Today was lasagna day. Every week I make a lasagna to give to a family in need my area that I’m matched with through Lasagna Love. They are a great organization. You should really check them out.

Anyway, since I haven’t posted the meat version of my Meat Lover’s Lasagna, only the Meatless version, I decided to take a quick second to post this recipe, since I am making these so much these days.

Tips:

• Sometimes I use ground beef and sometimes I use ground turkey, depending on what’s on sale that week.
• Make sure to drain the meat after it browns. But if you don’t drain it all, don’t stress about it.
• Don’t skimp on simmering the sauce. You want to make sure that the flavors have had a chance to meld before assembling the lasagna. That’s something only a good simmering will accomplish.
• Once you have assembled and baked, don’t forget to let your finished creation rest for 10-15 minutes.  This let’s everything settle so you get clean slices and avoid a sloppy mess.

Please let me know if you try this recipe. I’d love to hear from you.  Follow me on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook for more stories and recipes from my family table to yours.

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Really Meaty Meat Lover’s Lasagna

Prep Time: 50 min      Cook Time: 1 hour 5 min      Total Time: 1 hour 55 min
Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1/2 lb. sweet Italian sausage
• 1 medium chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• ½ cup red wine
• 1 28 oz can ground tomatoes
• 1 cup water
• 1 6 oz. can tomato paste
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp basil
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 24 oz mozzarella cheese, grated (can use more)
• 32 oz ricotta cheese 
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 16 oz box lasagna pasta

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Heat olive oil in a large pan. Add chopped onions and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Add garlic and cook for an additional 1 minute until garlic is fragrant.
3. Add ground beef and Italian sausage and cook, stirring frequently until browned.
4. Drain fat from beef/sausage mixture.
5. Stir tomato paste into ground mixture and cook 1-2 minutes. Add red wine and simmer 3-4 minutes.
6. Stir in tomato sauce, water, oregano, basil, salt and pepper.
7. Bring to a boil over medium heat, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for approximately 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
8. Cook pasta according to package directions for al dente, drain and set aside.
9. Lightly spray a 14 x 11 1/2 x 2 1/4 baking dish (or two smaller size   baking dishes) with non stick spray then add a small amount of meat sauce mixture in the bottom of dish. Spread around.
10.  Add a layer of lasagna noodles.
11. Next, spread 1/3 of the ricotta cheese on top of pasta.
12. Spoon 1/4 meat sauce mixture on top of ricotta.
13. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the Parmesan cheese.
14. Next add 1/4 of the mozzarella cheese.
15. Repeat 2 layers of pasta, ricotta cheese, meat sauce mixture, Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese.
16. Final layer is pasta, remaining meat sauce mixture and remaining cheese.
17. Cover with foil, cook for approximately 50-60 minutes. Remove foil and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
18. Let rest for 15 minutes before cutting. Enjoy!