Grif’s Old School Lasagna

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♼ Recipe origin is unknown. Grif’s old school lasagna recipe, recipe Rating: 4.7
Number of votes:106

One of my first original recipes! It fed me through my bachelor days.
Ready in: 1 hour 30 mins

Ingredients

Serves: 12

• 1 (16 ounce) package lasagna noodles
• 1 pound ground beef
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 (24 ounce) jar prepared spaghetti sauce
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1 (32 ounce) container ricotta cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 egg
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 fresh basil leaves, cut into ribbons
• 24 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• salt and ground black pepper to taste

Preparation method

Prep: 30 mins | Cook: 1 hour

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Drop the lasagna noodles in boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain, rinse, and set aside.
3. In a large skillet over medium heat, brown ground beef. While browning, add garlic, dried herbs, crushed red pepper, and onion powder. After the meat has been browned, drain the fat if needed.
4. Add the spaghetti sauce and wine, reduce heat to low, and let simmer.
5. In a large mixing bowl add ricotta, nutmeg, egg, thyme leaves, the 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, olive oil, fresh basil, 16 ounces of the mozzarella cheese, and mix to incorporate.
6. In a large baking dish, cover the bottom with the meat sauce. Cover that with a layer of the par-cooked pasta noodles. Top the noodles with a layer of ricotta cheese mixture. Cover with another layer of pasta. Repeat the layers until you reach the top of the pan.
7. On the top layer of pasta, put all remaining meat sauce. Grate remaining cheeses on that. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning. Cover with foil.
8. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes. Remove foil, raise oven temp to 375 degrees F, and bake until bubbly and cheeses are melted, about 15 minutes. Allow to rest for at least 10 minutes before serving.