Miriam Szokovski
I know “the only lasagna recipe you’ll ever need” is a tall claim, but it has been unanimously voted best lasagna by everyone who’s tried it, so I’m sticking with it.
It does have more steps than a lot of other recipes, so it’s not the recipe to choose when you’re in a hurry, but it’s those extra steps that add stacks of flavor and make this so worthwhile.
A few tips:
Grate your own cheese. Just do it. Buy a block and grate it yourself. It’s soft and shreds easily, and it does make a difference. The pre-shredded stuff comes coated with powder to prevent it from sticking together in the packet, but that also prevents it from melting properly.
Use a real pan. Glass or ceramic. Yes, it will still be good in a disposable foil tin, but it will be much better in a pan that conducts heat well. It cooks better and more evenly.
Do not replace the ricotta with cottage cheese. Cottage cheese is ricotta’s limp and wimpy younger cousin. We don’t want that now, do we?
Lasagna | Dairy
Yield: 1 lasagna, approximately 12 pieces
1 onion, diced
2 tablespoons oil
Salt
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 carrots, peeled and grated
3 stalks of celery, peeled and very finely sliced
8 ounces fresh spinach
4 cups marinara sauce
1 pound ricotta cheese
8 ounces muenster cheese, shredded
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
12 lasagna noodles (not the oven-ready ones)
Soak the lasagna noodles in warm water.
Meanwhile, saute the onion in the oil until translucent. Add the carrots and celery and cook it down until wilted. Add the garlic and the fresh spinach. Cook until the spinach has wilted.
Season with salt as you go along, adding a sprinkle with each add-in. Mix the sauteed vegetables with the ricotta cheese. Set aside.
Layer 1: Spread 1 cup of marinara sauce across the bottom of the pan. Place three noodles on top. Spread half of the ricotta mixture on top of the noodles and sprinkle half of the muenster cheese on top.
Layer 2: Place 3 lasagna noodles on top of the ricotta. Top it with 1½ cups of marinara and half of the mozzarella cheese.
Layer 3: Layer three lasagna noodles on top of the marinara. Cover it with the remaining half of the ricotta mixture and the remaining half of the muenster cheese.
Layer 4: Place the last three noodles. Cover it with 1½ cups of marinara and the remaining mozzarella.
Pour 1 cup of water around the edges of the lasagna. Cover it tightly with foil and bake it for approximately 1 hour at 350 degrees F. Uncover the lasagna and bake it for another 15 minutes. Remove it from the oven and let it rest for 15-20 minutes before cutting.
Miriam Szokovski is a writer, editor and member of the Chabad.org editorial team.
