Lasagna With White Sauce

A piece of a baked lasagna and a fork on the side.

No ratings yet

This Lasagna with white sauce is a true comfort meal. It is cheesy, saucy, with a crispy top layer of cheese. Perfect for any weeknight dinner or a family gathering.

Prep Time20

Cook Time1 30

Total Time1 50

Course: Dinner, lunch

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 550kcal

Author: Stephenie

Ingredients

For the meat

1 tablespoon oil
½ yellow onion
½ green pepper
3 tablespoons tomato sauce
3 tablespoons sofrito
1 ½ teaspoon sazon
1 ½ teaspoon adobo
1 ½ pounds ground beef
1 ½ cups pasta sauce

For the pasta

1 tablespoon salt
10 sheets lasagna pasta sheets

For the Bechamel

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 cups milk
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
8 ounces cream cheese

Cheeses

4 ounces shredded mozzarella
2 ounces parmesan cheese

Instructions

Cook the pasta. In a large pot, heat water over high heat until boiling. Add salt and taste the water so it can have a slight saltiness to it.
Add the pasta sheets and cook for 12 minutes. Once cooked, run the pasta under very cold water. and strain them. Then lay them flat in a tray. Cover with plastic film and set aside for later.

For the meat

While the pasta cooks, prepare the meat. Peel the onion and cut it into small cubes. Cut the green pepper into small cubes as well.
In a large pan over high heat, add 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the onion and pepper and saute for 3 minutes. Make sure to stir a couple of times to make sure the vegetables don't burn.
Add the sofrito and tomato sauce and cook for 1 minute. Stir a few times so it doesn't burn. Add the meat, adobo, and sazon. Cook for 8 minutes while breaking the meat apart so it doesn't stick.
Move the meat to one side of the pan and carefully tilt the pan so you can remove any excess fat. Add the pasta sauce, reduce the heat to medium high, and cook for another 6 minutes. Stir a few times while it cooks.

For the white sauce

In a small pan over medium-high heat, add the butter and cook for 30 seconds while stirring. Add the flour and quickly stir it. Cook for 1 minute and 30 seconds, but don't stop stirring.
Little by little, add the milk while you stir. Mix in the milk in the pan before adding more until you've added it all. Cook for 8 minutes and stir constantly. Add the cream cheese and cook for 3 minutes.

Lasagna assembly

Preheat the oven to 400℉.
In a 9x3 baking pan, add 4 ounces of the white sauce and lay 3 sheets of pasta. Add about half of the meat and spread it evenly. Drizzle ½ cup of the white sauce, add ⅓ of the parmesan cheese, and about 1 ounce of the mozarella cheese. Repeat the process on the next layer.
For the top layer, add 3 sheets of pasta, 1 cup of the white sauce, and the rest of the parmesan and mozzarela cheese.
Cover the lasagna with foil (*see notes). Bake for 40 minutes and then uncover and broil for 2 minutes.
Let the lasagna rest for at least 15 minutes and serve. Buen provecho!

Notes

Meat- The meat is made with the same ingredients as Puerto Rican food. One of the ingredients is sofrito, and depending on where you live, it can be difficult to find. Instead, you can use this sofrito substitute with ingredients you'll find at any supermarket.
After cooking the meat, remove any of the fat the excess fat that came out of the meat. You can do this by scooping it with a spoon or absorbing it with paper towels.
Pasta sheets- I used the ruffled shape pasta, but you can use the flat one if you prefer. I also cook 10 sheets even though I only use 9 because I like to add an extra one just in case one breaks.
Freezing- This lasagna freezes very well. Just make sure that you tightly cover it so it won't get that freezer burn.

Nutrition