I made lasagna yesterday that has so far fed 13 people and there are still left overs. The total bill was $109 for 4 pans of lasagne. I bought too much tomato, mozzarella and ricotta cheese, too so the total is less than $100. This party recipe is enough to easily feed 15 people for less than $7 per person. The prices below are per unit.
I chopped everything that needed to be chopped in the food processor, in this order: garlic, onions, and Parmesan and Romano cheeses, so that I didn't have to wash out the processor bowl. Jarred chopped garlic tastes funny and has extra oil, shredded or grated cheeses are more expensive than block and also I'm suspicious of the taste of the stuff in the green can.
$1.50 3 boxes of oven-ready Barilla lasagne
Tomato sauce
$1.59 3 500 g. boxes strained tomatoes
$2.00 1 750 g. box of chopped tomatoes
$0.69 1 small can of tomato paste
$0.20 1 1/2 heads garlic, chopped
$0.10 3 medium onions, chopped
3 tbls veg oil
Italian seasoning
crushed red pepper flakes
salt
pepper
parsley flakes
Cheese filling
$4.99 16 oz mozzarella cheese, grated or chopped
$2.89 5 oz. Stella Parmesan cheese, chopped
$2.69 5 oz. Stella Romano cheese, chopped
$8.59 3 LARGE containers of ricotta cheese
$0.25 4 extra-large eggs
pepper, salt, Italian seasoning, parsley flakes, to taste
Other fillings
$1.00 4 lbs ground beef
$0.99 6 pkgs frozen chopped spinach
2 onions, chopped
1 1/2 heads garlic, chopped
Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flake, parsley flakes
Topping
16 oz. mozzarella cheese, chopped
Make the sauce first, so that it can simmer while preparing the filling. Put the oil in a large, heavy pot. Sweat the onion, garlic, and herbs with the salt & pepper. When the onions are transparent and just starting to brown, add the strained and chopped tomatoes. Stir in the tomato paste. Let it simmer until you are prepared to layer the lasagna.
Chop the Parmesan and Romano cheeses. Process them in a food processor after cutting into 2-inch cubes. After each one is done, add to a large mixing bowl. Add the herbs and spices to the cheese mixture along with the ricotta cheese and eggs.
Brown the ground beef with seasonings and salt. Drain.
Thaw the spinach. Using your hands and a colander, squeeze out as much water as possible.
Put one cup of sauce in the bottom of four medium foil lasagna pans. Place 3 sheets of lasagna pasta. Spread spinach over the layer. Spread a fairly thin layer of the cheese filling over the spinach. Pour another cup of sauce and spread it to cover the cheese. Place 3 more sheets of lasagna pasta. Spread the beef over the pasta. Add another layer of cheese mixture. Another cup of sauce and top with the mozzarella cheese to top the lasagna.
Bake at 375 degrees, uncovered for 45 minutes.
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