Lasagna with Homemade Sauce - 7 points

Lasagna with Homemade Tomato Sauce

PointsPlus Value: 7

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 195 minutes (this can be cut down, see how, below!)

Level of difficulty: Moderate

** I'm going to give you how WW says to make this - then at the bottom, I'll put "notes" about how I made it differently, with much less time!

A real crowd-pleaser that can be prepared a day ahead and then popped in the oven when you’re ready to eat.

Ingredients

5 spray(s) cooking spray , divided

1 Tbsp olive oil

6 clove(s) garlic clove(s), minced (or to taste)

2 large onion(s), Spanish-variety, cut in half and thinly sliced 70 oz plum tomatoes, whole, canned, mashed into pieces

6 oz canned tomato paste

6 leaf/leaves basil, fresh

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 tsp table salt

3/4 pound(s) whole milk ricotta cheese, fresh recommended

2 large egg(s), beaten

1/4 cup(s) parsley, fresh, chopped

1/4 cup(s) grated Parmesan cheese, high-quality recommended, divided

12 item(s) dry lasagna noodles

1/2 pound(s) whole milk mozzarella cheese, fresh recommended, shredded, divided

Instructions

1. To make sauce, coat a large heavy pot with cooking spray; set over medium heat. Add oil; when it starts to shimmer, add garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until garlic begins to soften and become fragrant, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions turn translucent and start to brown, about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, sugar, red pepper flakes and salt; stir to combine. Bring sauce to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer, partially covered, stirring every 20 minutes, scrapping bottom and sides of the pot, until sauce reduces slightly and thickens, about 2 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat a large lasagna pan with cooking spray.

3. In a medium bowl, combine ricotta cheese, eggs, parsley and 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese; stir in about 1/3 cup tomato sauce so ricotta mixture turns pink.

4. Spoon about 1/2 cup of sauce on bottom of prepared pan. Cover sauce with 4 lasagna noodles, breaking up some noodles to form a single layer, if necessary. Cover noodles with 1/2 of ricotta mixture and 1/3 of mozzarella cheese; spoon 1/3 of remaining sauce over top.

5. Add another layer of noodles and remainder of ricotta mixture; sprinkle with 1/3 of mozzarella cheese and another 1/3 of sauce.

6. Add the final layer of noodles and cover with remaining sauce; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and remaining tablespoon of Parmesan cheese.

7. Bake until noodles are cooked through, cheese melts and sauce begins to bubble in bottom of dish, about 35 or 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let lasagna sit for 10 to 15 minutes before cutting into 12 pieces. Yields 1 piece per serving.

NOTES

This sauce can be made ahead and kept for up to two days in the fridge.

I used canned, diced tomatoes and did not crush them.  I wanted a chunkier sauce.  I also used MORE red pepper flakes, which gave the sauce a lot of heat.  I'm a vegetarian, but it made me almost think of sausage. 

I also did NOT cook this for 2 hours.  Instead, I let it boil while I was prepping everything else.  I was short on time.  I made the lasagna with no boil noodles, and the sauce which was extra thin, and it turned out beautifully.  The sauce thickened significantly in the oven, when it was cooking, and it was truly fantastic. 

I'm a fan of really cheesey lasagna - probably why I look the way I do - I need to give that up, and this is a GREAT substitute.  You could easilly add any veggies you want in this - I'd suggest maybe some red bell peppers (oooo - if you've got 'em, fire roast them first!!!), mushrooms, maybe spinnach.  I would avoid high starch/high sugar veggies like carrots, mostly because it just doen't need them!

ENJOY!!