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Julia Turshen’s “A Nice Lasagna”

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This light and elegant lasagna comes from Julia Turshen’s lovely cookbook, Small Victories (Chronicle Books, 2016).

Baking dish of lasagna.

This lasagna comes from Julia Turshen’s lovely cookbook, Small Victories: Recipes, Advice + Hundreds of Ideas for Home Cooking Triumphs (Chronicle Books, 2016). Not only is it the simplest lasagna I’ve ever made, it’s also the lightest and most elegant. Julia writes that there are three “small victories” with the recipe. The first is using a food processor to make an easy homemade pasta dough (although I would argue that an even bigger victory is that you can replace the homemade pasta with store-bought no-boil lasagna noodles, which I did).

The second small victory is skipping both the American tradition of using ricotta and the Italian tradition of adding béchamel. Instead, Julia adds crème fraîche directly to the tomato sauce, which lends the requisite creaminess that all great lasagnas have, but with zero effort. (I LOVED this cheat. The sauce was so delicious, I had to stop myself from sneaking spoonfuls while assembling the lasagna, lest I run short.)

Finally, the third small victory is a high sauce-to-pasta ratio, which eliminates the step of having to cook the noodles before assembling the lasagna — and also allows the noodles to absorb the flavor of the sauce as they cook in the pan.

What you’ll need To Make Julia’s “Nice Lasagna”

Lasagna ingredients including creme fraiche, garlic, and Kosher salt.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Begin with the sauce. In a large bowl, crush the tomatoes with your hands.

Bowl of whole tomatoes.

Julia suggests this as a good job for kids — I agree, although it’s messy so you might want to put the bowl in the sink.

Bowl of crushed tomatoes.

In a large saucepan, warm the olive oil. Add the garlic and cook until it begins to sizzle, about 1 minute.

Garlic in a pan with olive oil.

Add the tomatoes and salt and bring to a boil.

Wooden spoon in a pan of tomatoes.

Lower the heat and let the sauce simmer, stirring every so often, until it’s slightly reduced, about 30 minutes.

Pan of simmering, crushed tomatoes.

Mix in the crème fraîche.

Creme fraiche melting into a pan of crushed tomatoes.

Season to taste with salt and set aside.

Pan of tomato and creme fraiche mixture.

Next, assemble the lasagna. Ladle a thin layer of sauce onto the bottom of a baking dish. Spread the sauce to cover the surface of the dish, then add a layer of pasta over top.

Lasagna noodles over a pan of sauce.

Spoon over just enough tomato sauce to cover the pasta and then scatter over some of the Parmesan, mozzarella, and basil.

Cheese and basil in a baking dish with sauce and noodles.

Repeat the layering process until you’ve used up all of your components, ending with sauce and cheese (not naked pasta or basil, both of which would burn if exposed).

Unbaked lasagna in a baking dish.

Bake the lasagna, uncovered, until it’s nicely browned and the edges are bubbling, 35 to 40 minutes.

Baking dish of lasagna.

Let it rest at room temperature for 15 minutes to allow the pasta fully absorb all of the bubbling sauce, so you don’t end up with soupy slices.

Baking dish of lasagna with one piece missing.

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Julia Turshen's Lasagna

This light and elegant lasagna comes from Julia Turshen’s lovely cookbook, Small Victories (Chronicle Books, 2016).

Servings: 6-8
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 1 Hour 20 Minutes
Total Time: 1 Hour 35 Minutes

Ingredients

For the Sauce

  • Two 28-oz cans whole peeled tomatoes
  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • Kosher salt
  • 1 cup crème fraîche

For the Pasta Dough (see note)

  • 2¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt

For Assembling

  • 1 cup finely grated Parmesan Cheese
  • 1½ cups coarsely grated whole-milk mozzarella cheese
  • 2 large handfuls fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces if large

Instructions

For the Sauce

  1. In a large bowl, crush the tomatoes with your hands (this is a messy but fun job—it’s a very good one for children) until they are in bite-size pieces.
  2. In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil, add the garlic, and cook, stirring, until it begins to sizzle, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and 1 tsp salt and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and let the sauce simmer, stirring every so often, until it is slightly reduced, about 30 minutes.
  3. Whisk the crème fraîche into the sauce and season to taste with salt. Set the sauce aside to cool to room temperature while you conquer the pasta.

For the Pasta (See note about using store-bought noodles)

  1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, eggs and salt and run the machine until a firm ball of dough forms around the blade, cleans the side of the processor bowl, and doesn’t stick to your fingers when you touch it. If the dough is too dry, add a little water, 1 tsp at a time, until the dough comes together. If, on the other hand, it’s sticky when you touch it, add a little flour, 1 tsp at a time, until the dough comes together. (The exact amount of moisture in the dough depends on how you measured your flour, how large your eggs are, even the humidity in the air.) Once your dough is good to go, dust it lightly with flour and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. Let it rest at room temperature for 1 hour.
  2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and have more parchment paper at hand.
  3. Cut the rested dough into six pieces. Working with one piece at a time (keep the rest covered with plastic), lightly dust the dough with flour and press it down with the heel of your hand. Run the dough through your pasta machine, starting on the widest setting and working your way through the narrower settings, rolling it through each setting twice, until it is very thin but not too thin. I usually stop at 6, but your machine might be different from mine, so I’ll just say that the final pasta should be the thickness of an envelope—which is to say thin, but not at all transparent. You don’t want it to disappear into the finished lasagna. If the dough sticks during the rolling, simply dust it with a little flour. Lay the rolled-out pasta on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat the process with the rest of the dough, keeping the rolled pieces separated with parchment paper.

