3 Cheese Lasagna with Zesty Meat Sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet or soup pot add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and heat on medium high heat. Add chopped onions to skillet and sauté for a few minutes. Add ground beef and minced garlic to the onions and cook till no longer pink. Drain onion and beef mixture of any excess fat.

Next add tomato sauce, tomato paste, broth, granulated sugar, salt, oregano, basil, red pepper flakes and balsamic vinegar. Heat to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 25 minutes. While sauce is simmering, boil noodles to al dente, following the instructions on the packaging.

Pour ricotta into a medium mixing bowl and stir until fluffy, this will make it easier to spread over the lasagna noodles.

Now to assemble layers. In a 9x13 inch baking dish add a small amount of sauce to the bottom of the dish then layer 4 lasagna noodles.

Layer 1/2 of the ricotta on top of the noodles.

Layer 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Sprinkle with pepper. Then add 1/3 of the sauce on top of the cheese.

Layer 4 more lasagna noodles side by side and the remaining ricotta on top of the noodles. Next sprinkle with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup of parmesan. Add another 1/3 of the sauce on top of the cheese.

Add the last layer of 4 noodles and top with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining cup of mozzarella cheese and parmesan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until top is bubbly and golden brown. Cool for 15 minutes and serve.

Enjoy!