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Creamy Tomato Lasagna with Mascarpone Cheese

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  • Prep 1 hr 35 min
  • Total 2 hr 25 min
  • Servings 12
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Luscious white sauce partners with sausage and beef in this three cheese lasagna.
Updated Apr 16, 2010
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Ingredients

Meat Sauce

  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 medium carrots, chopped (1 cup)
  • 2 medium stalks celery, chopped (1 cup)
  • 1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)
  • 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh mushrooms (4 oz)
  • 1/2 lb bulk Italian sausage or links (remove from casings)
  • 1/2 lb ground chuck or lean (at least 80%) ground beef
  • 1/2 cup white wine or nonalcoholic wine
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/3 cup mascarpone cheese or cream cheese, softened

White Sauce

  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3 cups whole milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

Cheese and Pasta

  • 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (12 oz)
  • 2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese (8 oz)
  • 12 uncooked no-boil lasagna noodles (from 9- or 10-oz package)*

Steps

  • 1
    In 3-quart saucepan, heat oil over medium heat until hot. Add carrots, celery and onion. Cook about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add mushrooms and cook about 5 minutes or until they have given up most of their juices.
  • 2
    Crumble sausage and beef into saucepan. Cook 10 minutes, breaking up and stirring occasionally, until no longer pink. Drain excess fat.
  • 3
    Increase heat to medium-high and stir in wine. Cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until wine nearly evaporates. Add 1 cup milk and cook about 15 minutes, stirring constantly, until no liquid remains. Reduce heat to low. Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, vinegar, basil, black pepper and pepper flakes. Heat to simmer, then simmer 15 minutes.
  • 4
    Stir in mascarpone and remove sauce from heat. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. (Mixture should be saucy in order to hydrate the noodles during baking.)
  • 5
    In 2-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour. Cook about 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until smooth and bubbly and making sure mixture does not brown. Remove from heat.
  • 6
    Gradually beat in milk with wire whisk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly (especially the corners), and boil 3 minutes or until thickened. (Not cooking the whole time will leave your sauce tasting floury.) Remove from heat and stir in salt, white pepper and nutmeg. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. (Do not add too much salt because you will be adding salty cheese.)
  • 7
    Adjust oven rack to middle position. Heat oven to 425°F. Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray.
  • 8
    In medium bowl, mix mozzarella and Parmesan; set aside.
  • 9
    Spread about 1 1/4 cups of the meat sauce evenly over bottom of baking dish (it may not completely cover the bottom); top with 3 noodles. Top noodles with 1/2 cup of the white sauce, spreading it as best as you can. Sprinkle with 1 cup of the cheese mixture. Top cheese with 1 1/4 cups of the meat sauce. Place 3 noodles on top of meat sauce. Repeat the following layers twice: 1/2 cup white sauce, 1 cup cheese mixture, 1 1/4 cups meat sauce, 3 noodles. Spread remaining white sauce over noodles and sprinkle with remaining 2 cups cheese. You will be at the top of baking dish.
  • 10
    Tear off piece of foil large enough to amply cover top of baking dish. Spray one side of foil with cooking spray. Cover lasagna with foil, sprayed side down. (Lasagna can be refrigerated up to 12 hours at this point.)
  • 11
    Bake 30 minutes (if lasagna was refrigerated, bake 40 minutes). Carefully remove foil and bake 20 minutes longer or until top is lightly brown in spots and edges are hot and bubbly.

Tips from the Betty Crocker Kitchens

  • tip 1
    Why it Works: Instant Noodles Saying that bread, cookie or pasta dough is “cooked” means that the starch in the flour has fully absorbed the water in the dough. Depending on the thickness of the dough, this process can take minutes (as with pasta) or almost an hour (as with bread). For traditional lasagna noodles, boiling causes the dough to absorb water and cook through. The instant noodles used in this recipe have been pretreated with water; they do not need to boiled before using. The heat of baking and the moisture from the sauce cook the noodles while the lasagna bakes.

Nutrition

510 Calories, 31g Total Fat, 29g Protein, 30g Total Carbohydrate, 8g Sugars

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 Serving
Calories
510
Calories from Fat
280
Total Fat
31g
47%
Saturated Fat
15g
75%
Trans Fat
1g
Cholesterol
80mg
27%
Sodium
950mg
40%
Potassium
550mg
16%
Total Carbohydrate
30g
10%
Dietary Fiber
3g
11%
Sugars
8g
Protein
29g
% Daily Value*:
Vitamin A
60%
60%
Vitamin C
10%
10%
Calcium
60%
60%
Iron
15%
15%
Exchanges:
1 1/2 Starch; 0 Fruit; 1/2 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Skim Milk; 0 Low-Fat Milk; 0 Milk; 0 Vegetable; 0 Very Lean Meat; 0 Lean Meat; 3 1/2 High-Fat Meat; 0 Fat;
Carbohydrate Choice
2
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
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