World's Best Lasagna

Ingredients

1 pound sweet Italian sausage
¾ pound lean ground beef
½ cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
2 6.5 ounce cans canned tomato sauce
2 6 ounce cans tomato paste
½ cup water
2 tablespoons white sugar
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley divided
1 ½ teaspoons dried basil leaves
1 ½ teaspoons salt divided, or to taste
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon fennel seeds
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
12 lasagna noodles
16 ounces ricotta cheese
1 egg
¾ pound mozzarella cheese sliced
¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Gather all your ingredients.
Cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic in a Dutch oven over medium heat until well browned.
Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, and water. Season with sugar, 2 tablespoons parsley, basil, 1 teaspoon salt, Italian seasoning, fennel seeds, and pepper. Simmer, covered, for about 1 ½ hours, stirring occasionally.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water.
In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining 2 tablespoons parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
To assemble, spread 1 ½ cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce, overlapping slightly. Spread with 1/2 of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 ½ cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.
Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 25 minutes.
Rest lasagna for 15 minutes before serving.

Notes

This recipe uses 2 layers of lasagna noodles by slightly overlapping 6 noodles on each layer. The video for this recipe features 3 layers, using 4 noodles on each layer that don't overlap. If you follow the video, use 1 cup of meat sauce and 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture in each layer.