Homemade meat sauce takes this lasagna to a whole new level of comfort!
I prefer not to use the oven ready noodles for this since I find the lasagna becomes a little too starchy, but hey, if you prefer the oven ready noodles – go for it! Either way, when you’ve got this delicious thick meat sauce, any pasta will taste amazing with it!
Ingredients
1 box cooked lasagna noodles
4 cups shredded cheese
For the meat sauce:
1 kg ground beef
2 large onion, diced
4 celery stalks, diced
4 carrots, diced
3 garlic, minced
2-3 jars tomato sauce
2-3 cups water
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp italian seasoning
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried parsley
1 bay leaf
Salt & pepper
Instructions
Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a pot. Add onion, celery & carrot. Sauté until softened (if you need to, you can add a little water to help them soften) then remove from the pot and set aside. In the same pot add 1 tbsp olive oil and ground beef. Season with cinnamon, salt & pepper and cook through. Add cooked vegetables back to the pot. Add tomato sauce, water, garlic, Italian seasoning, basil, parsley, bay leaf, salt & pepper. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for at least 30-40 minutes. The longer it simmers, the better. If you find it’s too thick add more water. Preheat oven to 400° Cook lasagna noodles according to package. In a baking dish spread a thin layer of meat sauce. Place a layer of lasagna noodles and top it with meat sauce then cheese. Continue repeating these layers until you’ve reached the top of your baking dish finishing it off with sauce & cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove foil and broil for 3-5 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and slightly browned. Allow to rest for 10-15 minutes before cutting into it. Enjoy!