Classic Lasagna

A great hack I recently read about has you put your uncooked lasagna noodles into a large deep tray and pour hot tap water over them. Allow to sit in this hot water bath for ten minutes, re-distributing them occasionally from top to bottom of the tray. They come out perfectly pliable, undamaged, and ready to use for your lasagna recipe. Shake any excess water off them ever so gently and layer into your cooking pan (or the same tray you used for the bath). Fantastic!

When I cover with foil any baked casserole or lasagna with cheese on top, I first spray or wipe oil on the underside of the foil to reduce sticking.

Because tomato sauce can react with aluminum and even create holes in the foil, I cover the lasagne with a sheet of parchment paper before sealing it with foil.

Basil & onion. Hostessed at an upscale Ital. restaurant in ATL long ago. Their basic marina was primarily seasoned with sweet onion, garlic and basil, was very simple & very delicious. For a tiny easy batch: 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes - plain or w/Italian seasoning 8 oz. can tomato sauce - " " " " 1/4 cup +/- diced sweet onion 1 tsp. +/- minced garlic 1 Tbsp. dried basil Sautee Onion & garlic lightly in EVOO, add toms., basil & simmer. Tweak as needed.

Can the NYT do a test taste for lasagna noodles in lasagna? 1. regular-boiled as per directions 2. regular- softened in hot water 3. regular-not boiled or soaked but used dry in layers with extra liquid in the sauce 4. no-boil noodles. Please let us know the results. This issue comes up over and over again.

I havent boiled lasagne noodles in years. Instead I like to soak the noodles in hot tap water for a few minutes until they become pliable...it makes them a little easier to work with and they won’t suck up as much liquid from the sauce. They will finish cooking in the sauce, and you can add a little starchy pasta water to the sauce to thin it a little to compensate for the liquid the noodles will absorb during cooking.

My timing was a little different: 1) 1 week: think about it because I'm tired of all other pandemic food 2) 3 hours + 2 days: shopping for ingredients. Whole Foods was out of lasagne noodles; finally found some at Central Market 3) construction time: 2 hours (followed directions religiously) 4) bachelor cleanup: 2 hours (tomato sauce splatters, onion & garlic remnants) Final result was great; possibly the best lasagne I've ever had. Certainly the best I've ever made.

My Neapolitan grandmother used to cook the lasagna noodles in a very easy way so that they never stuck together. First she added a little bit of olive oil to the boiling water. Then she put the lasagna noodles into the pot, one at a time, each one perpendicular to the previous one.

Actually, you don’t even need no-boil lasagna noodles. The regular kind works just fine. And, as Kathy suggested, you could add a small amount of extra liquid to the sauce just to be sure it isn’t drying out in the oven.

This is basically the Cook's Illustrated lasagna recipe from their book "The New Best Recipe." Just giving credit where credit's due...

Why did you use no-boil noodles and then make a negative comment? Alison Roman's recipe specifically said NOT to use no-boil noodles.

Terrific with 24 oz. of Rao's Marinara, part-skim ricotta and 1/4 c half-and-half. Added a squeeze of Gourmet Gardens parsley in a tube to the cheeses and soaked dry-boxed noodles for 15" in 100° water instead of boiling them (9 noodles + cheeses and sauce topped my 9.5" x 12" x 2.5" casserole baking dish). Best lasagne I ever made!

Would add a little more sausage next time

Good recipe but I would make a few adjustments: (1) cut back on the cheese (I only used 1lb of mozzarella and 1 cup of ricotta. Even with 3 layers, I had enough cheese for the layers and the top); (2) add more sausage; and (3) use a 15 oz can of whole tomatoes instead of a 28 oz can. All of this barely fit my 13x9 inch pan! I also like a sweeter sauce. Instead of salt and pepper, I added a tbsp of sugar, used crushed tomatoes with basil and added about 2 tsps dried basil. The sauce was perfect!

I make this sauce in quantity and freeze it in 1 quart plastic containers for months. Useful for lots more than lasanga. Add diced green peppers and mix with rice for good casserole.