Easy Homemade Lasagna with Sweet Cheddar

Guess what is totally awesome about my husband? He cooks. And he does a dang good job at it. For mother’s day this year Cade busted out his own lasagna recipe for me and while I was a little hesitant when I saw him adding aged cheddar from Kerry Gold I chose to not say anything and just appreciate what he was doing for me. And then I had his easy homemade lasagna and good mercy it was good! In fact I’d say it is tied with my hearty meat lasagna!

In fact, are you following me on instagram, @ohsweetbasil? I posted about how I had dumped the pan of leftovers into a huge pot with broth and we had “lasagna soup” the next night. That was just as blasted delicious as the original recipe. When he knocks out a recipe he seriously kills it. Sometimes I’m convinced that men are secretly much more amazing cooks than what we give them credit for. I think a lot of them just don’t try.

Which kind of makes me wonder about my dad. The man made awesome oatmeal raisin cookies growing up and to this day he makes my favorite omelets, but that was pretty much it. Now that all 5 of us kids (ok, who just had a heart attack? Yes, there are 5 of us) are all grown up and gone I actually see him in the kitchen with mom quite a bit more, but those were the two things I loved for him to make. And his omelets, well just put a tack in that one because I think I’m going to be brave enough to post the recipe because A. it’s delicious and still my preferred recipe, and B. the secret ingredient will never be guessed by any of you. Ever.

And if you’re smart you’ll whip up a batch of this famous lasagna for fathers day with some delicious, crusty, garlic bread because who eats lasagna without sopping up the sauce with bread?!

Can Lasagna Be Frozen Before it is Baked?

You can freeze lasagna before it is baked.

Make sure you assemble the lasagna in a freezer-safe container, and then place in the freezer.

Lasagna can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Do You Thaw Frozen Lasagna Before Baking?

Freshly prepared lasagna that is then frozen to be eaten later will need to be thawed first before baking.

Frozen lasagna that was purchased in a store is made to be baked frozen.

How Long Will Lasagna Keep In The Refrigerator?

Left-over lasagna will keep for 3-5 days in the refrigerator.

It should be covered well or kept in an airtight container.

Easy Homemade Lasagna with Sweet Cheddar

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Servings: 12 -15 servings

1 package no boil lasagna noodles
5 cups whole-milk mozzarella cheese shredded
3 cups sweet cheddar cheese grated

For the sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion chopped fine
8 cloves of garlic minced or pressed
2/3 pound ground beef
1/3 pound italian sausage ground
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon basil chopped (or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried)
2 teaspoons parsley chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried)
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 cans pureed tomatoes 28 oz each
2 cans diced tomatoes drained (28 oz each)
1 tablespoon tomato paste

for the ricotta layer

15 oz part skim ricotta
2 1/2 oz parmesan cheese
1/2 cup fresh basil chopped
1 large egg lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Heat the oil and butter in a large dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering, but not smoking.
add the onion and cook stirring occasionally for about 2min.
Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 min.
Increase the heat to med-high and add the meat, salt and pepper; cook, breaking the meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon.
cook until the meat has lost its raw color, but has not browned, about 4 min.
Add the cream and simmer, stirring occasionally until the liquid evaporates and only the fat remains, about 4 min.
Add the herbs, pureed, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste, and bring to a simmer; reduce to low and simmer slowly until the flavors blend, about 3 min.
set aside. (the sauce can be cooled and stored for 2 days and then reheated and assembled.)

for the layers

In a small bowl, mix the ricotta, 1 cup of the parmesan, basil, egg, salt and pepper in a medium bowl with a fork until well combined.
set aside.
Cover the bottom of a 9×13 with 1/2 cup of the meat sauce (avoiding large chunks of meat) place 3-5 noodles on the bottom of the dish, depending on the noodle size.
Spread 3 tablespoons of the ricotta mixture down the center of each noodle, pressing down with the back of a spoon.
cover with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/3 cup of the cheddar.
Spoon 1 1/2 cup of the meat sauce evenly over the cheese.
repeat the layers ending with the cup of mozzarella, 1/4 cup parmesan and the extra sweet cheddar if there is any.
Spray some foil with nonstick spray and place over lasagna.
bake 15 min then remove the foil and continue to bake until the cheese is bubbly and spotty brown, about 25 min.
cool 10 min and serve!