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meat ball lasagna

★★★★★ 10
janenov46 avatar
a recipe by
Jane Whittaker
@janenov46
Massena (now in FL), NY

Every one here has a lasagna recipe, and I can tell you just by looking at some of them they are really darned good! My lasagna is made with mini meatballs and chunks of Italian sausage. Why bother to make meat balls? The texture of the lasagna changes from flat layers to big fat chunks of meat layers in a sky high lasagna. Make your sauce the day before for the best flavor. Using hot sauce makes the lasagna soupy.

Blue Ribbon Recipe

It was quite the treat to bite into a meatball to discover which flavor meatball you would get - beef or sausage. Both were very good! A great twist on regular lasagna. We used four (4) 24 oz. jars of sauce when trying this dish out.

— The Test Kitchen @kitchencrew
►
★★★★★ 10
serves 15 to 20
prep time 45 Min
cook time 3 Hr
method Bake

Ingredients For meat ball lasagna

  • 105 oz
    home made marinara sauce or purchased marinara sauce. my recipe is on file as spaghetti sauce and meatballs.
  • 2 lb
    ground round
  • 2 Tbsp
    parmesean cheese, grated
  • 1 lg
    egg
  • 3/4 c
    italian bread crumbs
  • 1 lb
    italian bulk sausage
  • 1 1/2 lb
    shredded mozarella cheese
  • 24 oz
    ricotta cheese
  • 2 lg
    eggs
  • enough lasagna noodles to cover your lasagna pan 3 times. my pan is just huge.

How To Make meat ball lasagna

  • 1
    Make meatballs by combining ground round, Parmesan cheese, egg and Italian bread crumbs.
  • 2
    Make small meat balls just under one inch around.
  • 3
    Line 2 cookie sheets with aluminum foil, spray with Pam (no cleanup). Place meat balls in a single layer, go ahead and chunk your sausage in chunks the size of the meat balls, and put them in a single layer too.
  • 4
    Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes, then put into your marinara sauce.
  • 5
    At this point I usually put sauce and meat in my slow cooker, lined with a disposable liner, and cook on low for 8 hours. If you opted for a purchased sauce, put meatballs and sausage in your sauce, and simmer for an hour.
  • 6
    Cook lasagna noodles, drain.
  • 7
    Mix ricotta and eggs, set aside.
  • 8
    Spray lasagna pan with Pam.
  • 9
    Put a layer of just sauce in bottom of pan. Cover with layer of lasagna noodles.
  • 10
    Put a layer of sauce and meatballs and sausage, put blobs of ricotta mixture randomly, sprinkle a third of mozarella.
  • 11
    Repeat layer.
  • 12
    Cover with a layer of lasagna noodles, and then sauce.
  • 13
    Cover tightly and cook on low 325 degrees for 3 hours.
  • 14
    Last 10 minutes, sprinkle remainder of mozarella.
  • 15
    When you remove from the oven, allow to set for 15 minutes before you cut into it.
  • 16
    One more thing. I always make my sauce and meatballs the day before. Putting hot sauce on hot noodles might result in watery lasagna. Make sure the lasagna noodles are well drained also.
  • Last Step: Don't forget to share! Make all your friends drool by posting a picture of your finished recipe on your favorite social network. And don't forget to tag Just A Pinch and include #justapinchrecipes so we can see it too!
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