Description
This Christmas Eve Lasagna recipe features a festive and rich Bolognese sauce layered with basil pesto ricotta and cheeses, creating a hearty and flavorful celebration dish. Perfect for holiday gatherings, it involves slow-simmering a meat and vegetable sauce to develop deep flavors, assembled with no-boil lasagna sheets, and baked to golden perfection after an overnight rest.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Ingredients
- Nonstick cooking spray
- One 13.2-ounce box DeLallo No-Boil Lasagna
- 24 ounces shredded low-moisture, part-skim mozzarella cheese (about 6 cups)
- 12 ounces Italian cheese blend, such as asiago, parmesan, etc. (about 3 cups)
- 15 ounces ricotta cheese, whole milk or part-skim as desired
- ½ cup grated parmesan (plus extra as needed)
- 2 large eggs
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to season
Bolognese Sauce
- 2 large carrots, roughly chopped
- 1 stalk celery, roughly chopped
- 1 large yellow onion, roughly chopped
- 4 ounces pancetta, roughly chopped
- 6 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound ground pork
- One 6-ounce can tomato paste
- 1 cup medium-bodied red wine, such as Chianti
- 3-4 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 10-12 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- Optional: 1 parmesan rind
- One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth or water
- ½ cup heavy cream
Basil Pesto Ricotta
- One 6.3-ounce jar DeLallo Simply Basil Pesto
Instructions
- Prepare soffritto: Add roughly chopped carrot, celery, and onion to a food processor. Pulse until finely broken down but not pureed. Set aside.
- Prepare pestata: Pulse pancetta and garlic in the same food processor until finely chopped. Set aside.
- Cook pestata: Heat olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the pancetta-garlic mixture and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4-5 minutes until pancetta renders and garlic is fragrant.
- Cook soffritto: Add soffritto mixture to the pot with pestata. Season with 1 tsp kosher salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes until deeply browned and fragrant. Reduce heat if browning too quickly. Push mixture to pot edges.
- Braise meat: Season ground beef and pork with 1 tsp kosher salt each. Add meat to center of pot without stirring for 2-3 minutes to brown. Turn and brown other side for 2-3 minutes. Break meat into crumbles and combine with soffritto. Cook, stirring occasionally, until fully browned, about 8-10 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook 2-3 minutes to brown.
- Deglaze with wine: Increase heat to medium-high. Pour in red wine and stir constantly, scraping browned bits from bottom. Cook 4-5 minutes until wine is almost absorbed.
- Add herbs and liquids: Tie rosemary and thyme sprigs with twine (or chop), add to pot with bay leaves and optional parmesan rind. Stir in crushed tomatoes and chicken broth or water.
- Simmer: Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 90 minutes. Add broth/water if too dry and adjust heat to prevent burning.
- Finish sauce: Stir in heavy cream and grated parmesan. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and set aside or refrigerate up to 5 days.
- Prepare basil pesto ricotta: In a bowl, combine ricotta, basil pesto, eggs, ½ tsp kosher salt, ½ tsp black pepper, and ½ cup grated parmesan. Mix well and set aside or refrigerate up to 3 days.
- Prepare baking dish: Spray foil and 9×13 baking dish with nonstick spray. Spread 1 cup bolognese on dish bottom to prevent sticking.
- Assemble lasagna layers: Lay one layer of lasagna sheets, top with half the bolognese, then half the basil pesto ricotta, and sprinkle with ¼ of mozzarella and Italian cheese blend. Repeat layering twice more, finishing with cheese on top.
- Refrigerate for resting: Cover with sprayed foil and refrigerate at least 12 hours before baking.
- Bake: Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in center. Remove lasagna from fridge; place baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake 60 minutes, removing foil in last 10 minutes to brown top. Optionally broil for 5 minutes for extra golden crust.
- Rest and serve: Let lasagna rest 10-15 minutes after baking. Cut into 12-15 squares and serve hot. Enjoy!
Notes
- Pancetta adds rich flavor but can be substituted with bacon or omitted for a milder taste.
- Using no-boil lasagna noodles simplifies assembly and reduces prep time.
- The parmesan rind is optional but adds depth to the sauce during simmering.
- Resting the assembled lasagna overnight allows the flavors to meld and the noodles to soften properly.
- Broiling at the end is optional but creates a beautifully crisp cheesy top.
