No recipe?

I start with a 28 oz. can of crushed or San Marzano tomatoes and thicken it with however much tomato paste it needs.

Yes, you can make it a day ahead.

Lasagna thread from a few years ago.

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/6206277/share-your-favorite-lasagna-recipes-please#n=92

Sherry, thanks. I thought I did.

That sounds like plenty of liquid.

Eileen, thank you. I am going to follow KSWL’s as it is similar to mine but uses less parm.

Ha ha I was just going to say I used k’s recipe and realized you linked to my question. It turned out great!

I like the texture and flavors of lasagna better the next day, so I'd bake it day before.

That is a lot of parmesan. I use half a cup. KSWL's recipe also uses 1 1/2 pounds of meat, which is plenty. But I'm not a big fan of tomato paste-heavy sauces. Canned tomatoes make it taste fresher. I do simmer my sauce for a few hours to reduce the liquid. Both your and KSWL's recipes only call for a very short simmer, which is why you need so much tomato paste.

Since San Marzano tomatoes come in a 28 oz. can, you could use that and a 6 oz. can of paste.

I prefer to make (assemble) my lasagna a day ahead and then bake it on the day of. I do not cook my noodles - a trick I learned here IIRC. I use regular, dried lasagna noodles and soak them in hot tap water while assembling. And I do not ever ever used those no-cook noodles. They taste funny IMHO.

I probably over-sauce my lasagna. The pieces never are neat and square like photos show. Mine sort of slides sideways once I put it on the plate.

Aspiration

Reality

I don't like the no-cook noodles either, but I now use fresh pasta sheets that I found locally. No boiling or soaking needed.

I added precooked mushrooms, zucchini, and broccoli to mine the last time I made it. No meat, because I do not like hamburger and my husband will not eat sausage.

I also think that sounds like plenty of liquid.

I know you're trying to recreate what your DH remembers but if you want to put your spin on it, you could add a couple of tablespoons of pesto to the ricotta mixture. The green makes it look Christmasy,

Thanks everyone. I now have my plan of action.

DH doesn’t want sausage and I see that it was crossed off. I think i’ll reduce the meat to 1 1/2.

Bbstx, funny, I like my food to stay square on my plate. DH will slice it up anyway before eating so won’t matter.

Dee, thanks. I have seen recipes with pesto but will not add this time.

Eld..your recipe looks like mine...only difference, I use one lb meat. I also cook the 9 lasagna noodles in water until tender, about 20 minutes. I don't want the noodles to asorb liquid from the sauce. I like for the noodles to taste like pasta...not be flavored. You'll be fine either way. Bon appetit!

My mom’s lasagna recipe is the best I have ever made or had anywhere, including in Italy. Using 1/2 lb of ground italian or regular pork breakfast sausage meat and the anise seeds are the critical components that set it apart from run of the mill lasagnas!

I tend to wing it but within reason - usually ending up with something very similar to what KSWL does. But I've found my family likes a combo of ricotta and cottage cheese. At times I've used all cottage cheese rather than make another trip to the store and they like it just as much. I find baked ziti less fussy than lasagna and just as satisfying. Sadly my DIL has become very lactose intolerant so there will be no baked Italian dishes this season. Now let's talk about latkes...... 😁

I am not a huge lasagna fan, but completely love the one from a long time Seattle deli. In fact, I bought some there just this last week and we had it two nights ago. I have the recipe but it calls for fresh uncooked lasagna noodles. Those are not available to me locally and while I keep meaning to send for the pasta attachment to my KitchenAid mixer, I've yet to do it. I like it partly because its not gloppy with sauce but it really doesn't meet your requirements with some wine included. You can make and freeze, put it in the oven the day you want it without thawing first.

Marcella Rosene Pasta and Co meat lasagna (recipe link)

If called on to do a lasagna type dish, I can easily and quickly make Ina's pastitsio and no one complains but again, a bit of wine included.

Ina Garten Pastitsio (recipe linked)

It is very easy to leave out wine. Just add a bit more liquid, tomato juice, ckickenstock, etc.

I do the same as Kswl and add about a half pound or so of Italian sausage to the ground beef. While I am not a fan of a meat-heavy lasagna, the addition of the flavors in a mild Italian sausage is wonderful imo.

I love great recipes that are adaptable and still work with variations for personal taste and whims.

i like ricotta and basil in my ricotta layer -- and i can take or leave meat. If i do use meat, it is usually sausage.

I also make a variation of lasagna that uses thin zucchini planks in place of the pasta sheets. I love the flavor of this lasagna but it tends not to hold the nice lasagna square shape.

i love them all-- all variations!

Enjoy your holiday and your Christmas dinner, Eld!

Personally, I would want to keep the fennel sausage, but that's my own preference.

If you think it does not have enough liquid, add another egg and perhaps some spinach.

From my experience (and I make lasagna often), fresh pasta sheets need to be boiled for one minute, or else the texture is off. I make my own pasta (it is extremely easy), and I make a smaller batch so that it will fit in my Corningware pan. I roll the pasta dough out with a rolling pin, which is easy because lasagna noodles do not need to be as thin as fettuccine. Lately I've been rolling the sheets out to be the exact shape of my Corningware pan, which is close to being a squircle. This way I only need one sheet of pasta for each layer.

I substitute Asiago and/or Provolone for some of the Mozzarella. This way it needs less Parmesan, but I do like to use a lot of Parmesan as well.

@eld6161, is your husband’s aversion to sausage an aversion to commercial sausage because he doesn’t know what is in it? Or is it a taste/texture thing? The reason I ask is because yesterday a recipe for Pork Ragu from Serious Eats landed in my mailbox. The recipe used ”sausage” but it called for making your own - ground pork plus seasonings.

If he is just averse to the commercial preparation of sausage, you might consider making your own from scratch. I’ve done it once a long time ago. I can’t remember the recipe. It was mostly kneading herbs and spices into ground pork.

I love meat in most cases, but not in lasagne. I LOVE cheese lasagne however. There is a restaurant in town that makes the best Cheese Lasagne-their sauce is light and mild, not dark and pasty tomato-which I hate. Yes, hate. I don't think I could replicate it-so I never try to make it and just buy from them, which is quite pricey.

I've never liked any kind of sausage mixed with hamburger meat in anything for some reason. I love sausage by itself.

Not only do I agree with Sherry, enough liquid, I think that's exactly the one I make (passed down from my mom). It's a good one!

Bbstx— me too—I almost always make my own sausage using ground pork. I have experimented often and have settled on a mix of toasted fennel seeds, celery seed and fresh chopped sage. If I am making it for breakfast sausage or sausage gravy (and only then) I add maple syrup that is boiled down to a very thick consistency — or use the equivalent of boiled apple cider. I know exactly what’s in my sausage 😎