We started a Christmas Eve tradition a few years ago of making a big homemade lasagna dinner every year on Christmas Eve. Come to find out, it’s actually very Italian to have lasagna around Christmas time. It’s considered a Christmas time dish! There are few things more classic than homemade, from scratch lasagna. Yes it’s a lot of work and it takes a lot of time, but it is always 100% worth it. My version is adapted from The Pioneer Woman’s Three Meat Lasagna recipe with a few changes and tweaks.
The pepperoni, fresh basil and sliced mozzarella in this recipe, really push it over the top and give it a delicious twist on the classic. Since this lasagna requires quite a bit of time and effort, I like to make it up to two days before I’m going to serve it and store the unbaked assembled dish in the fridge for up to 48 hours. I pull it out an hour before I want to bake it to help it come to room temperature a bit before baking it. If you’re feeling really fancy, you can even make your own homemade ricotta. It’s actually very very easy! I use this recipe and double it. It’s worth the extra effort of making your own ricotta, trust me!
Tips & Tricks:
- This recipe makes a very large pan of lasagna so be sure to use a deep dish casserole pan or else you won’t have enough room to fit everything. Pro tip: Use a large disposable tin foil pan from the grocery, this way you can freeze leftovers in the same pan if you don’t eat it all.
- Go the extra mile and make the ricotta from scratch. Just double this recipe.
- You can make and assemble this lasagna up to 2 days in advance before baking it!
- Make sure and use fresh mozzarella, like the kind that’s super soft and usually encased in plastic with a little bit of liquid surrounding it.
Homemade Lasagna
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 12 1x
Description
Homemade lasagna from start to finish. This 3 Meat Lasagna is the ultimate Italian comfort food. For special occasions or when you’re feeling fancy!
Ingredients
- 30 ounces ricotta, homemade or store bought (if using homemade you will need 3 3/4 cups)
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion
- 5 cloves garlic
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 1 lb Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage
- 12 ounces pepperoni slices
- 12 oz can tomato paste
- 28 oz can San Marzano Whole Tomatoes
- 1/4 cup pesto
- 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 1/2 cup fresh basil, julienned
- 24 oz fresh mozzarella slices
- 12 lasagna noodles, cooked al dente
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- For the ricotta mixture; combine ricotta, eggs, 1/2 the parsley, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper and 1 cup shredded Parmesan in a medium sized bowl until combined. Store in the fridge while you make the meat mixture.
- For the meat mixture; Add olive oil to a large pot and turn stove top to medium-high. Then add garlic, onion, ground beef and sausage. Stir the meat around and break it up as it cooks. Stir occasionally. Once the meat begins to brown and there is no longer any pink, lower heat to medium low and add sliced pepperoni and stir until combined. Cook for another 5 minutes. Drain off excess grease. Then add canned tomatoes, tomato paste, pesto, remaining parsley, salt, sugar, garlic salt and pepper. Stir and then reduce heat to low. Simmer with a lid on for 30 minutes. Meanwhile cook lasagna noodles according to package directions until al dente. Drain noodles and place on a grease pan so they don’t stick together.
- For assembly: In a large 10×14-11×15 deep baking dish add 4-6 lasagna noodles to cover the entire bottom of the dish. Then add 2/3 of the meat mixture and smooth it into a flat layer. Lay on 4-6 more lasagna noodles, breaking some up as needed to fully cover the sauce. Then spoon all of the ricotta mixture on top into a flat layer. Add sliced fresh mozzarella slices evenly over the top followed by the julienned basil. Then add 4-6 more lasagna noodles to cover the cheese layer. Finish with the remaining meat sauce and top with 1/2 cup grated Parmesan. Store in the fridge for up to 2 days or bake immediately. If you are making it immediately, cover the dish with foil and put it into a 350 degree preheated oven for 45 minutes. Once that time is up, remove the tinfoil and allow it to cook for another 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand for 15 minutes before cutting and serving. If you are baking it after it’s been in the fridge, remove it from the oven an hour before baking to let it come to room temperature.
- Cuisine: Italian
Keywords: Lasagna, Homemade Lasagna, Italian Food, 3 Meat Lasagna, Homemade Meals, Homemade Dinner
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