My Favorite Lasagna Recipe

Web Admin 0 49 Article rating: No rating

My Favorite Lasagna Recipe

a photo of a serving of layered hearty meat lasagna on a white plate topped with melted cheese and chopped parsley

We have been long overdue for an update to this hearty meat lasagna recipe! I have been working on making it the BEST classic lasagna recipe ever, and this is finally it!

We layer this lasagna with our authentic bolognese meat sauce, a creamy bechamel sauce and 2 types of cheese all tucked between layers of lasagna noodles. You’re absolutely going to love this easy lasagna recipe!

It was 2009 when I first posted this recipe…2009…15 years! SO much has changed since then…we’ve expanded our family. We’ve moved (three times). We’ve progressed from toddlers and tantrums to teenagers and still tantrums 🤪. It seems natural that this lasagna recipe should change a little too. It’s now better and bolder and everything a homemade lasagna should be.

Ingredients for Hearty Meat Lasagna

I’m going to divide up the ingredients list between the three different parts of this recipe – the meat sauce, the bechamel sauce and the items needed to assemble the lasagna. Here is what you will need:

Meat Bolognese Sauce

  • Butter and Olive Oil
  • Vegetables: Carrots, Celery, Red Onion, Garlic
  • Proteins: Ground Beef and Italian Sausage
  • Tomatoes: Roasted Tomatoes, Tomato Sauce, Fire Roasted Tomatoes (canned)
  • Milk and Heavy Cream
  • Cooking Wine
  • Lemon Zest and Juice
  • Seasonings: Nutmeg, Bay Leaves, Salt and Pepper

Bechamel Sauce

  • Butter
  • Flour
  • Whole Milk
  • Nutmeg
  • Kosher Salt
  • Pepper

Lasagna Ingredients

  • Oven Ready Lasagna Noodles
  • Fresh Parmesan
  • Mozzarella Cheese

Don’t be alarmed! You did not read ricotta cheese in that ingredients list. We actually found that we preferred the lasagna without it! Keep scrolling to the end of the post for the measurements for each ingredient.

How to Make Homemade Meat Lasagna

To Make the Meat Sauce

  1. Prepare the bolognese sauce as instructed in that post and set aside.

For the Bechamel Sauce

  1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
  2. Sprinkle in the flour continuously whisking it in until a paste forms and it bubbles a little.
  3. Add in the milk slowing still whisking constantly. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat and let the sauce simmer until it thickens.
  4. Whisk in the salt, pepper and nutmeg.

For the Lasagna

  1. Prehea

The Little Things Newsletter #402 – Life, laughter, and lots of great food!

Web Admin 0 49 Article rating: No rating
Switzerland 402

Welcome to the weekend, my friends! It’s been a whirlwind of a week in Switzerland, exploring the area around Lausanne, enjoying the ballet, and eating copious amounts of cheese, chocolate, and pastries.

I’ll be sharing more in a full post on the blog after I’m home again, but in the meantime, let me just say that the Alps are gorgeous, the architecture is fascinating, and the weather has been lovely.

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK: This dairy-free Pineapple Banana Smoothie is light and refreshing, perfect with breakfast or as a snack any time throughout the day.

Fluffy pancakes are infused with the juicy flavors of ripe pineapple, sweet coconut, and a sprinkle of crunchy macadamia nuts, kicking these Hawaiian Pancakes into high gear.

Tender, savory beef simmers with a medley of herbs and earthy veggies under a golden, flaky pie crust in this simple Beef Pot Pie.

A handful of simple seasonings transform frozen green beans into a wonderful side dish with these Italian Green Beans.

The rich and hearty flavors of cabbage and root vegetables combine with savory beef in a simmering pot of Cabbage Beef Stew. This is the kind of comfort food that warms you right down to your toes.

Bursting with the sweetness of fresh apples and spiced up with a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg, these old fashioned Apple Cinnamon Cookies take you right back to grandma’s kitchen.

This creamy, rich Blueberry Ice Cream is filled with chunks of dark chocolate that will melt in your mouth. This ice cream has been my weakness for several years now. Make this as soon as possible – you will not regret it.

What I’m CRAVING: Salads! Just about every time I travel, I start craving fresh vegetables and salads like mad by the time I’m ready to head home. This Spinach Orzo Salad with Cranberries and Goat Cheese needs to happen asap, as does this Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad with an Apple Cider Vinaigrette.

My FAVORITE THING this week is my pocket size pill organizer. I’ve been using this tiny pill case for a few years now. This might be the mo

The Most Perfect Moist Chocolate Cake [+Video]

Web Admin 0 49 Article rating: No rating

The Most Perfect Moist Chocolate Cake [+Video]

A big, tall slice of three layered chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Each layer is frosted with thick chocolate frosting and the slice is sitting on a white dessert plate.

