Classic Lasagna

1 pound lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
¾ cup water
1 tsp sugar
¾ tsp salt
½ tsp dried basil
½ tsp dried oregano
1∕8 tsp pepper
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
2 containers (15 oz each) ricotta cheese
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 cups (8oz) shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
8 oz (1/2 package) Mueller’s Lasagne noodles, cooked and drained

  1. Preheat oven to 350º. Crumble ground beef into large skillet. Add onion and garlic; stirring frequently, cook 10 minutes or until beef is lightly browned. Add crushed tomatoes, water, sugar, salt, basil, oregano, pepper, and parsley; bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes.
  2. In medium bowl combine ricotta, eggs, 1½ cups mozzarella and ¾ cup Parmesan.
  3. In 9”x13”pan, spread 1 cup of meat sauce.
  4. Place 1/3 of the Lasagne noodles over the sauce. Spread ½ of the cheese mixture over noodles, top with 1/3 of meat sauce.
  5. Repeat step 4.
  6. Top with remaining noodles and Meat Sauce. Cover with foil. Bake 40 minutes.
  7. Uncover, sprinkle with reserved ½ cup Mozzarella and ¼ cup Parmesan. Bake an additional 15 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly. Remove. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting and serving.

*May substitute 4 cups of prepared sauce for tomatoes, garlic, water, sugar, salt, basil, oregano, pepper, and parsley.


This is the awesome lasagne I made last Wednesday. The recipe was originally printed on the Mueller’s Lasagna box sometime in the 70’s or 80’s but is not on the box today. Mel swore that I was fooling her that I could make lasagna; I hadn’t made it in the 8 years we’ve been together because I’d lost the recipe. So, I emailed the company that now owns the Mueller’s brand and asked for it.

I used 2% ricotta and skim mozzarella, full fat versions aren’t necessary. I like cheese so I used twice the mozzarella and I’d definitely recommend making about 1½ times the sauce, or at least stretching the sauce with some additional tomatoes and spices because the lasagna doesn’t seem “saucy” enough but it’s otherwise delicious! I’d missed having this recipe. Let me know if you make it!

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6 comments

  1. I used this recipe the other night and it was FANTASTIC! In fact it still is – since it’s just the two of us, we have plenty of leftovers. I recommend reheating leftovers in the oven. Nuking did not produce satisfactory results.

    I totally agree with you about stretching the sauce. When I got to the final layer of “building” I was pretty short in the sauce dept. Didn’t really matter though, it was still delish!

    The missus said I could make this every week and she’d be in heaven! I’ll shoot for once a month.

  2. I’m glad you tried it, MJ!

    Yeah, when you’re only feeding two with a pan of lasagna this size it’s the gift that keeps on giving. The leftovers are fabulous and only get better until the whole thing is gone in about 4 days.
    😉

    I’m thinking I’ll at least double the sauce next time. That way I’ll have enough for assembly and some left over to pour over the top of the individual pieces when served.

    I predict next time you’ll be making it for company. It’s so easy and quite impressive with a nice caesar salad, a good bottle of wine and some garlic bread.

  3. You’re right, this would be great for company.

    Also, I thought if I was just making it for the two of us again, I’d split it into two smaller pans, bake one and freeze the other. I seem to remember my grandmother doing that…

    Think that would work or would it suck? I’m fairly handy around the stove, but I don’t know from freezing!

  4. I totally think you could freeze it before you cook it, but two things:

    1) I would only freeze it in a glass pan (or plastic, but then transfer to oven safe before cooking) because the acid in the tomato sauce could interact with the metal and/or teflon and make an unpleasant taste.

    2) This is an instance where the lesser amount of sauce would be better, so it doesn’t get too runny when you thaw before baking. (Freeze excess sauce separately.)

    Also, I might slightly undercook the lasagna noodles so that the moisture from thawing could be absorbed by the noodles rather than making the whole thing too soggy.

  5. Thanks for sharing this recipe….I used to use it years ago (form the box) and have been looking for this for a long time 🙂

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