Classico Lasagna
Classico Lasagna Even I can prepare this Quick & Easy Classico Lasagna Recipe (with jar sauce) because it’s that easy! I’ve attempted to cook homemade lasagna multiple times, but each time I’ve failed. Up until now! I made lasagna for the first time one year for Christmas. What was I thinking? Since then, I’ve discovered that trying a new dish is not appropriate for special occasions. It was hardly palatable and didn’t turn out well at all. That was more than 20 years ago, of course.
It wasn’t very successful the second time, and I didn’t even try to create it again for at least five years. In this instance, it seems that the third time is indeed the charm.
The recipe you see below is not the Olive Garden Lasagna Classico, but a recipe I found on the Classico website. It seemed pretty straight forward and only required seven ingredients. While we do like the lasagna at Olive Garden I thought I needed to successfully make an easier version of lasagna before even trying to figure out what is in theirs and how to make it.
We enjoy this recipe and I plan to make another version from their website at some point. It’s a two-sauce version that uses uncooked lasagna noodles, so it doesn’t require boiling the noodles, and it has chopped spinach, which I love to add to dishes because it’s so healthy. I also like that this version doesn’t require extra time because you cover it tightly with aluminum foil so the noodles cook.
Ingredients Classico Lasagna
For precise amounts, refer to the recipe card.
Ingredient Notes
You can use your own brand or type of pasta sauce for this, but we prefer Classico Tomato & Basil.Classico Lasagna
Use mild or spicy ground Italian sausage. We often utilize the one that is available at our grocery store. If you’d like, you may substitute half a pound of ground beef and half a pound of sausage.
For this recipe, we choose pre-shredded mozzarella cheese.Classico Lasagna
Ricotta cheese can be made using either full milk or skim milk. Since cottage cheese has a different consistency than ricotta cheese, I do not suggest using it for this.
I prefer to get parmesan cheese in wedges and grate it myself. (That’s not really accurate, though, as Lee assists with the preparation and nearly always irritates the cheese 😉
Noodles for lasagna, cooked al dente.Classico Lasagna
Eggs: they act as a binder to prevent your lasagna from becoming overly soupy.
How to Make This Classic Lasagna Recipe
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Boil lasagna noodles in a big pot of water for two minutes less than the package’s shortest cooking time, then drain and set aside.
- Brown the sausage in a big skillet over medium-high heat, breaking it up into small crumbs with a wooden spoon while it cooks.
- Combine one cup of mozzarella cheese, beaten eggs, Parmesan cheese, and ricotta cheese in a medium bowl and stir until thoroughly blended; leave aside.
- Line the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with 1 cup of pasta sauce. Place 4 lasagna sheets on top, followed by half of the ricotta cheese mixture, half of the cooked sausage, half of the leftover pasta sauce, and half of the leftover mozzarella cheese. Repetition Before serving, let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Top with the other half of the ingredients and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.
