Triple Cheese Lasagna with Basil
Triple Cheese Lasagna with Basil is one of my family’s favorite dinners. I love this dish for several reasons. First of all, I really appreciate that this is a meatless meal. Since, I don’t like to cook meat every night. Secondly, because there’s no meat, this dish costs less to make than a meat lasagna. Thirdly, this lasagna only takes about fifteen minutes of hands on time to prepare. Fourthly, this dish is great warmed up the next day. And, lastly, everyone in my family enjoys it. In fact, they love it enough to eat the leftovers for lunch for a couple of days after I serve it. So, needless to say, I make this dish quite often.
The Equipment I Used
- A Large Skillet- Cooking the sauce in a large skillet helps it cook quicker.
- A Large Pot- You’ll need this for boiling the pasta.
- A Large Casserole- Use a 13×9 baking dish for cooking the lasagna. I prefer to use ceramic pans, like the LeCreuset pan I used tonight.
The Ingredients Needed for Triple Cheese Lasagna with Basil
- Onions and Garlic- If your kids don’t like these, just use a little onion and garlic powders instead.
- Strained Tomatoes- I always use Pomi strained tomatoes. But, you can use your favorite tomato puree.
- Chicken Stock- My preference is for homemade chicken stock. The recipe is below.
- Ricotta Cheese- If you can find fresh ricotta cheese, I highly recommend it.
- Mozzarella Cheese- As much as I love fresh mozzarella cheese, I don’t recommend it for this recipe. Instead I use Polly-o whole milk mozzarella.
- Parmesan Cheese- Use Parmigiano Reggiano if possible.
How I Made my Lasagna
- First, I made the tomato sauce. Simmering it for a half hour makes it nice and thick, so the lasagna isn’t watery.
- Next, I layered everything in the pan. It’s important to make sure the noodles are completely covered by cheese and sauce.
- Finally, I baked it for thirty minutes. Don’t overcook it or it will dry out.
If you love lasagna, you need to try this tasty Triple Cheese Lasagna with Basil.
Triple Cheese Lasagna with Basil
A four layered lasagna, filled with tomato sauce, ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese.
Ingredients
- 1 minced onion
- 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp. minced garlic
- 26 ounces Pomi strained tomatoes or any tomato puree
- ¼ tsp. kosher salt, red pepper flakes
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- ½ cup chicken stock
- 1 tsp. each dried oregano, sugar
- 1 pound lasagna noodles
- 24 ounces fresh ricotta cheese
- 1 cup chopped fresh basil
- 1 pound whole milk mozzarella cheese, grated
- 1 egg
- 2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
For the topping:
- ½ cup basil leaves
Instructions
- In a large skillet, over medium heat, cook the onion and garlic in the olive oil, until the onion is softened.
- Add the strained tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken stock, sugar, oregano, salt, and red pepper flakes. Simmer, uncovered for thirty minutes. Reserve one cup of sauce for another use.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Cook the noodles according to the package directions for al dente noodles.
- In a large bowl, mix together the ricotta, basil and egg.
- In a deep 13×9 baking dish, place a layer of noodles. Top with a quarter of the sauce, and then a quarter of the ricotta, and a quarter of the mozzarella. Repeat this three times. Add a layer of Parmesan cheese.
- Bake uncovered for thirty minutes. Sprinkle with basil leaves and serve.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
