Homemade Italian Lasagna, made with homemade sauce, and filled with ricotta cheese, Italian sausage, and lots of cheese. Serve with crusty Italian bread.
Wow, this is fabulous. Couple pieces of advice, though. Firstly, just use regular sausage. I don't understand why you'd want to use link sausage in a lasagna recipe. Secondly, DO NOT try to fit all of this into a 9x13 pan. Go out and buy yourself a bigger pan - you'll be very thankful you did. I followed the advice of others and made more sauce, which I did the day before in the crockpot so that I wouldn't have to babysit it. I also assembled the lasagna early in the day and popped it in the oven right before my party. This makes enough to feed a small army. Enjoy!
Read MoreWow, this is fabulous. Couple pieces of advice, though. Firstly, just use regular sausage. I don't understand why you'd want to use link sausage in a lasagna recipe. Secondly, DO NOT try to fit all of this into a 9x13 pan. Go out and buy yourself a bigger pan - you'll be very thankful you did. I followed the advice of others and made more sauce, which I did the day before in the crockpot so that I wouldn't have to babysit it. I also assembled the lasagna early in the day and popped it in the oven right before my party. This makes enough to feed a small army. Enjoy!
overall, very tasty. but the sauce didn't yield a whole heck of a lot, so i would have to double the next time. i did add a bit of red wine to the sauce as it simmered (and i probably wouldn't let it simmer as long- it started to scald). but, the sauce was very flavorful, even without the wine, and the lasagna itself was very delicious. my husband and picky 2 year old loved it!
Very good. I used no boil lasagne noodles and made it up a day ahead. I added about a half pound of mushrooms as an extra layer. It took the full 1.5 hours and maybe a little more.
This Lasagna was great. My family loved it. I would suggest increasing the tomato sauce to another can. I did not have enough ricotta cheese so I used sour cream and it still tasted wonderful. P.S. Don't forget to drain the grease from the bacon or your sauce will be way too greasy..... Love it thanks.
Yummy! The sauce tasted so good! I added another can of tomates and had more then enough sauce. I didn't even need the extra sauce. I also used bulk sausage which was perfect, and used a very deep pan. I think I ended up with 6 layers. It feed the army of guests that I had and we even had leftovers for a couple of days. Excellent!!
I cut this recipe down to 8, it was impossible to cut in half. I only simmered the sauce about an hour due to time, it was delicous (didn't use fennel-didn't have any). I boiled the noodles & cooked the lasagna for 45 mins. It filled up the 13x9 in pan. This was very good. Might try it again sometime with beef. Thanks. Edit: I made only the sauce today. I cooked the bacon, meanwhile I chopped the onions. I put the bacon on a paper towel lined plate to drain after it was cooked. I then drained out some grease & cooked the onions, chopped up the bacon meanwhile. I put the onions & the bacon in a crockpot. I cooked 1 lb of ground beef in the skillet, drained & added it to the crockpot. I added the sauce & herbs to the crockpot & turned it to low & let it simmer for 8 hours. I served it over spaghetti with bread & butter on the side. This sauce is fantastic!
I knew this would be a great classic lasagna recipe. It turned out to be the perfect Italian lasagna. All my extended family--many of whom are food snobs--raved over it when I served it for a party. After making it twice, I concluded the following changes made it party-perfect: I pre-cooked the pasta, and if I hadn't, I feel it would have been very dry. I also added one small can diced tomatoes to the sauce, as I learned from the first time I made it, it needed more sauce. I didn't particularly like the bacon, and when it was ommitted, it wasn't quite so heavy that way. Follow the rest as is, and you'll have a winner!
Best lasagne I've ever had! I cautiously made a half recipe, but it worked wonderfully in a 9x13 dish. With the reduced recipe, the lasagne wasn't piled as high, and with ready-to-bake noodles, it was done baking in under an hour. The second time I made it, I added more sauce, more garlic, and took the sausage out of the casing before browning it.
This recipe was fantastic. I did add some garlic to the onion at the start, about a tablespoon of red chile pepper flakes (because I like spicy food) and about a half-cup of red wine to the tomato sauce when it was simmering. I used spicy Italian sausage, which gave it a little extra kick, and it won raves.
wow cathy you have really outdone yourself with this recipe. I made this exactly the way I was supposed to for my anniversary and my husband absolutely loved it. I love making this recipe for our yearly parties. Thanks for the recipe!