Homemade Chocolate Cake like this is not easy to find. This is the Most Perfect Moist Chocolate Cake recipe, and that’s coming from an obsessed cake tester!

Moist Chocolate Cake Recipe with Chocolate Frosting

You all know how I work. It’s why we have the best Traeger Ribs, Buttermilk Pancakes and Banana Bread recipes among a gazillion others. I get all sucked into finding the best of the best for a specific recipe and I can’t let it go until I’ve achieved it.

And friends, I’ve discovered which chocolate cake is best. If you’re needing chocolate cake for a birthday or a family celebration, you just step right up.  (Who am I kidding, just make it because you are surviving the crazy these days.)

Everyone I know loves a moist chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting, but no one has great luck with a homemade chocolate cake without just using a cake mix. I am crazy giddy to share all of my secrets!

Don’t go crazy, but this is a chocolate cake recipe without butter. That’s for a very specific reason. As much as I thought that butter would be all the difference in flavor, it just wasn’t the truth. The flavor didn’t count enough for how much the cake lacked moisture.

Apparently butter doesn’t make cakes moister, which makes sense. Butter has a high water content that evaporates as steam in the baking process so it can’t keep the moisture like an oil can. If you really want to use butter you can, just use equal amounts or half and half, but all oil did lead to a better chocolate layer cake!

Homemade Chocolate Cake Ingredients

As I already mentioned, the moistness of this homemade chocolate cake is thanks in part to the oil used in the batter. Our other secret? Buttermilk! Yep, this is a buttermilk chocolate cake.

Any time a recipe calls for buttermilk, it makes me think it’s going to be a fancy recipe. But in reality, this chocolate cake from scratch couldn’t be simpler to make.

Here’s what you’ll need to make this moist chocolate cake recipe:

  1. All-Purpose Flour: I’ve tested all sorts of flours but had the worst luck in a chocolate cake with cake flour.
  2. Unsweetened Natural Cocoa Powder: Do not use dutch-process cocoa powder, but opt for an unsweetened cocoa powder, which will give a better rise. Try Hershey’s or a similar brand just in the grocery store. Not crazy trip to a gourmet store needed.
  3. Espresso Powder: Espresso powder is optional, but listen, as one who does not drink coffee for religious reasons I really do believe this makes a difference in the chocolate flavor.
  4. Baking Soda Baking Powder: Yes, use both!!! I’ve tried many baking powd

Blueberry Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

Web Admin 0 96 Article rating: No rating

This creamy, rich blueberry ice cream is filled with chunks of dark chocolate that will melt in your mouth. Oh, my friends, make this. You won’t regret it – and I’m willing to bet that you’ll fall in love with it at first bite. I know I did.

This creamy blueberry ice cream with dark chocolate chunks has been my weakness for the past couple of years. I haven’t been keeping it a secret from you, but up until recently, I haven’t had the recipe. I’m beyond excited to finally be sharing it with you.

Best Ever Blueberry Ice Cream with Chocolate Chunks - get the recipe at barefeetinthekitchen.com

When I tell you that this ice cream is absolutely divine, you can take that to the bank. I first tried this ice cream at Rusconi’s American Kitchen when we lived in Arizona.

Rusconi’s has been my favorite date night restaurant, girls’ night restaurant, happy hour, and special occasion destination for a while now – and I still make a reservation for dinner there every single time I’m back in the valley.

The selection of ice cream on their dessert menu varies according to what the chef has made that day and I always cross my fingers that this flavor will be available when we’re there.

Blueberry Ice Cream

The first time we heard about this ice cream, the couple sitting at the table next to us was asking the waiter if there was any blueberry ice cream available. They ordered a pint to take home and then leaned over to us and told us about it.

They grinned at us as they apologized for taking the last of it home with them and told us that we simply had to try it the next time we were at Rusconi’s.

You can bet that this ice cream lover ordered a scoop of blueberry ice cream to try the next time we ate there. I may have sighed with happiness at the first bite, and the second bite, and every bite down to the very last bite.

From then on, this ice cream has been my favorite ending to every meal at Rusconi’s and I am disappointed when it is not available.

Weekly Menu Plan – Feb. 5 to 11

Web Admin 0 35 Article rating: No rating

Weekly Menu Plan – Feb. 5 to 11

a graphic showing a menu plan for a week

This weekly menu plan is full of all the recipes you love! Some quick and easy, some a little more involved but all totally fabulous for dinner! Plus, the braised pork Thursday and casserole on Saturday are brand new recipes!


Monday: Baked Chicken Meatballs with Orzo


Tuesday: IP Taco Soup


Wednesday: 15 Min Chicken Stir Fry


Thursday: Apple Cider Braised Pork


Friday: Red Chicken Enchiladas


Saturday: Cheesy Ground Beef and Potato Casserole


Sunday: Stuffed Pork Chops

READ: Weekly Menu Plan – Feb. 5 to 11

RSS
First89101113151617Last