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I am pulling this out of the archives for Ruth’s Presto Pasta Night Foodie Event!

Here is a recipe you can make with the Versatile Pasta Sauce Recipe or any homemade pasta sauce you like. If you don’t have spinach, you can use any vegetables you want – eggplant is delicious as are roasted peppers, or you can skip that step, altogether. You can also experiment with the cheeses – use some feta or goat cheese to make it tangy.

Below is the classic recipe, but as always feel free to modify and make it yours!

INGREDIENTS:

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Sauce:
2– 28-oz. cans crushed tomatoes
1– 6-oz. can tomato paste
1 lb. ground meat (beef works best, but you could use turkey, pork or a mixture)
1 large sweet onion finely diced
4 cloves of garlic pressed or finely diced
1 tsp sugar
Salt, pepper, oregano, garlic salt to taste
1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil

Filling:
2 lb. Ricotta Cheese
1 C. Mozzarella Cheese
1 ¼ C. Parmesan cheese
5-6 oz. fresh baby spinach, raw

1—9-oz. Package of no boil lasagna noodles
(Preferably Barilla)

METHOD:

To make the sauce, sauté the onions in the olive oil until soft over medium heat. Add the ground meat and garlic and stir frequently to avoid burning. Once meat is browned add the crushed tomatoes and tomato paste. Incorporate the spices and sugar into the sauce. Cook over very low heat for about 2 hours, stirring pot every 10 minutes to avoid burning it.

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Once sauce has cooked remove from heat, then preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large baking dish assemble the lasagna in layers. First add a layer of noodles, making sure they overlap about ¼ inch. Next spread a thin layer of ricotta cheese, then sprinkle 2 handfuls each of the mozzarella and the parmesan.

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Next lay 2 handfuls of spinach on top of the cheeses. Then put an even layer sauce on top of that. Keep adding layers in this format until all your ingredients have been used, sparing a little cheese for the end. Your top layer should be: noodles, cheese and sauce. To finish the dish, sprinkle the top generously with parmesan.
If you have other cheeses left over, feel free to sprinkle those as well.

Cover lasagna with aluminum foil and bake in the oven for 55 minutes. Then remove the foil and cook for another 5 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown.

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Eat and Enjoy!
Buon Appetito!

Serves 12.