Easy Homemade Meat & Ricotta Lasagna Recipe

Welcome to the Cuban Redneck Kitchen. On this Tuesday video recipe, I will be sharing a lasagna recipe I learned many moons ago while working for a catering company in Miami. Franco is still a good friend, and although retired, I reached out for his blessing before making this video. He told me, “I am a subscriber and loving what you are doing. Go for it.” Franco is originally from New York, the son of Italian immigrants.  He ran a catering company specializing in Italian dishes, but the house’s specialty was the lasagnas. Yes, in the plural. During my time there, I probably learned how to make a half dozen different lasagnas. We had a vegetarian. We had one with seafood and a wide range of meats ranging from Italian sausage to varying cuts of beef and pork.

My go-to lasagna recipe meat is a 50/50 mix of pork and beef. But a buddy of mine who makes artisan, beef jerky, sausages, and chorizo cut me a great deal on some Spanish smoked chorizos, so I decided to make my favorite lasagna with ricotta recipe with a Spanish beef picadillo and chorizo.

I know that my Cuban followers in the South Florida area will jump on this like white on rice, but I can also see some of my gringo friends saying, where will I get some Spanish chorizo? Don’t fuzz with it. As I said in the video, as long as you get the layering and the cheese mixture, you will end up with a fabulous lasagna. AND! If by any chance you decide to get creative, please join and share your recipe at the Cuban Food Nation group on Facebook. If push comes to shove, consider my picadillo recipe!

• 1 – lbs. of Ground Beef
• 2 – Large Spanish Chorizos Links weighing in at about ½ lbs.
• 1 – Tsp of Salt
• 1 – Tsp of Black Pepper
• 1 – Tsp of Cumin
• 1 – Tsp of Onion Powder
• ½ – of an Onion
• 4 – Cloves of Garlic
• 1 – Egg
• 15 – oz. of Ricotta Cheese
• 8 – oz. Parmesan & Romano
• 16 – oz. Shredded Mozzarella
• 4 – Cups of Pasta Sauce
• 1 – Box of Lasagna Pasta
• 1 – Cup of Whole Milk

We need to start with the meat filling. I chopped the onion, garlic, and chorizo, with the mini food processor and combined it with ground beef and dry spices in a large saucepan. Put the lid on it and let it rest in the fridge for about an hour. I then brought it back to the stove over medium heat. I kept stirring it to make sure no large lumps would form. Once it started to get a little bit of color and it was all broken down, I put the lid back on and cooked it for about 5-minutes. I then added some leftover tomato paste I had in the fridge. This is 100% optional, but I figure I use it rather than going to waste.  I then proceeded to add about 2-cups of pasta sauce and a cup of water. Mix it all, put the lid back on and let it cook on low for another 10-minutes or so.

At this time, we can start with the pasta. I brought 3-4 quarts of salted water to a boil and began to lay the lasagna pasta in the pot in different directions. This keeps them from sticking. Once the entire box was in, I lowered the heat to medium and cooked it for 10 minutes.

We can work on the cheese mixture while the lasagna’s meat and the pasta are on the stove. In a medium to a large mixing bowl, mix a cup of milk and one egg until thoroughly integrated. I added some Italian parsley (optional), but also know that both chives and green onions are welcome. With all of these components well combined, let the mixture rest for 4-5 minutes. NOTE: If you get a little dry, consider adding a little more milk when you are ready to use it.

After 10-12 minutes, the pasta should be ready to use. It does not have to be fully cooked, just flexible. Drain it and cool it down by rinsing it with cold water. Okay, with the lasagna pasta, the meat filling, and the cheese mixture ready, we can start the lasagna assembly process.

Let’s begin by greasing a 9X13 baking dish or casserole with cooking spray. Then spread about a ½ cup of pasta sauce throughout the bottom, followed by your first layer of pasta. Let the lasagna pasta sheet overlap but not too much. Then we will add out the first meat layer while keeping an eye on how much you add so that you have about the same amount for the other layer. Add a thin layer of shredded mozzarella to keep the layer from sliding, followed by another layer of pasta.

The next layer is the cheese layer. Add all of your ricotta, parmesan mixture and spread it evenly, followed by another thin layer of shredded mozzarella. From here on is just a repeat of the previous: pasta, meat, mozzarella, and past. We will top our lasagna with about 1 ½ cups of pasta sauce and the remainder of the mozzarella.

There is a lot of debate about – For how long do you bake a lasagna? The cook time will vary from 40 minutes to an hour, depending on how dense the lasagna is! I prefer 350 or about 45 minutes or until the top starts to brown, and you have juices bubbling around the edges.

Once accomplished, take it out of the oven and let it rest for about 10 minutes. This will allow the cheese layers to firm up a little and cut much better when serving.

My friends, once again, thank you for watching and following. I hope you liked this easy lasagna recipe, and check me out next week with another delicious family recipe here at the Cuban Redneck Kitchen. And if you have a favorite dish that you would like me to feature on the channel, please leave a comment. Thank you!