Aunt Angie's Lasagna Recipe

Ingredients

For the Meatball Mix:

• 5 pounds ground beef
• 5 eggs, beaten
• 4 cups bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon garlic
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley leaves
• 1/2 pound grated Romano cheese

For the Meat Sauce:

• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1 cup each carrots, celery and onion, roughly chopped in food processor
• 1 gallon ground pear tomatoes
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 1/2 tablespoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1/2 tablespoon fennel seed
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 tablespoon chopped basil leaves

For Aunt Angie's Lasagna:

• 1 pound cooked lasagna pasta (about 10 pieces)
• 4 pounds meatball mix
• 2 pounds ricotta cheese
• 2 pounds mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup Romano cheese
• 32 ounces meat sauce

For the Meatball Mix:

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients. Roll meatballs into desired size and bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. For the lasagna, instead of rolling into desired size, spread mix out evenly on a sheet pan and bake. Break up the meat for lasagna.

For the Meat Sauce:

In a stock pot (or large cooking vessel) brown the ground beef. Add the celery/carrot/onion mix and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and the seasonings. Let simmer for 2 hours.

For Aunt Angie's Lasagna:

Using a 1/2 hotel pan or medium to large baking dish, coat the bottom with a thin layer of meat sauce. Lay out 4 pieces of lasagna so they go up the side of the pan with an additional 3 to 4 inches hanging over the edge. Do the same in the other direction of the pan using pieces of pasta. Add another layer of meat sauce, followed by 1/2 of the meatball mix. Then top the meat with 1 pound of the ricotta cheese, 1 pound of mozzarella, and 1/4 cup of Romano. Add a layer of pasta and repeat to have 2 layers. Fold over the remaining pasta to cover the top. Top with meat sauce and place in preheated oven and bake until proper serving temperature is reached or top is golden brown.

This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. The Food Network Kitchens chefs have not tested this recipe, in the proportions indicated, and therefore, we cannot make any representation as to the results.