2×3 Homemade Lasagna

My husband’s very favorite meal is homemade lasagna. I have spent several years finding his absolutely favorite version. And thus far…. this one is it! 2×3 Homemade Lasagna is two meats (ground beef and ground pork) and three cheeses (ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan) in a homemade red sauce. Every year, no matter what day of the week it is – even if it lands on Thanksgiving – I make him a homemade lasagna. And so far….we are still happily married and he looks forward to it every year!

This recipe is featured on Instructables – you can check out the step-by-step photo instructions for 2×3 Homemade Lasagna here!

This year the twist I added as including the Italian sausage in the ricotta mix to add a second meat more substantially. Before I mixed the ground beef and Italian sausage in the red sauce. Yes, it’s yummy, but by separating it out in the two different layers gives it so much more. I am solidly on the ricotta in lasagna side of the ricotta versus cottage cheese side. I have a personal aversion to cottage cheese. But its extra yuck in lasagna because it does not take on any of the flavors, its just there.

This is a seriously hearty lasagna – when you make it totally per the recipes. If you want to cut it down and make it in a 13×9 baking dish, you can cut the pasta sheets by a third, remove on of the cans of crushed tomatoes, and cut the ricotta to 24 ounces. I just serve it with a loaf of crusty bread. If you wanted to stretch this for more than six people, I would add in a Bacon Caesar Salad or a cucumber tomato salad.

Now Let’s Get Cookin’!

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2×3 Homemade Lasagna

Two meats, three cheese, lots of pasta and red sauce – my lasagna!

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Italian

Keyword ground beef, Italian Sausage, lasagna, mozzarella, Parmesan, Pasta, pasta dishes, red sauce, ricotta

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Equipment

• 14×10 Aluminum Lasagna Pan
• Aluminum Foil

Ingredients

• 18 Oven Ready Lasagna Sheets
• 4 cups Mozzarella Cheese shredded
• 1 cup Parmesan Cheese shredded
• 1 tsp Parsley

For the Red Sauce

• 2 tbsp Avocado Oil
• 1 small Yellow Onion diced
• 4 Garlic Cloves minced
• 2 tsp Italian Seasoning divided
• 2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes divided
• 1 lb Ground Beef
• 2 28oz can Crushed Tomatoes
• 1 15oz can Tomato Puree
• 1 tsp Fennel Seeds
• 1 tsp Parsley
• 1 tbsp Hot Honey

For the Ricotta Mixture

• 1 lb Italian Sausage
• 30 oz Ricotta Cheese
• 1 cup Parmesan Cheese shredded
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 tsp Parsley

Instructions

• In a saute pan over medium-high heat, add Italian Sausage. Cook and crumble until no longer pink. Remove from heat and let cool.
• In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, add oil, onions, 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning and garlic. Cook for 3 minutes then add ground beef. Cook and crumble until no longer pink. Reduce heat to medium and add tomatoes, honey and remaining seasonings for the red sauce. Stir to combine and reduce heat to medium-low. Let simmer for 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350degF.
• Add ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, and parsley to cooked Italian sausage and stir to thoroughly combine.
• Ladle a portion of sauce into bottom of aluminum pan. Spread 6 sheets of lasagna pasta with ricotta mix and place in a single layer in pan. Ladle more sauce on top of ricotta mix. Sprinkle with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers from pasta sheets to mozzarella cheese. Layer 6 more sheets of pasta. Ladle on remaining sauce. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella, parmesan cheese, and parsley. Loosely cover with aluminum foil and bake in oven for 60 minutes. Let site for at least 5 minutes before serving.