MAKE-AHEAD LASAGNA FOR A CROWD

2020 was supposed to be the year of the Lasagna. Currently, it’s looking more like the year of the bean (or rice, or insert-any-other-pantry ingredient needed to get through a three-week quarantine at home). Beans are great, but how many of you can get your kids to eat beans two nights in a row? Not me.

With very few exceptions, we’re all home with our kids for, like, weeeeeeeks—and it seems to me like they are ALWAYS hungry. Lasagna is the kind of food that can keep a family fed for many nights in a row, happily. But it has other perks, too: namely, that you can prepare the whole thing in advance, and store it in the fridge overnight—ready to pop in the oven an hour or so before dinner (just before the kids start to whine). Serve it for dinner that night, and reheat leftovers all week.

This lasagna is based on my mother’s classic recipe, the thing she made for birthday dinners and family celebrations, as well as times we all needed a little comfort. It’s the same thing my own kids ask her (my mother / their grandmother ) for each and every time we travel home to see her.

The secret is in the cottage cheese—not ricotta cheese (which is big and curdy and really just right in this)—and the sauce, simple and homemade by you with just 30 minutes of simmering on the stovetop. It’s the subtle natural sweetness of stewed tomatoes that shine, especially when they aren’t overloaded with too many spices or sugar (as some jarred sauces can be). If you’re in a rush, let yourself off the hook with a jar of your favorite store-bought sauce from your pantry stash. Right now, we all need a little break, and that’s a fair one.

Whoever made the lasagna prediction might not have seen Coronavirus coming, but they sure understood something about human nature. We all crave comfort, and when it’s comfort I want—this meal delivers.

CLASSIC MAKE AHEAD LASAGNA

Reprinted from The Newlywed Cookbook with permission by Chronicle Books

PREP TIME: 45 MINUTES

TOTAL TIME: 1 HOUR 30 MINUTES

SERVES 8 to 10

Marinara

¼ cup/60 ml extra-virgin olive oil

4 garlic cloves, smashed

Two 32-oz cans whole, peeled San Marzano tomatoes, with juice

2 bay leaves

Pinch of dried thyme or basil {optional}

2 or 3 sprigs of fresh basil

1 tsp sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Lasagna

Fine sea salt

8 oz/225 g dried lasagna noodles

1 lb/455 g ground grass-fed beef or ground meat substitute (such as boca burger)

One 16-oz/455-g container organic, whole-milk cottage cheese

2 large eggs, beaten

½ cup/60 g freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Freshly ground black pepper

8 oz/225 g fresh mozzarella cheese (if available)

8 oz/225 g shredded mozzarella cheese

Make the marinara: Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, crushing through your fingers as you pour them in the pan. Add the bay leaves, dried thyme, and basil and cook until the sauce thickens, about 30 minutes, crushing the tomatoes further with a wooden spoon to help them break down. Season with the salt and pepper. Pull out and discard the bay leaves and basil. You should have about 4 cups/960 ml of sauce. Reserve 2 ½ cups/600 ml of sauce for the lasagna, and freeze the remaining 1 ½ cups/360 ml of sauce for your next pasta dinner.

Make the lasagna: Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C/ gas 4. 

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the lasagna noodles until al dente, about 12 minutes. Drain. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the beef. Cook, stirring occasionally, until browned through. Transfer to a bowl with a slotted spoon, leaving excess fat behind. In a medium bowl, mix together the cottage cheese, eggs, and ¼ cup/30 g of the Parmigiano-Reggiano, and season with a pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Slice the fresh mozzarella as thin as possible with a sharp knife, season lightly with salt, and drain on paper towels/absorbent paper.

Lightly brush a 9-by-13-in/23-by-33-cm ovenproof pan with olive oil. Line the bottom with drained noodles. Add a third of the sauce, and half the cottage cheese mixture. Sprinkle on half of the meat and top with a layer of shredded mozzarella. Repeat with remaining noodles, another third of the sauce, and the rest of the cottage cheese mixture and meat. Finish with any remaining sauce and finally the slices of fresh mozzarella, sprinkling on the remaining Parmigiano- Reggiano cheese.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the cheese bubbles and the lasagna is warmed through, 20 minutes more. Remove from the oven and let cool about 15 minutes before slicing. Serve immediately.

GET AHEAD

Prepare the whole lasagna a day before, cover with foil, store it in the fridge overnight raw. Bake as instructed above, directly from the refrigerator, adding an extra 5 to 8 minutes as needed to your baking time.

GOOD TO KNOW

You can use no-boil lasagna noodles to save yourself a step. Keep the lasagna covered for the first 30 minutes of cooking so the steam can soften and cook the noodles

Images belong to Sarah Copeland, and should not be pinned or posted without attribution. **

• Photo // SARAH REMINGTON FOR THE NEWLYWED COOKBOOK

• Food + Prop Styling // SARAH COPELAND