Hearty Homemade Bolognese Lasagna

Instructions

Bolognese Sauce

1. In a large dutch oven, brown the ground beef until no pink remains. Be sure to be constantly mixing it and moving it around to ensure even and thorough cooking. Once cooked through, remove from heat, and drain it of any fat. Set aside.
2. Return the dutch oven to the stove. Add the olive oil and garlic and stir over medium heat. Cook until garlic is fragrant.
3. Add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and tomato sauce, along with the basil, oregano, thyme, and cook stirring often for 15 minutes over medium low heat. The sauce should be a low boil. Once sauce has cooked for 15 minutes, using a immersion blender, break down the tomatoes to form a smoother sauce. I like to leave it a tiny bit chunky which is why I don’t puree the sauce.
4. Add the balsamic and sugar., salt and pepper to taste, then put the ground beef back in. Allow the sauce to simmer on low while you make the ricotta mixture.

Ricotta

1. In a small frying pan, add the minced onion and olive oil. Cook over medium heat until the onion is translucent. Add the spinach and cook unit wilted and water has evaporated. Remove from heat and place in a medium sized bowl.
2. Add the ricotta to the spinach and onion mixture. Stir to cool the onion and spinach. Add the egg and nutmeg and combine well. Set aside.

Lasagna

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a large rectangle casserole or lasagna dish, spray the edges with non-stick spray.
3. Add two ladles of sauce to bottom of pan.
4. Top with lasagna noodles.
5. Add 2 ladles sauce, a sprinkle of parm cheese and 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese. Top with another single layer of Lasagna noodles.
6. Repeat this procedure 3 times.
7. On layer 4, add sauce and then the entire ricotta mixture, and a sprinkle of parm cheese.  Top with lasagna noodles and repeat step 4 until the lasagna is stacked and your have run out of either sauce or depth in your dish.
8. Cover the top layer with remaining 2-3 ladles of sauce and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese.
9. Spray a large piece of foil with non-stick spray and then cover the lasagna.
10. Bake for 50 minutes. Remove the foil and bake 10 minutes longer until cheese has browned and sides are bubbly.
11. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before serving.
12. Garnish each plate.