
I like lasagna. I usually buy those frozen lasagnas when I get in the mood and up to this point I have never tried making my own. But I finally broke down and gave it shot after seeing this recipe and it was amazing! Truly delicious! This took me a really long time though and next time I am going to make 2-3 at the same time and freeze it!
DeDe Smith
The best Lasagna ever!

Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- 4 cloves fresh garlic, finely minced
- 1 large onion, diced
- 8 oz mushrooms, chopped
- 3 cans tomato sauce
- 2 cans tomato paste
- 1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 3 cups whole milk
- 5 tbsp flour
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 9 lasagna noodles, boiled for half the time on the box (or use 12 of the no-boil noodles)
- 1 lb ground beef
- 4 cups mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking pan with cooking spray or with a napkin dipped lightly in olive oil and set aside.
In a large skillet, brown the ground beef over medium-high heat, breaking the meat apart into pieces with a wooden spoon. When beef is cooked through, drain the grease and set aside.
In a medium-size saucepan over medium-high heat, add 2 tablespoons olive oil and one tablespoon butter. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. When oil/butter is hot, add the garlic, stirring constantly. When the garlic is lightly browned, but NOT burned, add the onion and mushrooms. Continue cooking on medium-high heat until the vegetables are soft and browned and the fluid has mostly cooked out. Remove from heat and either using a handheld immersion blender or transferring the vegetables to a blender, blend the vegetables to a paste-like mixture. (I actually used a food processor for this part.) Return the pot to the heat (pour the pureed vegetables back in, if using a stand-alone blender) and add the tomato sauce and tomato paste. Stir to combine. Then add the diced tomatoes, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir. Cover and let the sauce sauce simmer for 30 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Right before using the red sauce in the lasagna, stir in the reserved ground beef.
While the red sauce simmers, if using lasagna noodles that need to be boiled, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and boil the noodles for half the time suggested on the box. Once the noodles are cooked, drain, but do not rinse. Add a dab of olive oil to keep them from sticking together. If you are using no-boil noodles, you can skip this step.
Also while the red sauce is cooking, melt the four tablespoons butter and when melted, add the flour, stirring constantly to combine and letting the mixture cook, while stirring, for a minute or two. Gradually add in the milk, whisking constantly. Add the salt and pepper. Slowly whisk the white sauce, ensuring it doesn’t burn on the bottom of the pan, while cooking it over medium heat. Continue slowly stirring or whisking while the white sauce cooks and thickens quite a bit, about 5-7 minutes. Add a pinch of mozzarella for good luck, if you wish!
To begin layering the lasagna, keep in mind that you’ll have three layers of noodles as well as three layers of the sauces and cheese – so plan on splitting all the sauce and cheese piles into thirds so you don’t run out at the end! On the bottom of your lightly greased baking pan, layer three pre-boiled noodles or four no-boil noodles, slightly overlapping the no-boil noodles. Layer the red sauce, white sauce, Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, spreading all to the edges and top with another layer of noodles. Again, layer the red sauce, white sauce, Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses and top with the final layer of noodles. Layer the sauces and cheeses again.
Cover the lasagna with a greased layer of aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and let the lasagna sit for 15 minutes before cutting and serving.
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On Recipe Thursdays, I am going to be sharing a recipe with you! I will pick a recipe from my collection and I will be sharing where I got the recipe and everything. But I am going to include my own photo of the finished food, the original recipe, and try and share the things I changed when I made it!

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