Sausage and Pancetta Lasagna for Four

With store-bought shortcuts

Since John Scalzi is on vacation, I’ve paused my retrospective on his work. We’re having friends over for a spring break mid-week dinner and they love lasagna.

So here’s an updated version of my basic lasagna meal. You’ll need a 13 x 9 inch pan, because you do want leftovers (right?). (I like the All-Clad Pro-Release nonstick pan; AMAZON LINK.)

And, yes, I used some store-bought shortcuts. Don’t mock me.

Ingredients

• 48 ounces Rao’s marinara sauce (AMAZON LINK)¹

• 12 pieces no-boil lasagna noodles²

• 4 ounces pancetta, diced

• 1 pound bulk Italian sausage³

• 24 ounces whole milk cottage cheese (drained)

• 3 cups shredded low-moisture mozzarella

• 1 cup grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan

• 2 eggs

• 1⁄3 cup fresh basil leaves, torn

• 3 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• ½ teaspoon black pepper

• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Lightly grease a 13×9-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon olive oil or with a cooking oil spray.

In a large skillet⁴ over medium heat, cook the pancetta until the fat renders and the meet begins to crisp (about 5 minutes). Blot off some of the fat with a paper towel.

Add the sausage, breaking it up with a wooden spoon or, better yet, a potato masher. Cook until the meat is browned (about 8 minutes). Add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook 1 minute. Drain or blot away excess fat, leaving about 1 tablespoon in the pan.

Pour the marinara sauce into the skillet with the meat. Stir well to combine and simmer over low heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, combine the cottage cheese, 2 eggs, half of the Pecorino Romano or Parmesan, the basil, black pepper, and a big pinch of kosher salt. Stir until smooth and well combined.

Soak the noodles in warm water for 5 to 10 minutes.

Spread about 1 cup of meat sauce on the bottom of the prepared baking dish (this prevents sticking and starts softening the noodles). Lay no-boil noodles in a single layer, slightly overlapping if needed.

Spread one-third of the cheese mixture over the noodles, then one-third of the remaining meat sauce, then one-third of the shredded mozzarella. Repeat this sequence (noodles → ricotta → sauce → mozzarella) two more times, using up all the filling. Top the final layer with the remaining grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan.

Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil (spray the chsse side of the foil with cooking oil spray and tent it slightly so the foil doesn’t stick to the cheese).

Bake at 375°F for 45 minutes.

Uncover and brown: Remove the foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes, until the top is bubbly and golden brown in spots.

You want it to hit an internal temperature of 160°-165°. use an instant read meat thermometer to make sure. ( I like the ThermoWorks Thermapen; AMAZON LINK.)

Remove from the oven and let the lasagna rest for at least 15 minutes before cutting.

Tips

Sauce coverage is key with no-boil noodles. You need to make sure every noodle is well covered with sauce so it steams and softens properly during baking.

If you can get your hands on it, guanciale works even better than pancetta.

If you make it ahead, which I recommend, and refrigerate it for more than about an hour, add 10-15 minutes to the cooking time.

The post-baking rest is essential. It keeps you from ending up with soupy lasagna and helps the layers set.

1. It won the America’s Test Kitchen taste test, which is good enough for me. If I don’t use it, I make my own.

2. Barilla is my preferred brand (AMAZON LINK) but 365 (AMAZON LINK) is quite good as well.

3. Mild or how, depending on your heat preference.

4. I’m a fan of All-Clad. I used the 12-inch D3 3-Ply stainless steel sauté pan here. (AMAZON LINK)