*adapted from melskitchencafe.com
This lasagna was delicious! My whole family loved and devoured it! But I must admit that I didn't make my own red sauce. I totally used store bought spaghetti sauce instead. Shhh...don't tell anyone! But I wanted to keep the recipe and instructions for the red sauce in case I ever do decide to be ambitious! But despite not making my own red sauce, I think what makes this recipe so good is the layer of white sauce that goes in it. It is a different touch that made the lasagna extra creamy and delicious. Yum!!!
INGREDIENTS:
9 lasagna noodles, boiled for half the time on the box (or use 12 of the no-boil noodles, of which I far prefer the Barilla brand)
1 pound ground turkey or beef
1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded
8 ounces Parmesan cheese, shredded
Red Sauce:
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce.
White Sauce:
3 cups milk (not skim, I used 1%)
5 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking pan with cooking spray or with a napkin dipped lightly in olive oil and set aside.
In a large skillet, brown the ground turkey or beef over medium-high heat, breaking the meat apart into pieces with a wooden spoon. When turkey/beef is cooked through, drain the grease and stir in the spaghetti sauce. Set aside.
If using lasagna noodles that need to be boiled, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and boil the noodles for half the time suggested on the box. Once the noodles are cooked, drain, but do not rinse. Add a dab of olive oil to keep them from sticking together. If you are using no-boil noodles, you can skip this step.
While the noodles are cooking, melt the four tablespoons butter and when melted, add the flour, stirring constantly to combine and letting the mixture cook, while stirring, for a minute or two. Gradually add in the milk, whisking constantly. Add the salt and pepper. Slowly whisk the white sauce, ensuring it doesn’t burn on the bottom of the pan, while cooking it over medium heat. Continue slowly stirring or whisking while the white sauce cooks and thickens quite a bit, about 5-7 minutes. Add a pinch of mozzarella for good luck, if you wish!
To begin layering the lasagna, keep in mind that you’ll have three layers of noodles as well as three layers of the sauces and cheese – so plan on splitting all the sauce and cheese piles into thirds so you don’t run out at the end! On the bottom of your lightly greased baking pan, layer three pre-boiled noodles or four no-boil noodles, slightly overlapping the no-boil noodles. Layer the red sauce, white sauce, Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, spreading all to the edges and top with another layer of noodles. Again, layer the red sauce, white sauce, Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses and top with the final layer of noodles. Layer the sauces and cheeses again.
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