Best ever meatball lasagne. A thick blanket of ricotta cheese and homemade Italian meatballs, layered between fresh cooked lasagna noodles. Covered with homemade Italian spaghetti sauce and liberally topped with Mozzarella cheese and sprinkled with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. This recipe has been in our Italian family for many years.
My grandmother use to make it in big batches. She would cut it up into individual servings and freeze it. When my sister and I would come over to visit, she would always have two pieces defrosting on the counter with some of her mouthwatering spaghetti sauce as an accompaniment.
This truly is the best lasagne recipe. It is very hearty. It takes not much longer to make a big pan of it for a crowd than it does to make enough for a few people. So put on your chefs hat and red checkered apron and give it a try. It freezes very well and it is oh so good!
There is a recipe for Italilan spaghetti sauce on this site. But, if you are in a hurry to try this lasagne, you can use a sauce of your own choosing. It probably won’t taste like my Grandmother’s, but you will still love it.
I hope this meatball lasagne will knock your socks off!
Table of Contents
Meatball Lasagne Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups spaghetti sauce
- 2 lbs ricotta cheese
- 4 eggs beaten
- salt and pepper
- 1 lb mozzarella cheese, sliced thin (you will have to do the slicing yourself, they don’t sell it sliced thin enough for this recipe)
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 lb large lasagne noodles, cooked according to the instructions on the box
Meatballs:
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs, soaked in 1/2 cup of milk
- 2 eggs,beaten
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1 tbl chopped Italian parsley
- 2 garlic cloves, smashed with the back of the knife then chopped finely
- 1/4 tsp oregano
- 1 1/2 tsps salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/4 cup canola oil for frying (optional)
Instructions
- For the meatballs, place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and blend together. Don’t over mix, ground beef has a tendency to get tough when it is handled too much.
- Cook meatballs in a 1/4 cup or less of canola oil. Cook until they are browned well on all sides. Drain.An alternate cooking method would be to cook meatballs in a 350 degree oven. Lay meatballs out on a cookie sheet covered with foil and sprayed with a non-stick spray. Have them about 2 inches apart. Cook uncovered for about 35 minutes, turning them every 10 minutes to make sure all sides are browned.
- Place the ricotta cheese in a medium size mixing bowl. Add the beaten eggs, parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Keep refrigerated until you are ready to use.
- Place the ricotta cheese in a medium size mixing bowl. Add the beaten eggs, parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Keep refrigerated until you are ready to use.
- Cut the mozzarella cheese in thin slices and set aside.
- Meanwhile, heat the spaghetti sauce. When the meatballs are cooked, drop them into the spaghetti sauce while it heats.
- Cook the lasagne noodles according to the box instructions. When noodles are cooked, drain and separate them immediately before they are able to stick together.
- Have all ingredients for lasagne at hand. It will make layering go faster.
Layering Lasagne:
- Place a ladle full of sauce on bottom of baking dish.Cover bottom of baking dish with a layer of noodles.
- Drop spoonfuls of ricotta cheese and gently spread toedges covering noodles.
- Spread sliced or crumbled meatballs over ricotta cheese.
- Layer the sliced mozzarella over the meatballs.
- Top with parmesan cheese. Spread another ladle of sauce over the top. Begin with the noodles again.
- Keep layering until you run out of noodles. End the layering with noodles on the top. Add a ladle or two of sauce. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes. Let the meatball lasagne sit for about 20 minutes to firm up so the ingredients will not run when you cut it.
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