina was primarily seasoned with sweet onion, garlic and basil, was very simple & very delicious. For a tiny easy batch:14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes - plain or w/Italian seasoning8 oz. can tomato sauce - " " " "1/4 cup +/- diced sweet onion1 tsp. +/- minced garlic1 Tbsp. dried basilSautee Onion & garlic lightly in EVOO, add toms., basil & simmer. Tweak as needed.
Jill
Can the NYT do a test taste for lasagna noodles in lasagna? 1. regular-boiled as per directions 2. regular- softened in hot water 3. regular-not boiled or soaked but used dry in layers with extra liquid in the sauce 4. no-boil noodles. Please let us know the results. This issue comes up over and over again.
Bri
I havent boiled lasagne noodles in years. Instead I like to soak the noodles in hot tap water for a few minutes until they become pliable...it makes them a little easier to work with and they won’t suck up as much liquid from the sauce. They will finish cooking in the sauce, and you can add a little starchy pasta water to the sauce to thin it a little to compensate for the liquid the noodles will absorb during cooking.
Rick in Texas
My timing was a little different:1) 1 week: think about it because I'm tired of all other pandemic food2) 3 hours + 2 days: shopping for ingredients. Whole Foods was out of lasagne noodles; finally found some at Central Market3) construction time: 2 hours (followed directions religiously)4) bachelor cleanup: 2 hours (tomato sauce splatters, onion & garlic remnants) Final result was great; possibly the best lasagne I've ever had. Certainly the best I've ever made.
mathlady
My Neapolitan grandmother used to cook the lasagna noodles in a very easy way so that they never stuck together. First she added a little bit of olive oil to the boiling water. Then she put the lasagna noodles into the pot, one at a time, each one perpendicular to the previous one.
Lee Norris
Actually, you don’t even need no-boil lasagna noodles. The regular kind works just fine. And, as Kathy suggested, you could add a small amount of extra liquid to the sauce just to be sure it isn’t drying out in the oven.
Jeff
This is basically the Cook's Illustrated lasagna recipe from their book "The New Best Recipe." Just giving credit where credit's due...
Frantzie Couch
Why did you use no-boil noodles and then make a negative comment? Alison Roman's recipe specifically said NOT to use no-boil noodles.
Wayne
Would add a little more sausage next time
MJ
Terrific with 24 oz. of Rao's Marinara, part-skim ricotta and 1/4 c half-and-half. Added a squeeze of Gourmet Gardens parsley in a tube to the cheeses and soaked dry-boxed noodles for 15" in 100° water instead of boiling them (9 noodles + cheeses and sauce topped my 9.5" x 12" x 2.5" casserole baking dish). Best lasagne I ever made!
Michele
Good recipe but I would make a few adjustments: (1) cut back on the cheese (I only used 1lb of mozzarella and 1 cup of ricotta. Even with 3 layers, I had enough cheese for the layers and the top); (2) add more sausage; and (3) use a 15 oz can of whole tomatoes instead of a 28 oz can. All of this barely fit my 13x9 inch pan!I also like a sweeter sauce. Instead of salt and pepper, I added a tbsp of sugar, used crushed tomatoes with basil and added about 2 tsps dried basil. The sauce was perfect!
Peter Joseph
I make this sauce in quantity and freeze it in 1 quart plastic containers for months. Useful for lots more than lasanga. Add diced green peppers and mix with rice for good casserole.
umberto
This is a really good recipe but I will definitely cut back on the cheese next time…I want to be alive to be able to make it again.
Dave B
A 3 qt (9x13) pan for all this? Is it the TARDIS? The next time I make this I'm either making half the noodles and sauce or using a much larger pan, one that I may not even own. Unreal.
Deborah
I followed the recipe except I doubled the sausage. It was really good. I do wish I had let it rest a bit more before cutting it, but we were really hungry!
Dman
Better than I thought it was going to be - seemed super plain when building it but turned out good after baked and allowed to set
Ulfilas
Made this here in NZ with Impossible mince, Barilla sauce, no-cook noodles that we soaked in hot water anyway. The result - exceptional!
joe
I added red wine while cooking the sauce. It gave it a beautiful texture. Also an egg to the ricotta mix.
maura
What size pan should I use?
classic lasagns
Added 1.5 lbs burger meat. But the best addition was lemon zest from 2 lemons to cheese mixture
Carlos
Made the recipe as noted, used the tip to let the noodles rest in a pan with cold water (rather than boiling them). Made it super easy. Overall very tasty.
Sara
This was very good but it needs something more to make it great. The cheese mixture is delicious but the sauce is lacking a little in flavor. Like other commenters, I added basil and sugar to the sauce but it still could have used something else. I would make again but will play with the sauce to get more flavor. The noodles come out perfect boiling them for four minutes as suggested in the recipe.
Jon
I just cooked this and it came out great but the sauce cooking time looks off to me I cooked the sauce for 2.5 hours and still ended up with about 1 1/2 cups leftover.
Nina
Would this recipe still be good without the Italian sausage? I'm looking to make a lasagna for a vegetarian.
Jane
I'm a fan of Alison Roman. Perhaps I did not prepare this recipe correctly, although I've trained as a chef in London. I did not use sausage; and although this diminished the salt and fat content in the sauce, I corrected for the loss; and corrected further with fresh herbs and butter. Still, the sauce was lacking in flavor and complexity. The end product looked stunning; but was weak in flavor.
jamie
I’d recommend reserving more of the mozzarella to adequately cover the top of the lasagna. This should be simple since the amount of cheese mixture for the filling seemed more than was necessary.
Tammy
Really great. Took the advice of one of the commenters that they would have added more sausage - I added a pound of ground beef. Spiced the sauce up with a couple of tsps of chili flakes since we like things arrabiata. Really appreciated the suggestion to only cook the noodles for 4 minutes - cooked them in batches of four at a time as I built the lasagna. And have enough leftover (since there's just two of us) to put in the freezer and have all winter!
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