Description
A comforting and hearty One Pot Lasagna recipe that combines a rich meat sauce, creamy ricotta, and layers of no-boil lasagna sheets cooked directly in one pan, making cleanup easy. This classic Italian dish is baked to perfection with a cheesy topping and fresh herbs, perfect for a family dinner.
Ingredients
Meat Sauce Ingredients
- 24 oz / 700g (1 bottle) tomato passata (pureed tomato)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 small carrot (optional), peeled and shredded
- 1 celery stick (optional), shredded (discard stringy bits)
- 1 lb / 500g beef mince (ground beef)
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 beef bouillon stock cubes, crumbled
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tsp white sugar
- 1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tsp dried Italian herb mix (or equal parts dried basil, oregano, and parsley)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder (or 1 crushed garlic clove)
Topping Sauce Ingredients
- Remaining 1/3 bottle tomato passata
- 1/4 tsp white sugar
- 1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- 1/4 cup water
Ricotta Mixture
- 1 cup good ricotta (such as Paesanella or smooth ricotta)
- 1 tbsp milk (as needed, probably not needed for smooth ricotta)
- 1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
Lasagna and Cheese
- 8 sheets (250g / 8oz) dried no-boil oven-ready lasagna sheets (not fresh)
- 1 1/2 tightly packed cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 tsp parsley, finely chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Prepare Meat Sauce: Heat olive oil in a large pan and sauté the onion, garlic, celery, and carrot until softened. Add beef mince and cook until browned. Stir in tomato paste, crumbled beef bouillon cubes, Worcestershire sauce, 1/2 tsp sugar, salt, pepper, water, dried Italian herbs, and garlic powder. Pour in two-thirds of the tomato passata and let the sauce simmer gently for 10 minutes, allowing the flavors to meld.
- Prepare Topping Sauce: Combine the remaining one-third of passata from the bottle with 1/4 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 cup water in a separate container. Shake well to mix the topping sauce evenly.
- Make Ricotta Mixture: In a bowl, vigorously whisk the ricotta with milk (if needed) and 1/4 tsp salt until it becomes light and fluffy, resembling whipped cream texture.
- Assemble Lasagna Layers: Remove half of the meat sauce from the pan and set aside. Spread the remaining meat sauce evenly in the pan. Slide the lasagna sheets under the meat sauce, breaking them as needed to fit. Layer with half of the reserved meat sauce, then repeat layering with the remaining sheets and meat sauce to create three layers total.
- Add Ricotta and Cheese: Dollop the whipped ricotta mixture evenly across the top layer of meat sauce. Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese generously over the ricotta. Optionally, scatter finely chopped parsley over the cheese for added freshness and color.
- Bake: Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) conventional or 160°C (320°F) fan-assisted. Place the assembled lasagna in the oven and bake uncovered for 30 minutes until the cheese is melted, bubbling, and golden.
- Rest and Serve: Remove the lasagna from the oven and let it stand for 10 minutes to set before slicing and serving. This helps the layers hold together and enhances the flavors.
Notes
- Note 1: Tomato passata is pureed uncooked tomato, providing a fresh tomato flavor.
- Note 2: The small amounts of white sugar help balance the acidity of the tomato sauce.
- Note 3: Using smooth ricotta will require less milk; the milk is to loosen thicker ricotta.
- Note 4: Use dried no-boil oven-ready lasagna sheets; fresh or regular dry pasta will not cook properly in this method.
