Big Jeff’s Jumbo Lasagna

  5.0 – 5 reviews  • Main Dish
Level: Intermediate
Total: 7 hr 45 min
Active: 2 hr 15 min
Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

  1. 4 pounds whole milk ricotta
  2. 3/4 pound shredded mozzarella-provolone mix (50/50)
  3. 1/4 pound grated Romano
  4. 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
  5. 1 1/2 tablespoons ground black pepper
  6. 5 eggs
  7. 1/8 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  8. 26 lasagna noodles, cooked to al dente
  9. 24 ounces Nana’s Sunday Sauce, recipe follows
  10. 1 pound cooked and sliced Italian rope sausage
  11. 6 cooked Nana’s Giant Meatballs, recipe follows
  12. 1/2 pound sliced provolone
  13. 1/4 cup grated Romano
  14. 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  15. 1/4 pound pork neck bones
  16. 1/4 pound pork rib tips
  17. 1 teaspoon garlic salt
  18. 1/2 cup chopped fresh garlic
  19. 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
  20. 1 medium yellow onion, chopped fine
  21. 3 pounds canned crushed tomatoes
  22. 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
  23. 3 pounds tomato paste
  24. 1 teaspoon salt
  25. 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  26. 1/2 pound ground beef
  27. 1/2 pound ground pork
  28. 6 ounces breadcrumbs
  29. 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
  30. 3 tablespoons chopped garlic
  31. 1/4 teaspoon salt
  32. 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  33. 1 egg
  34. 1/2 medium diced yellow onion
  35. Extra-virgin olive oil, for rolling meat

Instructions

  1. For the cheese filling: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Mix together the ricotta, mozzarella mix, Romano, parsley, pepper and eggs in a large bowl.
  3. For the lasagna: Coat bottom of a 9-by-13-by-3-inch baking pan with the olive oil. Layer 14 lasagna noodles overlapping each other in bottom of pan. Add 8 ounces Nana’s Sunday Sauce spread evenly over pasta, then pour in half of the cheese filling. Evenly spread all of sausage on top of the cheese filling and add 7 more lasagna noodles. Add 8 ounces Nana’s Sunday Sauce and the remaining cheese filling. Crumble Nana’s Giant Meatballs over cheese filling and add 8 slices provolone to cover the meatball layer. Cover the provolone with remaining lasagna noodles. Spread the remaining Nana’s Sunday Sauce over noodles and top with Romano. Cover with foil and bake for 3 hours.
  4. Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven and add neck bones and rib tips. Sprinkle with garlic salt and brown the meat, about 15 minutes. Add garlic, parsley and onion and cook until translucent, about 15 minutes.
  5. Add crushed tomatoes and basil. Cook down, stirring continuously, about 20 minutes.
  6. Add tomato paste, salt and pepper and 26 cups water. Bring to a boil, then simmer until reduced by a quarter, about 2 hours.
  7. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  8. Mix beef, pork, breadcrumbs, basil, garlic, salt, pepper, egg and onion in a bowl and form into 4-ounce balls. Roll in olive oil and place on a sheet pan. Bake until roasted to golden brown, about 20 minutes. 

Reviews

Mrs. Haley Clark
26 cups of water and THREE POUNDS of tomato paste? For real? Can you please verify, because I’d love to make this and everything about it sounds wonderful…I just don’t know about 26 cups of water and THREE POUNDA of tomato paste?!?!?! Not even sure I have a pot that will hold all that!
Patricia Berg
26 Cups of water to the sauce? Are you sure this isn’t a type?
Austin Bell
This was AWESOME!!  I was making it for a group and dividing it up for different households due to the COVID19, so I doubled the recipe for the meatballs and the sauce.  I also sliced the meatballs into three and layed them down on top of the noodles as I didn’t want to break them up as they were beautiful.  It came out great and everyone loved it.  REMEMBER, it takes three hours to cook and you need at least an hour for it to cool long enough for you to actually cut into it, so plan ahead.  I think next time I will make the meatballs as well as the sauce the day before and refrigerate them, so prep time will be decreased.  I WILL ABSOLUTELY BE MAKING THIS AGAIN AND IF YOUR STAR RATING WAS HIGHER I WOULD GIVE ONE.

 

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