The Secrets Behind Nonna Do's Award-Winning Lasagna

If you ask anyone in our family which dish tastes most like Mom, the answer comes back before you finish the question: the lasagna. It is the dish that won her awards, the one that shows up at every birthday and holiday, and the one the grandchildren circle the kitchen for while it bakes. The recipe itself is not complicated. The magic is in a handful of small habits that Nonna Do never skips. Below you’ll find the full recipe from her cookbook, followed by the secrets that make it hers.

Ingredients

For the meat sauce (ragù) - 1 lb ground beef - ½ lb mild Italian sausage, casings removed (optional, but we never leave it out) - 1 medium onion, diced - 3 cloves garlic, minced - 2 cans (28 oz each) crushed tomatoes or San Marzano tomatoes - 2 tbsp tomato paste - 2 tsp sugar - 1 tsp dried oregano - 1 tsp dried basil - Salt and black pepper to taste - Olive oil

For the ricotta layer - 15 oz ricotta cheese - 1 egg - ½ cup grated Parmesan (Parmigiano-Reggiano if you can) - Salt and pepper

For assembly - 1 lb lasagna noodles (no-boil or traditional) - 3 cups shredded mozzarella

Method

1. Make the sauce. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, ground beef and sausage, breaking the meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon. Cook until browned, 8–10 minutes.
2. Build the flavor. Stir in the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Bring to a gentle bubble, then lower the heat and simmer at least 30–45 minutes, stirring now and then. Longer is better.
3. Mix the ricotta. In a bowl, stir together the ricotta, egg, Parmesan, a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper until smooth.
4. Cook the noodles if you are using traditional ones. Boil in well-salted water until just shy of al dente, drain, and lay them flat on an oiled sheet pan so they don’t stick.
5. Assemble. Spread a thin layer of sauce over the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish. Add a layer of noodles, then dollops of ricotta mixture, a handful of mozzarella and more sauce. Repeat, finishing with sauce and a generous blanket of mozzarella.
6. Bake at 375°F (190°C) for 35–45 minutes, until the edges bubble and the cheese is golden in spots.
7. Rest 10–15 minutes before cutting. This is key.

Secret One: The Sauce Comes First

“Taste the sauce before anything else. If the sauce is right, the lasagna will be perfect.” — Nonna Do

Mom’s rule is simple: the lasagna can only be as good as the sauce inside it. The 30–45 minutes in the recipe is the minimum. On a relaxed Sunday she lets it go closer to 90 minutes on the lowest flame, partly covered, until it thickens and darkens a shade. That long simmer does three things: it cooks off the raw, tinny edge of canned tomatoes, it melds the fat from the sausage into the sauce, and it reduces the liquid so your finished lasagna slices cleanly instead of sliding across the plate.

A few habits from her stove: - Brown the meat properly. Don’t crowd the pot and don’t rush it. Those browned bits are flavor. - Fry the tomato paste for a minute with the meat before the tomatoes go in. It deepens the color and sweetness. - Use the sugar as a balancer, not a sweetener. Two teaspoons simply rounds off acidic tomatoes. If your tomatoes are very sweet, use less. - Use her test. “If the sauce sticks to the spoon, it’s ready.” Drag your wooden spoon through it; if the sauce clings and the line holds for a moment, you’re there.

If you want to go even richer, her Sunday sauce makes a wonderful base, too.

Secret Two: A Ricotta Layer That Stays Creamy

The egg and Parmesan in the ricotta aren’t optional. The egg sets the cheese gently in the oven so it holds its shape as a creamy layer rather than melting into the sauce, and the Parmesan seasons it from the inside. If your ricotta looks wet, set it in a fine sieve over a bowl in the fridge for an hour to drain. Season the mixture well; bland ricotta is the most common reason a homemade lasagna tastes flat.

Nonna’s Tip: Dollop the ricotta mixture and then spread it gently with the back of a spoon. Pressing hard tears the noodles and squeezes the filling out the sides.

Secret Three: Patience After the Oven

Everyone wants to cut in the moment the dish comes out bubbling. Don’t. A lasagna straight from the oven is molten inside. Given 10–15 minutes on the counter, the cheese and ricotta set, the noodles absorb a little more sauce, and you get those beautiful, tall, layered squares. It also stops anyone from burning their mouth, which Nonna considers part of good hospitality.

Make-Ahead and Freezing

Lasagna is one of the best dishes for feeding a crowd precisely because it waits for you.

Plan	How to do it	Bake time at 375°F
Assemble the day before	Cover tightly and refrigerate up to 24 hours	45–55 min covered with foil, then 10–15 min uncovered
Freeze unbaked	Wrap in plastic, then foil; freeze up to 3 months	Thaw overnight in the fridge, then bake as above
Freeze baked leftovers	Cool completely, cut into portions, wrap individually	Reheat covered at 350°F for 25–30 min
Sauce only	Refrigerate up to 4 days or freeze up to 3 months	Reheat gently before assembling

When baking from the fridge, let the dish sit on the counter for 20–30 minutes first so a cold glass or ceramic dish isn’t shocked by a hot oven.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Likely cause	The fix
Watery, sliding layers	Sauce too thin or ricotta too wet; cut too soon	Simmer sauce longer, drain ricotta, rest 15 minutes
Dry lasagna	Not enough sauce, especially with no-boil noodles	Add an extra ladle of sauce per layer; cover with foil for the first half of baking
Hard or crunchy noodle edges	No-boil noodles not fully covered	Make sure every edge is under sauce
Top browns before the center is hot	Oven too hot or dish too full	Tent with foil and bake a little longer
Tastes flat	Under-seasoned sauce or ricotta	Taste and salt each component before assembling

Nonna’s Takeaway

This lasagna has won prizes, but that isn’t why our family loves it. We love it because it means everyone is coming home. Take your time with the sauce, season every layer, and give it those quiet fifteen minutes to settle. As Mom always says, “Taste it before you serve it,” and then pass the plates.

More from Nonna’s kitchen: all of Nonna’s recipes, her pillowy potato gnocchi, and the pantry she cooks from.