Ultimate Cheese Lasagna

We love this cheese lasagna recipe With the perfect blend of cheeses that makes anyone weak in the knees. It’s rich, creamy, cheesy and delicious. This lasagna can be assembled in about 20 minutes. Jump to the cheese lasagna recipe

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If you’ve seen our recipes for vegetarian lasagna or no fuss, you already know our love for lasagna. This time, we are sharing a cheese version. Yes, no vegetables or meat here. Just cheese. Five types of cheese, actually.

The mixture creates a lasagna that is absolutely rich, creamy and delicious. This is what we use:

1. Whole milk ricotta cheese
2. Mascarpone cheese
3. Parmesan cheese
4. Mozzarella cheese
5. Fontina cheese

For the best lasagna, use ricotta cheese and mascarpone

We call for ricotta cheese in all of our lasagna recipes. However, when we made this cheesy lasagna with our usual ricotta and parmesan filling (seen in this green version), it came out too grainy.

I can only assume it’s because there are no other ingredients like vegetables or ground meat to add more texture. Adam agreed, so for the most delicious cheese lasagna, we prefer to use a combination of ricotta cheese and creamy mascarpone cheese.

With the combination of ricotta and mascarpone, you get the most charming rich and creamy layer between the noodles and the sauce. I love the combination so much that I plan to use it whenever I make other lasagna recipes from the blog. I’m kind of bummed we didn’t try this sooner.

The ricotta filling in this lasagna combines ricotta, mascarpone cheese, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and one egg. The egg helps solidify the filling so it stays in its own layer.

More lasagna recipes worth looking at: Sausage and beef lasagna, light spinach and mushroom lasagna, and this white chicken lasagna.

Frequently asked questions: cheese substitutes

We understand that asking for five types of cheese is a lot. So if you can’t find one or find one too expensive, here are some tips to help you out.

• Ricotta cheese substitute: try cottage cheese.
• Mascarpone Cheese Substitute: Use 8 ounces of ricotta or make DIY mascarpone by beating 8 ounces of cream cheese with 1/4 cup of heavy cream until smooth and creamy.
• Mozzarella cheese substitute: try provolone cheese
• Fontina cheese substitute: Fontina cheese is exceptionally soft and melts. Replaced it with provolone cheese.
• Parmesan cheese substitute: try Grana Padano or Pecorino Romano cheese.

Vegetarian adaptation

With the exception of Parmesan cheese, which is made with animal rennet (an enzyme used to help the cheese), the cheeses needed in this cheese lasagna are usually vegetarian.

When you buy this recipe, double check all labels and skip the parmesan. Instead, you can mix a few tablespoons of nutritional yeast into the ricotta and mascarpone mixture to add a cheesy, salty taste like Parmesan.

Assembling the lasagna

In the lasagna assembly we have 4 layers of noodles with two types of cheese layers. Here’s how we do it:

Start with a sauce spread on the bottom of your baking dish. Next, add the first layer of lasagna noodles (we like no-boil noodles) plus half of the ricotta-mascarpone mixture and fresh basil leaves.

Place the second layer of lasagna noodles plus sauce, mozzarella and fontina cheese.

Then add the third layer of lasagna noodles plus the remaining ricotta-mascarpone mixture and more fresh basil leaves. Finally, add the fourth layer of lasagna noodles, the remaining sauce, mozzarella and fontina cheese.

Prepare ahead and store tips

Lasagna is the perfect meal to prepare in advance. Here’s how I do it:

If you make our homemade red sauce, It lasts in your fridge for up to three days and in your freezer for about three months. We recommend using freezer-safe glass containers or double-layer freezer bags to store sauces. To thaw, leave it overnight in the refrigerator.

Unbaked lasagna can be refrigerated. Cover and refrigerate the assembled but unbaked lasagna for up to two days. When covering, use parchment paper between the lasagna and the aluminum foil. Aluminum foil can react with tomatoes.

Baked lasagna also freezes well. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before freezing, then wrap tightly in foil (we use two layers). When ready to reheat, thaw the frozen lasagna overnight in the refrigerator and then bake at 400°F for 40 minutes to an hour. (I prefer to bake and freeze the lasagna instead of freezing uncooked lasagna.)

Ultimate cheese lasagna

Makes 8 servings

Nutrition per serving: portion size 1/8 of the recipe / calories 574 / total fat 32.7 grams / Saturated fat 18 grams / Cholesterol 124.7 mg / sodium 1001.6 mg / carbohydrate 43 grams / Dietary fiber 5.6 grams / Total sugars 6.3 grams / protein 24.7 grams

author: Adam and Joan Gallagher