A Nice Cheese Lasagna
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From cookbook author Julia Turshen, this cheese lasagna is light, simple, and elegant—a fresh take on a classic that’s as effortless as it is delicious!
This cheese lasagna recipe is adapted from Julia Turshen’s cookbook, Small Victories (2016), and it’s one of the simplest, lightest, and most elegant lasagna I’ve ever made. The recipe includes a few “small victories” that make it both easy and delicious: using no-boil noodles that are ready to use, replacing ricotta or béchamel with crème fraîche stirred directly into the tomato sauce for effortless creaminess (I love this cheat—the sauce is so good it’s hard to resist sneaking spoonfuls!), and a high sauce-to-pasta ratio that lets the noodles soak up the sauce’s flavor as they bake. It’s proof that lasagna doesn’t have to be complicated to be absolutely delicious.
“This is a lovely lasagna.”
What You’ll Need To Make Cheese Lasagna
Step-by-Step Instructions
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.
In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, cook the garlic until it begins to sizzle.
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.
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.
Preheat your oven to 400°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. 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 3 sheets of pasta in a single layer over the sauce.
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).
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 before slicing and serving. This lets the pasta fully absorb all of the bubbling sauce, so you don’t end up with soupy slices.
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A Nice Cheese Lasagna
Ingredients
For the Sauce
- 2 (28-oz) cans whole peeled tomatoes
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves thinly sliced
- Kosher salt
- 1 cup crème fraîche
For Assembling
- 12 no-boil lasagna noodles (I like Barilla)
- 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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Lasagna
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C) and set an oven rack in the middle position.
- Ladle a thin layer of room-temperature sauce onto the bottom of a 9 x 13-in (23 x 33-cm) baking dish. Spread the sauce with a spoon to cover the surface of the dish. