Bolognese Lasagna

I've made this recipe for my family several times, and finally have decided to write everything down and keep track in order to share it with all of you!! This is my go-to faveee meaty lasagna recipe!! Every time I make it, everyone who eats it raves about it and asks for the recipe. This lasagna recipe starts off with Brightland's Awake EVOO turned into a short cut bolognese sauce and ends up with layers and layers of saucy pasta and a cream cheese and ricotta filling.

WHAT YOU NEED

• ​1 box lasagne pasta sheets
• 3 tbsp Brightland EVOO
• 1 lb ground meat of choice
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 white onion, finely diced
• 1 cup carrots, finely diced
• 1 cup celery, finely diced
• 3 garlic cloves, grated
• 2 oz dry white wine
• 1 16oz jar marinara sauce
• 6 mozzarella cheese slices (for topping before baking)
• 1 additional cup of marinara sauce (for topping before baking)

For the cheese filling:

• 16 oz ricotta cheese
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

WHAT TO DO
Prep Work:
1. Drizzle the Brightland EVOO into a deep skillet or pan and start cooking the ground meat by breaking it apart. Season it with salt and pepper. Once it's mostly separated and starting to turn brown, add in the onion, carrots, celery and garlic and cook for five-ish minutes until the veggies are fragrant.
2. Add tomato paste to the veggies and stir until everything is coated. Cook for about 5 minutes until the paste is caramelized and brick red in color.
3. Pour the white wine (or broth substitute) into the pot and cook until the liquid has decreased by half. This will deglaze things and add more flavor!
4. Add the jar of marinara to the pot and cover/let simmer for 20 minutes while you prep the filling and boil the lasagne sheets. (Make sure to properly salt your pasta water when cooking the lasagne! Crucial for good flavor!)
5. Combine the filling ingredients in a bowl and mix until fully combined.

Lasagna Assembly:
1. Pour a generous amount of the bolo sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.
2. Add a layer of the lasagne sheets. (I did 3 across.)
3. Add a layer of the cheese filling.
4. Add a layer of lasagne sheets.
5. Add a layer of bolo sauce.
6. Repeat steps 2-5 until you run out of lasagne sheets and fill the baking dish, you're going to want to end with a layer of the lasagne pasta on top.
7. Line the lasagne pasta sheets with the mozzarella slices. Pour the additional cup of marinara sauce on top of the cheese slices. (I like to melt the cheese under the sauce because I think it stays melty for longer that way instead of bubbling up into a hard shell.)

Baking:
1. Cover the baking dish with foil and cook for 45 minutes at 350 degrees F. 
2. Let cool off and set for 20 minutes before slicing into pieces and serving! Top each serving with parmesan and a drizzle of @brightland EVOO.