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Last week Robin and I made the ‘World’s Best Lasagna’ again. And guess what, it is still the world’s best lasagna. Who knew? So as promised in my post from a few months ago, here is the recipe and step by step instructions.

Meat Sauce and Cheese Filling Ingredients

• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage
• 3/4 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
• 2 (6.5 ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 16 ounces ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 pound grated mozzarella cheese
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 12 lasagna noodles (recipe for fresh noodles is at the bottom)

Meat Sauce, Noodles and Filling Directions

1. In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook 3-4 fresh lasagna noodles at a time in boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes (or 8 to 10 minutes for dry noodles) until they float to the top. Do not overcook the noodles or they will fall apart. Place the noodles in an ice water bath, a 9×13 baking dish works great. Place the noodles on wax paper or the slick side of freezer paper.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
5. To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish. Arrange 3 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of the mozzarella cheese. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with meat sauce, remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. This recipe can make 3 or 4 layer lasagna, depending on preference (for 4 layers, just reduce meat sauce, ricotta and mozzarella in each layer). Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Fresh Pasta Ingredients

• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Note: This pasta recipe is a double batch compared to what we typically make for spaghetti, fettuccine and ravioli

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, preferably KitchenAid with a dough hook and pasta attachments, add flour, eggs, salt and olive oil.
2. Mix with the dough hook until the dough forms a ball and separates from the mixing bowl. Alternatively, the dough can be mixed by hand on a floured counter top. If the dough sticks to the dough hook (or your fingers) add flour one tablespoon at a time. If the dough does not form into a ball add a beaten egg one tablespoon at a time. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.
3. With a rolling pin, roll dough on a floured counter top into a rectangular shape about ¼ inches thick (thin enough to roll through the first setting on the pasta roller). Cut the pasta in half lengthwise and roll each half sheet in a pasta roller up to setting 4 or 5 until each half pasta sheet is approximately 5 1/2 inches wide and at least 33 inches long. Cut the sheets in half width-wise, and 11 inches long lengthwise using a pasta cutter or a knife.
4. Lightly flour the lasagna noodles and allow to rest until you are ready to cook.