* image These past few months have been busy for our family, especially since our oldest joined a local swim team. Between juggling our work schedules and balancing school with practices... we're all pretty wiped out. Although it's a lot of work, I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving. Preparing the holiday meal for our family fills my heart with joy, and I can't wait to get started. To make things easier for me, I don't deviate much from our first Thanksgiving as a family. The dishes I make are familiar ones, and the recipes for them live at my fingertips. Keeping the same menu year after year means I don't have to spend time researching recipes or planning a new one. Here are my tried-and-true Thanksgiving recipes, as well as my prep timeline for the big day!
Use no-boil lasagna noodles to get this comforting pasta dish layered with meat and cheese out of the oven and onto your dinner table in no time!
For many people, a freshly baked tray of lasagna has the power to evoke warm memories of their childhood years. That's not the case for me. When it came to comforting pasta dishes, my mother preferred to make baked ziti and stuffed shells, and I'm sorry to say that both were somewhat forgettable, made with ingredients that were the least expensive and without any real attention to seasoning or balance of flavors.
Although I considered making lasagna to be as labor-intensive as stuffed shells, my mother didn't see it that way, and lasagna only appeared on our dinner table on rare occasions. Maybe that's why it's taken me so long to share a lasagna recipe here on Taste As You Go.
Sure, I love eating lasagna, but it didn't occur to me to post a recipe for it until a reader emailed me asking me for recipe recommendations.
Naturally, I turned to one of my favorite food blogs for inspiration. Elise's recipe calls for bell peppers and sugar to sweeten the tomato sauce. I'm not normally a fan of bell peppers in my sauce, so I opted to use chopped carrots instead.
Saute the carrots and onions in some olive oil until the vegetables begin to soften, about 2-3 minutes.
Add some minced garlic to the vegetables and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant. You'll want to add the garlic at the end rather than at the beginning to prevent it from burning.
Add the sauteed vegetables to your browned ground beef and stir to combine.
Now, you could use jarred marinara sauce at this point, but, if you have the time to allow the sauce to simmer, it really is worth it to use canned tomatoes. Cook the sauce gently for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally and making sure not to scorch the bottom.
Now it's time to assemble the lasagna. Start by spooning one cup of your meat sauce into the bottom of a 13x9x2-inch baking dish and spread to cover.
Next, add a layer of no-boil lasagna noodles. At first, I was skeptical about using the no-boil noodles, but this lasagna turned out fabulously without the extra step of boiling the noodles prior to assembling the lasagna. If you can find them in your local grocery store, then I highly recommend using them.
Next comes more meat sauce...
... followed by lots and lots of cheese. Try not to skimp here. The variety of cheeses will really help add richness to the final dish.
Continue layering in this manner until the baking dish is full, making sure you end with a layer of cheese on top.
Doesn't that look delicious? Makes your mouth water a little bit, doesn't it?
Serve this lasagna with a simple garden salad and, if desired, some crusty Italian bread, and you'll have a comfort food dinner that your family is sure to love (and sure to remember for years to come).
This classic lasagna is made with an easy meat sauce as the base, and it's great when you're craving comfort food. Make two batches and freeze one for later!
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 1 H & 30 MTotal time: 1 H & 45 M
In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and cook until lightly browned.
Layer a few paper towel in a large bowl. With slotted spoon, remove the browned beef from the skillet, draining off the excess beef fat. Put the browned beef on top of the paper towels to help blot away the excess fat. After you've removed all the browned beef from the skillet, drain off and dispose of excess fat.
Wipe the skillet with a paper towel. Heat remaining tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the yellow onion and carrots and cook for 2-3 minutes until vegetables begin to soften.
Add the minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add the browned ground beef back to the skillet.
Lower heat to low. Continue to cook vegetables for additional 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Transfer the beef and vegetable mixture to a medium pot. Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, and crushed tomatoes. Stir to combine.
Add the dried oregano, chopped parsley, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and red wine vinegar. Stir to combine.
Add salt to taste, and bring the sauce to a simmer. Cook, covered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally and being careful not to scorch the bottom.
Spread a cup of meat sauce into the bottom of a 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Top with a layer of no-boil lasagna noodles.
Ladle a third of the remaining sauce over the noodles. Apply a layer of a third of the mozzarella on top of lasagna sauce. Add half of the ricotta cheese, by placing cheese dollops every 2 inches. Sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese in thin even layer on top of ricotta cheese.
Apply second layer of noodles, top it with half of the remaining sauce. Add half of the remaining Mozzarella, the remaining ricotta cheese, and another thin sprinkling of Parmesan.
Finish with another layer of noodles. Spread the remaining sauce over the top layer of noodles and sprinkle with the remaining Mozzarella cheese.
Tent the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake the lasagna for 45 minutes. Allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before cutting and serving.
