Ingredients

  • Sauce:
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 lb pork shoulder or spare ribs
  • 1 lb veal shoulder chop or lamb shank
  • 1 lb italian sausage (can also use chicken sausage)
  • 6 garlic cloves
  • 1/4 cup tomato paste
  • 3 28oz cans whole peeled tomatoes (I've also used fresh diced tomatoes)
  • 2 cups water
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 6 fresh basil leaves
  • Meatballs:
  • 1 lb ground beef (can also mix meats, like pork and beef)
  • 1/2 fine bread crumbs
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tbsp minced garlic
  • 1/2c grated pecorino-romano cheese
  • 1 tsp salt
  • pepper
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • Lasagne:
  • 10-12 strips of FRESH lasagne pasta
  • salt
  • 2 lbs (32oz) ricotta
  • 1 lb thinly sliced fresh mozzarella
  • 1.5c grated pecorino-romano cheese

Method

  • Sauce:
  • Put tomatoes with juices in a food processor and pulse until chopped. For runny sauce, puree the tomatoes. For chunkier sauce, a few pulses is all you'll need.
  • In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat, brown the pork, veal/lamb, and sausages on all sides, transfer to a plate. Add the garlic to the pot, cook 1 min, add the tomato paste and stir 1 min. Add tomatoes and the water. Season with salt and pepper. Add the pork, veal/lamb, and sausages and basil and bring to a simmer. Partially cover and cook over LOW heat 2 hours, stirring occasionally. You can add more water if it gets too thick. While the sauce is cooking, make the meatballs.
  • Meatballs:
  • Combine all ingredients (except oil) in a large bowl, mix with your hands. Rinse your hands with cold water and form into SMALL balls, no bigger than a grape. Keep hands wet to prevent sticking. Heat the oil in a skillet and brown meatballs on all sides and transfer to a plate. When sauce is done, add the meatballs and cook 30min more. Remove all meat, including meatballs from the pasta. This is a pain, but necessary. Slice the sausages thinly, chop the pork into small pieces and mix with sausages.
  • Lasagne:
  • Preheat oven to 350
  • Cook pasta according to directions (usually cook in boiling water 1 min, rinse in ice cold water, lay out on paper towels). Spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of a lasagne pan. Make a single layer of pasta, overlapping the strips. You will have to cut the strips to fit the pan. Spread 1/4 of the ricotta over the pasta, scatter 1/4 of the meatballs and sausage/pork, then 1/4 of the mozzarella. Spoon 1c of the sauce over and sprinkle with romano cheese.
  • Repeat these layers 3 more times. Make a final layer of pasta, sauce and grated cheese.
  • Bake 1 hr 30 min, until bubbly and top is browned. Check at 60min, if top is browing too fast, cover with foil.