I thought the flavor was good but the recipe needs reworking to remove fat. It could also use a little more sauce. If you like large helpings of meat this is the recipe.
I enjoyed this lasagna and so did my family. The sauce was delicious, I added an extra can as suggested by others and let it simmer for about 5-6 hours. I used Italian turkey sausage and ground turkey, still tasted great. I will definitely use this recipe again.
This was the best lasagne ever !! The bacon added a new flavor which was a great addition .. I added 1 lb. turkey and 1/2 lb. ground beef as well to the meats as my husband prefers a meatier sauce .. (browned first of course) .. this made enough for well over 8 people .. I used the larger aluminum pan (don't use 9 x 12) .. and clean up was a breeze .. just toss the pan !! Thanks for a fabulous recipe : ) This is a keeper ...
great, yummy lasagna. i had the unfortunate misconception that the noodles didn't have to be pre-cooked but out of trial and error found out yes indeed they do need to be cooked. ended up transferring everything over to another pot and mixed with ziti pasta instead which was of course just as yummy.
I made this recipe for a holiday party and the ladies all loved it! I think the sauce is what makes the lasagna extraordinary. I was at first hesitant to add bacon but it makes all the difference with the flavor. I did what others suggested and doubled the sauce (actually just added an extra can of tomato sauce). I did not use link sausage but used the other you break up into pieces. I didn't have any fennel either so didn't add it (still good without it). I used all cottage cheese instead of ricotta (too rich for me). I also used the "oven-ready" lasagna which made it so much easier (just have to take into account extra baking time). I also cut down on the milk (1/4 cup) since the cottage cheese is runnier than the ricotta. You may not even need the milk. I used parmesan cheese instead of provolone (sprinkled it on top of the mozzarella cheese). To make it somewhat a little healthier I added a layer of fresh spinach! I also used a bigger pan (not that much deeper) to get all of the layers to fit. I ended up baking it for a little longer than the 1 1/2 hours. Served it with a green salad and homemade breadsticks. YUM!
This recipe was the first recipe I have picked for making Lasagna. I can honestly say I couldn't have picked a better recipe. My lasagna came out perfect. My family loved it! I am new at cooking, so I was a little worried that it wouldn't come out right, but it came out perfect. -Thanks you!
Excellent lasagna. I use a bigger pan than what the recipe calls for, it really fills it up.
This was a fantastic lasagna recipe. My only suggestion is that you should use a larger pan. Using a regular 9x13 glass dish I ended up having enough extra ingredients that I made another 9x9 dish of lasagna. Either use a deep lasagna pan or plan to need an additional pan.
This was amazing. I cut the recipe down to 8 servings and it still filled up the whole 9x13 pan. So delicious, I will definitely make this again.
This recipe is excellent, possibly the best sauce I ever had,finally found the perfect lasagne recipe.
This is the best lasagna! I used too small a pan for the whole box of noodles but it's still too much food for my family! It's a great dinner on a budget! It's delicious! Mine seemed salty but it was the italian sausage.
This was the best lasagna ever! I only had an hour to simmer the sauce and it was still very tasty! I can't wait to try it again! I did not use the fennel seed though, and I added garlic to the sauce!
This gets 5 stars. The only thing I did differently was, I didn't use provolone, but I mixed shredded parmesan with the mozzarella. Buono!
The lasagna was ok. I agree that more sauce was needed. I think I will go back to my old way of making lasagna.
The sauce in this recipe is wonderful! It only needed to cook for 45 mins. instead of 1.5 hours.
The sauce was soooo good I could just eat that. I did add a can of Italian style tomatoes to it. The Lasagna part of the thing was where it all fell apart for me. I have never made lasagna so I was trying very hard to do everything right. It just did not turn out and I'm sure I did something wrong.... terribly wrong. I will try again sometime but untill I get the courage up I'll use this sauce for other dishes. It was so GOOD!
I was pleased with this recipe. I took the advise of other reviewers and added an extra can of tomato sauce. I also used some crushed garlic and increased the herbs in the sauce. The bacon is an absolute must! You don't really taste the pieces in the finished product, but it makes the sauce so much better. I had 8 cups of mozzarella and ended up using all of it! This definitely makes way more than what can fit into a regular pan. Be prepared to use 2 or a huge roasting pan. The final result was pretty good after the modifications. I think it would have been way too dry with the original sauce proportions as I almost ran out even with the extra can. I do think that there was something missing that I just couldn't put my finger on. Next time I will try parmesan instead of the provolone. Though it is a little time-consuming, I will definitely keep this recipe!
