World's Best Lasagna

Prep Time: 30 Minutes; Cook Time: 2 Hours 30 Minutes; Ready In: 3 Hours 15 Minutes
Servings: 12

Can be made a day ahead

Ingredients:

• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage
• 3/4 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
• 2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon salt (2 t?)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 12 lasagna noodles
• 16 ounces ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1.     In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

2.     Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. (Or see no cooking suggestion below). In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt (leave out salt?)

3.     Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

4.     To assemble, spread 1/4 of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce (overlap the noodles width wise). Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1/4 meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat: noodle, remaining ricotta, 1/3 mozzarella, 1/4 meat sauce, 1/4 C Parmesan, noodle, top with remaining meat sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.

5.     Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Suggestions:

• Use FRESH basil for more flavor - I use about 1/2 - 2/3 cup fresh chopped basil
•  add a dash of nutmeg to the ricotta mixture (an old italian secret!)
• I usually make this a day ahead for the flavors and herbs to meld in the fridge then let it sit at room temperature for about 1 hour before baking.  
• Soak raw, hard noodles in a large bowl of very hot tap water for 20-30 min. Noodles won't be cooked but soft, and can complete it's cooking in the oven.  

From: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/worlds-best-lasagna/, submitted by John Chandler
(watch the video for details)