Meat Wins! Lasagna

So let’s talk about the name Meat Wins! Lasagna – the title this recipe has had since it made its debut in my digital cookbook As Seen On IG – it’s called that because it’s tailored to my own personal preference: light on the cheese, heavy on the meat. There’s hella sauce – Homemade Meat Sauce is the star – just a smidge of seasoned ricotta, and tons of flavor.

Luckily for you, it’s super versatile so feel free to add more cheese if that’s what you’re into! As for me and my house? Meat Wins! Lasagna is the only kind of lasagna I’ll make, and I’ve never, not once, made it for anyone and had them not ask for it again. It’s that good.

Meat Wins! Lasagna Ingredients

Feel free to jump to the full recipe, but here are useful notes about the ingredients you will need to make this Meat Wins! Lasagna recipe:

• Homemade Meat Sauce: Use my Homemade Meat Sauce recipe. I like to let it cook on low overnight, so it really thickens up. Cook it until it’s reduced by at least a third for best results. It’s the star of this recipe (and pretty much any recipe I use it in around here).
• Lasagna noodles: I mean, it’s called Meat Wins! Lasagna after all.
• Egg: It serve as a binder to encourage the ricotta later to stay stable.
• Low moisture mozzarella: It’s important to use low moisture mozzarella so the red sauce stays thick, like a gravy. Fresh mozzarella will work if that’s all you have or your preference, but I recommend pressing and soaking it on paper towels or cheesecloths to get out as much moisture as you can. This will help you avoid the watery bottom.
• Aged Parmesan, Pecorino Romano: Our other cheeses. We mix parm into the mozzarella and pecorino romano into the ricotta.
• Olive oil: Just a bit more, to grease the baking dish.
• Italian seasoning, kosher salt, garlic powder: To flavor the ricotta.
• Equipment: I always use my Pyrex Deep-Dish 9×13 Lasagna dish for baked pasta. It’s large and very forgiving to me because I always add more sauce and meat than called for. Here’s everything I used and some alternative options, too:

How to Make Meat Wins! Lasagna

Full instructions are included in the recipe below, but here is a basic overview of what you’ll need to do, along with some important tidbits to help you make the most of this Meat Wins! Lasagna recipe:

• Prepare to bake. Preheat your oven to 350°F and place an oven rack on the center rack. Lightly oil the inside of a 9×13 baking dish with olive oil, or cooking spray. You don’t want the cheese to glue itself to the sides.
• Make the ricotta filling. In a small mixing bowl combine the ricotta, Kosher salt, Italian seasoning, minced parsley, grated pecorino romano, and garlic powder. Mix it well, and set it aside. In another bowl, stir together the grated mozzerella and aged parmesan. Set that aside, too.
• Noodle time. Prepare your lasagna noodles to package directions (if they don’t say to salt the pasta water, then I am telling you to salt the pasta water). Once the noodles are al dente and drained, set them aside to cool slightly and then get to the assembly station!
• Build the Meat Wins! Lasagna. Ladle some – about a cup – of the sauce into the prepared baking dish and spread it around. Cover it with a single layer of the lasagna noodles, overlapping them slightly. Cut them if needed – make sure the entire surface is covered. Sprinkle over about 1/4 of the grated cheese over the top of the noodles, covering them evenly. Next, ladle more sauce over the cheese and use the back of the ladle to spread it around, into the corners. Now, do it again, in exactly the same order: cheese, noodles, sauce, cheese but before going back to noodles, spread all of the ricotta mixture into a singler, even layer, across the whole lasagna.
• Repeat! Continue layering until you’ve filled the pan or used all of the ingredients – making sure to end with cheese. I like to finish it up by drizzling a bit of reserved meat sauce over the top and I also sprinkle a little of my finishing pepper blend over the top too, available soon!
• Bake the Meat Wins! Lasagna. Tear off a piece of foil large enough to cover and oil one side of it. Cover the lasagna with the foil oil side down and wrap it tightly around the edges. Place the baking dish on a baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and continue baking for 30-35 more minutes until browned and bubbly. No too long, or the cheese will separate! Remove and let rest for 15 minutes, then serve in squares. Dassit!

If you try this Meat Wins! Lasagna recipe I hope you’ll return and leave a rating to let me and everyone else know what you thought of it! Here are the Pinterest graphics:

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