For the Lasagna

  1. Preheat your oven to 400°F.
  2. Ladle a thin layer of room-temperature sauce onto the bottom of a 9-by-13-in baking dish. Spread the sauce with a spoon to cover the surface of the dish. Add a layer of pasta (brush off any excess flour), cutting the pasta and arranging it as needed to form an even single layer. Spoon over just enough tomato sauce to cover the pasta and then scatter over some of the Parmesan, mozzarella, and basil. Repeat the layering process until you’ve used up all of your components, ending with sauce and cheese (not naked pasta or basil, both of which would burn if exposed).
  3. Bake the lasagna, uncovered, until it’s gorgeously browned and the edges are bubbling, 35 to 40 minutes. Let it rest at room temperature for 15 minutes, just like you would a steak, before slicing and serving. This lets the pasta fully absorb all of the bubbling sauce, so you don’t end up with soupy slices.
  4. Note: Feel free to skip the homemade pasta and use 12 store-bought no-boil lasagna noodles (that's what I did and it worked beautifully). Please keep in mind that there are usually more than 12 lasagna noodles in a package. Make sure just to use 12; if not the dish will be very dry. The time given for this recipe was calculated using the store-bought noodles. If you use no-boil lasagna noodles, after you've prepared the sauce, you can move on to the next step without waiting for the sauce to cool.
  5. Note: My only change to the recipe, other than using no-boil lasagna noodles was to sprinkle fresh basil over top before serving.

Pair with

Nutrition Information

Powered by Edamam

  • Per serving (8 servings)
  • Calories: 390
  • Fat: 20g
  • Saturated fat: 9g
  • Carbohydrates: 37g
  • Sugar: 7g
  • Fiber: 5g
  • Protein: 17g
  • Sodium: 711mg
  • Cholesterol: 41mg

This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.

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Comments

  • Hi! Can I sub Greek Yogurt for crème fraîche? Thanks!

    • — Melissa on January 11, 2024
    • Reply
    • I don’t recommend it — sorry!

      • — Jenn on January 11, 2024
      • Reply
  • Hi Jenn, unfortunately, I don’t happen to have crème fraiche or cream cheese on hand right now. I do, however, have mascarpone, would this work? Thank you, looking forward to trying this.

    • — Rose on January 11, 2024
    • Reply
    • Hi Rose, I think you can get away with using mascarpone here. Hope you enjoy!

      • — Jenn on January 11, 2024
      • Reply
  • Made this for a quiet NYE at home and my husband said it was the best lasagna he’s ever had! Quite the compliment…and it was so much easier to make than traditional recipes. Now planning to try this next Christmas Eve for the family!

    • — Leslie on January 1, 2024
    • Reply
  • Intentionally chose this lasagne because it looked easy and delicious enough to accompany a xmas steak dinner without having to spend hours. It did not disappoint! Only change was I doubled the garlic. Simple, easy, and yummy. This is a recipe I’ll definitely be saving for the future.

    • — SK on December 26, 2023
    • Reply
  • Hi Jenn,

    Can this lasagna be assembled the day before refrigerate it then bake the next day?

    Thanks

    Janelle

    Have a great thanksgiving and happy holidays

    • — Janelle on November 18, 2023
    • Reply
    • Hi Janelle, Happy Thanksgiving! I’ve never assembled this a day ahead but I think it will work. Hope you enjoy!

      • — Jenn on November 20, 2023
      • Reply
  • Loved this… simple like a Margherita pizza! We served as a side with prime ribeye’s on Fathers Day. Big hit.

    • — Renee on June 18, 2023
    • Reply
  • Do you think it would work to assemble the lasagna on Tuesday evening, refrigerate, and bake it on Wednesday evening?

    • — Jacquie Rohricht on March 5, 2023
    • Reply
    • Hi Jacquie, I’ve never assembled this a day ahead but I think it will work. Hope you enjoy! 🙂

      • — Jenn on March 6, 2023
      • Reply
  • I found some gluten free no boil noodles at Whole Foods and they worked great in this recipe! I’m so glad – I’ve been craving lasagna for quite a while!

    • — Christie on January 13, 2023
    • Reply
  • It looks like you’ve double up the pasta in your photo but I’m probably wrong. Would that work if I added a bit more sauce? I loved this recipe, especially since it’s made without the grainy texture of ricotta cheese. I think another 3 pieces of pasta would make it perfect.