This was the best lasagna I ever made!! The sauce was incredible. My family is asking for another one right away!!
This Lasagna was a HUGE hit!
Excellent recipe! My modifications included adding wine (1/3 cup) & garlic (4 chopped cloves) to the tomato sauce, and using a full pound of bacon. It all fits into a 9 x 13 pan - but if you add the extra can of tomato sauce, I can see that it wouldn't. If you are concerned, use the same trick as for baking pies - use aluminum foil around the edges of the pan (I actually used foil from the bottom & up the sides of the pan to ensure no leaking). I am making & freezing some of these lasagnas for guests at our upcoming wedding - they are so good! Thanks for an excellent recipe. :-)
I loved this! Had a dinner party and the lasagna was a total success. The only thing I changed was adding three cloves of garlic to the sauce. i will probably remove the casing on the sausages next time--they made the texture a bit odd. (Maybe I was supposed to do that anyway and just didn't know! :)
The meal was absolutely FANTASTIC!!! Quite unbelievable! I had just gotten home and was rushed. I didn't allow the sause to sit and simmer for the required 4-6 hours, more like 15 minutes. But it turned out to be absolutely splendid, beware: MAKE SURE THE BOWL IS BIGGER THAN DISH, OR LOTS OF OVERFLOW WILL OCCUR!
Because I tried this recipe one Thanksgiving, I'm expected to make it every year! I was a bit sceptical about the bacon at first. It turned out to be a fantastic dish nonetheless. The only critique I have is that if you're not an experienced cook, you won't realize to cover the dish before it goes in the oven, what with the cheese right on top. It burned a bit the first time. Covered, however, it came out in the end a delectible meal that the entire house raved about.
Personally, I love this recipe. It was the best (and first) lasagna I ever made. I made it for my boyfriend because lasagna is his favorite dish and he said it is the best he has ever had. The only changes I made were I doubled the amount of sauce the recipe called for and I used my favorite pasta sauce instead of tomato sauce. I also partially cooked the noodles before baking. I took the advice of one of the other reviews and didn't add the top layer of cheese until half way in to baking. I can't imagine what the cheese would have looked like if I hadn't. I would recommend waiting to add the cheese. I'm a beginning cook. Very new to this art and I managed to pull this off without any setbacks. Great recipe!
This lasagne had an awesome flavor. It was truly worth the extra effort and time. Next time I will only bake for 45 min. though.
This recipe was at hit with my family and co-workers! I did make extra sauce but next time I'll make even more because it was so delicious! Ground turkey works great!
This was a very good recipe. I added some garlic to the sauce but other then that made them normally. I did have trouble getting them to fit in the pan, but in the end they came out great. The bacon was a nice touch.
If you want an absolutely fabulous & elegantly flavored lasagna this is it! Takes a smidge more time to make, but for an outstanding lasagna such as this, it's well worth it. I highly reccommend it for special occasions.
Two problems I had with this recipe. My 9x13 pan was not deep enough and I had to use 2 pans. It was too salty, probably from the italian sausage, as the sauce was great (I encreased the sauce as suggested). Next time I will make my sauce with ground beef, omit the sausage.
This was super good! I used 2 jars of sauce and i browned hamburger along with sausage. I would recommend using less bacon unless you really like the over powing taste of bacon! also, I didnt have enough of the ricatta mix so had to make a quick half batch. All in all this is a great meal that even my 2 year old gobbled up!
NOTE: CTHECOOK'S RECIPE REVIEW ON 1/13/02 IS INCORRECT! CTHECOOK'S recipe review was supposed to go with HOMEMADE LASAGNA submitted by Craig and not ITALIAN LASAGNA submitted by Cathy. Sorry for the mix up!
I wasn't that impressed, especially for the time involved. The flavor was good but it was a little dry for my liking and putting the cheese on top to cook the entire time made the cheese too crisp, almost burned. The bacon in the gravy was a little unncecessary, you really couldn't taste it. If I made it again, I would put the cheese on about half way through the cooking time and I would cut the cook time by about 20 minutes. My family thought it was okay but I was hoping it would have been over the top good, as other reviews stated.
