Lasagna

Are you looking for a lasagna recipe that the whole family will enjoy? Look no further! If you’d like samples of the oils mentioned, please comment or send me a message. The original recipe is at the bottom of this post.

For the sauce, I did cook that a day in advance and believe that helped soak up the seasonings that much more.

Ingredients:

1 pound sweet Italian sausage or venison burger
- If you don’t have Italian sausage, use another pound of burger and add more seasonings to it.
1 pound lean ground beef
1 large white onion diced
5 cloves garlic minced, or 1 tsp minced garlic
2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
1/2 cup white wine
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil (or 6 drops of doTERRA Basil Essential Oil)
1 teaspoon ground oregano (or 1 drop of doTERRA Oregano Essential Oil – or dip a toothpick in the oil and place in sauce if using Italian sausage)
(optional) – 1 drop of Italian doTERRA Essential Oil (from Cuisine collection)
1 pound lasagna noodles (I used Barilla)
30 ounces ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 large egg
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Mozzarella shredded cheese
Any other type of shredded cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Brown the burger with the minced garlic and diced onions.
While the burger is browning, add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, white wine, white sugar, basil and oregano to a pot. Stir until mixed well. Turn on a medium heat and cover in case the sauce does start boiling.
Once the burger is browned, drain the grease and add to the sauce. Stir until well mixed and put the lid back on. If you are in a hurry, the sauce can be done in as little as 30 minutes. If you aren’t in a hurry, keep this on low for an hour. Once cooled down a bit, put in the fridge and the next morning, bring back out, heat on a low setting.
In a medium bowl, put the ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, parsley, and 1 egg. I did sprinkle some garlic salt into this mix. Stir with a fork and set aside.
Grease a 9×13 pan and put maybe 1 cup of sauce and spread out. That’s OK if it doesn’t fully cover the bottom.
Start layering! Put 4 noodles on top of the sauce – if you want to add a 5th noodle at the top, feel free. This is your lasagna. Since the sauce was warm, I did not cook the noodles – especially since this was going to sit out for a few hours before going into the oven, thus softening the noodles.
Add half of the ricotta cheese mix by using a small spatula – take a small amount and drop on different areas of the noodles to spread easier. Sprinkle parmesan cheese and any other shredded cheese on top.
Add 4-5 more noodles.
Add enough sauce to cover the noodles (about 2 – 2 1/2 cups). Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.
Add 4-5 more noodles.
Add the rest of the ricotta cheese mix by using the same small spatula and add like earlier by dropping small amounts in different areas of the noodles to spread easier. Sprinkle parmesan cheese and any other shredded cheese on top.
Add 4-5 more noodles.
Add the final amount of sauce. If you feel as if it is too much on top, make yourself some toast with the extra sauce on top. Make sure the sauce is covering all noodles.
Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.
The lasagna will be in the oven for at least an hour. Cover with foil loosely and place in oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the foil.
Check the temperature and as long as it is at least 140 degrees, take the lasagna out (carefully!) and sprinkle shredded cheese on top (any type – I used mozzarella).
Put back into oven for about 5-10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. If making garlic bread, now is the time to put that in the oven, too
Once done, remove from the oven carefully and serve!