GREAT Lasagna Recipe

OK - I like lasagna but have never found a recipe I loved so I haven't made it in forever. I tried Pioneer Woman's lasagna but found it too heavy on the sausage and even trying to modify it, it still was too much for me. So I continued my quest. I went to AllRecipes and found "The World's Best Lasagna" with 5 stars and over 2000 reviews so I figured I'd try it. It was GREAT!!! Here's the recipe as I did it for convenience. There are some modifications that I found in the reviews and I incorporated them here. The sauce is awesome and worthy of any good pasta dish you want it for so it's OK to double it and freeze the extra for another meal.

World's Best Lasagna

1 lb. Italian sausage
1 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 cup minced onion
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
2 (6 oz.) cans tomato paste
2 (6.5 oz) cans tomato sauce
1/2 cup water or red wine
1 Tbsp. white sugar
1 1/2 tsp. dried basil leaves
1/2 tsp. fennel seeds
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
4 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
lasagna noodles (I used 15)
16 oz. ricotta cheese
dash nutmeg
1 egg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 lb. mozzarella cheese, sliced or shredded
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese

In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce and water/wine. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seed, Italian seasoning, 1 Tbsp. salt, pepper and 2 Tbsp. parsley. Simmer, covered for atleast 1.5 hours - up to 5 hours, stirring occasionally.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for about 8-10 minutes. Drain noodles and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley and 1/2 tsp. salt.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups meat sauce in the bottom of a 9X13" pan. Arrange noodles over meat sauce. Spread with 1/2 the ricotta mixture. top with a third of the mozzarella cheese. Spoon 1 1/2 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 (spray foil with cooking spray to avoid sticking).

Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 2 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

YUMMMYYYY!!!!