    • — Kara on November 11, 2022
    • Reply
    • Glad you liked it! If you add more sauce, I think it should work. 🙂

      • — Jenn on November 12, 2022
      • Reply
  • Hi Jenn. I plan on making this this weekend & there is an Italian deli that makes homemade lasagna noodles. I was wondering about how many layers of lasagna this makes so that I can calculate how many sheets to buy. Can’t wait to make it. Sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing such great recipes! Btw my husband brags to everyone how great the recipes are that I cook from your site.

    • — Dana on October 31, 2022
    • Reply
    • Hi Dana, so glad you and your husband like the recipes! You’ll need 15 lasagna noodles. Hope you enjoy!

      • — Jenn on October 31, 2022
      • Reply
  • I love this recipe! It has been a huge hit with family and friends. Admittedly, I do add….a layer of cooked, chopped spinach & a layer of cooked mixed mushrooms, & extra cheese. I think a bit of hot Italian sausage in the sauce would bring it up another level…but I have yet to try it as typically I am making this when we have vegetarian guests.
    I’ve tried several of your recipes and will always check your website when looking for something specific. Thank you!

    • — Terry on October 20, 2022
    • Reply
  • An average lasagna, followed instructions precisely, but added mushrooms and grated carrots as another reviewer had suggested. This is a bland lasagna and my family was adding chili flakes and said, “Please don’t make this again”…but it was easy to make!

    • — Tara on October 14, 2022
    • Reply
  • QUESTION – I want to make this and freeze it (assembled, but not baked). Then thaw and bake later. Would this work?

    • — Sarah Estes on May 23, 2022
    • Reply
    • Sure, Sarah, that will work. Enjoy!

      • — Jenn on May 23, 2022
      • Reply
      • Hi Jen – I just made this (with a layer of sautéed spinach and mushrooms) and popped it in the freezer. Does it need to thaw before cooking? And if not is it still the same baking instructions? Thanks! I love your recipes!

        • — Donna on February 9, 2023
        • Reply
        • Hi Donna, I would thaw it overnight before cooking. Enjoy!

          • — Jenn on February 11, 2023
          • Reply
        • Hi Jen, do you think this will work with meat sauce?

          • — Julie on January 11, 2024
          • Reply
          • Hi Julie, If you’re open to sausage, I’d recommend this lasagna instead.

            • — Jenn on January 11, 2024
  • My husband doesn’t generally eat lasagna since he doesn’t like ricotta (weirdo). I made this recipe with meat in the sauce and he LOVED it! I’ve never made a recipe from this site or either cookbook that hasn’t been delicious and easy to pull off. Thanks for another winner!

    • — Kelly Mc on May 19, 2022
    • Reply
  • ❤️ An easy and delicious lasagna to throw together. Couldn’t find no-boil noodles and didn’t feel up to making my own, so used regular lasagna noodles and it still turned out great.

    • — Joseph on April 24, 2022
    • Reply
  • Hi Jenn!
    Are there any substitutions for the Crème Fraiche? I’ve been to Whole Foods and Giant but they didn’t have any? I could try Balduccis but wondered if there were any other options?! I’ve made this dish before and love it as I do all your recipes !
    Thank you,
    Marny

    • Hi Marny, Sour cream would be a great substitute. Enjoy!

    • I made the Crème Fraiche using this recipe–super easy and so good!:
      https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/creme-fraiche-106036

      Love this recipe–it was a hit at our Sunday dinner! Thanks so much for posting.

    • Trader Joe’s always has Creme fraiche if you have one in your area

      • — Carol on December 12, 2023
      • Reply
  • Hi Jen,
    Love your recipes and new cookbook! This is one of my favorite recipes on your site. I wanted to make it tonight, but with just my husband and myself, this would be a lot of lasagna. Can the leftovers be frozen? If not, I can 1/2 the recipe and use a smaller baking dish.
    Thanks!!!!

    • Hi Katy, So glad you like the recipes! 🙂
      I prefer to freeze lasagna unbaked as it holds up a little better, but it’s fine to freeze leftovers. Also, you can halve the recipe and make it in an 8 x 8-inch baking dish.

  • Question for those who have made this the night before and then cooked the day of serving: is it okay to use the store-bought no-boil lasagna noodles in this instance as well? Thanks for any thoughts and another great recipe, Jenn!

    • Yes, Diane, that’s fine. Enjoy!

  • My first time using readybake lasagna. Love the tomato sauce and the results. This was beautiful and now a family favorite. Sour cream works same as creme frache. The fresh basil is a must. thank you so much. this is a nice lasagna.

  • This lasagna is awesome! For such simple ingredients, it tastes absolutely beautiful. I only get 2 layers of noodles with 12 of the no-boil squares, and I usually at least double the amount of mozzarella called for. One of my favorites!

  • First time I made this, I made the mistake of not reading the whole recipe and ran out of sauce after only 3 layers of pasta. I paced myself better the second time and was able to get 4 layers in and it was perfect! I did add meat but only added it to the sauce after I got a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of the pan. I love the addition of creme fraiche. And only modification was that I ended up using a little more mozarella and parmesan than was called for. Family had seconds (including the pickier members!). I checked our Julia’s book after you introduced us to her and her book is great! Thank you!

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