Hey ya’ll! This week’s recipe is Hearty Beef & Tomato Lasagna! My family has always enjoyed this thick, rich and delicious Italian dish. When our kids were growing up, making lasagna took a lot longer to prep since the lasagna noodles had to be cooked first. With the convenience of oven ready noodles, now the prep time for lasagna is pretty much cut in half! I must say, this is an enormous bonus! Total prep time from start to finish with Hearty Beef & Tomato Lasagna is between 35 and 40 minutes! And bake time only takes about an hour.
With a little planning, Hearty Beef & Tomato Lasagna can be put together in the morning, covered with foil and stored in the refrigerator. Then pulled from the fridge and baked when you get home! And that bake time is enough to make a yummy tossed green salad and savory garlic bread to go with dinner!
To get this delicious lasagna recipe going, first saute bell pepper and onion in canola oil. Then add the ground beef and cook until no longer pink.
Depending on your preferences, you can substitute the ground beef with ground turkey or bulk pork sausage, too! Yum!
Once the ground beef is no longer pink, drain the excess fat. Then add the tomato paste, spaghetti sauce and the roasted garlic diced tomatoes. I’ve got to tell you, the roasted garlic, diced tomatoes are so yummy and add another depth of flavor to Hearty Beef & Tomato Lasagna! My favorite brand to use is Hunt’s. This is also the time to add the basil, oregano, granulated garlic and black pepper. Once the meat sauce is stirred together well, set it aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the Ricotta cheese and the eggs. Then add half of the Parmesan and half of the Mozzarella cheese to the mixture and stir together well, then set aside.
Begin layering the ingredients into a pan (greased or sprayed with non-stick spray). Use the yummy meat sauce for first layer.
Top the meat sauce with a layer of oven ready noodles (about four). Then top the noodles with a layer of the cheese mixture. Add another layer of meat sauce and repeat the layers.
Top Hearty Beef & Tomato Lasagna with the additional Parmesan and Mozzarella cheeses. Then sprinkle with Italian seasoning.
Bake Hearty Beef & Tomato Lasagna in a preheated oven (375’F) for about an hour or until a meat thermometer reads 165’F when inserted into the center. Let the lasagna rest for approximately ten minutes before serving. Then enjoy!!
Calories
Fat
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Lisa - Cornfed Creations
Hearty, delicious and SO easy!
40 minPrep Time
1 hrCook Time
1 hr, 40 Total Time
Save RecipeIngredients
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375’F. Coat 13”x9” baking pan with non-stick spray and set aside.
- In a medium Dutch oven, heat canola oil and sauté onion and bell pepper briefly. Then add ground beef and brown until beef is no longer pink. Drain excess fat from cooked beef.
- Stir tomato paste, spaghetti sauce, diced tomatoes, basil, oregano, granulated garlic and pepper into cooked beef; set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the Ricotta together with the eggs. Then add half of the Parmesan and half of the Mozzarella cheeses to the Ricotta mixture, and stir well to combine; set aside.
- Begin layering with enough meat sauce to cover the bottom of the baking pan. Top the sauce evenly with four oven-ready noodles.
- Spread a layer of the cheese mixture over the noodles. Then top this mixture with another layer of meat sauce. Repeat layers two more times, ending with another layer of noodles.
- Top the last layer of noodles with remaining meat sauce and cheese mixture. Then add remaining Parmesan and Mozzarella cheeses evenly over the top of the lasagna.
- Sprinkle the top with the Italian seasoning.
- Bake for approximately one hour or until center of lasagna reaches 165’F. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
If you enjoy these recipes, be sure to check out my Cornfed Creations Cookbook that features over 100 different recipes for quick and easy meal fixin’s.