Very good flavor. I substituted 1 lb. ground beef and 1 lb. ground Italian sausage for the Italian link sausage. Worked wonderfully.
this lasagna recipe was so easy to make. I had no trouble following the recipe and it came out absolutely marvelous. The lasagna was a hit on my very first try. I tried it on my parents and they were completely impressed.
I was rather disappointed in this recipe. It didn't taste "Italian" at all, and the bacon flavor didn't seem appropriate in a lasagna.
Great recipe, the only one I may use for lasanga from now on. Big problem was the sauce definately didn't yeild enough. I had to add a jar. I also used parmesan cheese and didn't use any fennel, because I didn't have any. It was still excellent. Everyone raved and we ate it as leftovers for the rest of the week.
This was another wonderful recipe. Using the different cheeses in this recipe helped a lot. For starters it cut down the amount of oil that is usually generated from normal cheese so that you can enjoy the lasagna, instead of seeing it swimming in a vat of oil. Another thing is my cousin who dislikes lasagna was skeptical but absolutely loved this version and forbid me to lose this recipe. It's wonderful.
This came out ok. im not really a big fan of lasagna but everyone else liked it. I think it should be covered in the oven with aluminum foil.
I made this last night for my husband and in-laws. It was a hit. I halfed the recipe, except for the sauce part. I also added fresh mushrooms in the cheese layers. It worked perfectly. I will be using this recipe lots in the future. Thanks.
I do not understand why anyone would want to change this recipe. I made it according to the directions and found it to be the best lasagna I had ever eaten. One thing: If you use a 9 1/2 x 13 casserole dish as the recipe states make sure it is at least 3" deep.
I tried this and it is wonderful. It is now our lasagna recipe and I look forward to making it for our guests.
This recipe is a good start, I mix some of the mozzarella in with the ricotta mixture. I leave out the fennel and the onion (my hubby is from the other side and says "NO ONIONS" in lasagna) then again, his momma made lasagna with sliced hard boiled eggs which I hate! So all in all a good basic lasagna recipe that you can modify for your family's personal taste. Oh, and the sauce doesn't need to cook for nearly that long unless you're cooking your meat in it too, IMO an hour or 2 is sufficient to get a nice flavorful sauce.
Supreme taste.
I used this before and I'm going to use it alot. I added some vegetables to it because I was trying to make it more healthy. I put the vegetables in with the meat and it was just delicious. Thank Thank Tahnk you for getting me started on this.
Not your ordinary lasagna ... lots of flavor. Next time I will use a larger pan than my regular sized 9 X 13, as the sauce was bubbling over.
It is pretty good. This is the first time I've tried making a sauce from scratch. I was impressed. It does take some patience Very cheesy and pretty good.
Great stuff. Let the sauce simmer in a crock pot all day. The sausage is a great touch the dish itself. Mine was done in 50 minutes and longer and it would burned. Also not enough sauce will do a 1.5 on the sauce next time. Great for a large dinner or when expecting guests.
I loved this. But I thought it was just a little on the salty side. I think I will use 1lb hamburger and 1lb of sausage next time (I used bulk). But it is a keep of a recipe!
PHENOMENAL! We used a bigger pan 15X11 inches and it fit perfect! We also used used ground Italian sausage and the flavor it’s outstanding, we cooked it covered with Aluminum foil. A family of 4-6 will be very satisfied with this amount.
I made the sauce in a slow cooker. All the other ingredients were decreased to 2/3. I would cover it in future so the top was not so brown
Came out of the oven great initially. The leftovers were a little dry when reheated in a microwave. I did not use the bacon.
My husband and I really LOVE this recipe. I now use the sauce part (adding the sausage to it) for additional Italian recipes such as stuffed shells, manicotti, etc. People really love this sauce and ask me all the time about it! (Even people who aren't "sauce fans"!) It is definitely a staple in my recipe box. Thank you!
This recipe makes ALOT! It was good, but I should have added more spices, it turned out a little bland.
Loved it. To piggy back on t bgg e comments earlier use ground sausage, get bigger pan or do less layers and make extra sauce. Over all great.
Delicious! I used no bake noodles, ground mild Italian sausage, 2 cans of crushed tomatoes instead of sauce, and added small curd cottage cheese to the ricotta (Momma used to do this), and used a x-large foil pan. I also put foil tented over the pan to avoid burning. Removed the foil with 30 minutes left. My guests raved and took home leftovers.
