Ready in 210 minutes
Serves 16
Inspired by recipes in the 1975 version of The Joy of Cooking
Growing up, we were both fed lasagna. One of us loved it and the other refused to eat it. Through this version of the recipe, we’ve come to agree that it’s a dish worth making over and over. Don’t hesitate to make this for 2 or 3 or 4 people instead of a crowd. Not only does it reheat well, this recipe freezes delightfully well! Because this is a time-intensive but really delicious recipe, we always make a double batch, cut the extra into serving sizes, and freeze.
Ingredients
Sauce
1 cup lard (we guess you could use olive oil, but whatever)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb ground pork
1 lb ground beef
4 cups tomato sauce
1 cup tomato paste
1 cup stock (your choice, whatever you have or prefer)
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
3 bay leaves
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried parsley
Everything else
2 lb ricotta cheese
1 lb thinly sliced fresh mozzarella cheese
3/4 lb parmesan cheese, grated
2 lb lasagna noodles
Preparation
- To make the sauce, put all the sauce ingredients into a large saucepan or dutch oven over medium heat
- Bring sauce to simmer, and hold at a light simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally
- Meanwhile, heat oven to 350 F
- Bring a pot of water to boil and cook lasagna noodles until barely al dente, approximately 2 minutes less than package cook time. Drain, rinse and separate noodles to avoid sticking
- Assemble the lasagna! Once noodles and sauce are ready, spread a thin layer of sauce in each of two 13x9” baking dishes
- Follow with a layer of pasta noodles and cover with a sprinkle of each of the three cheeses
- Repeat layers of sauce, noodles, cheese
- Finish with a cheese layer
- Bake 50-60 minutes until brown and bubbly and then let rest 15 minutes before serving
Tips
This is a flexible recipe -- you can easily add spinach to the sauce, skip the tomato paste if you don’t have it, or cut back (add extra??) cheese to your liking! We always use David Lebovitz’s recipe for homemade egg pasta, but I grew up on store-bought noodles and I turned out fine. If you’re using fresh homemade pasta, don’t bother with pre-cooking, just make sure the sauce looks a little loose (maybe start with 6 cups tomato sauce) and you’ll be fine
Last Modified: 2025-08-30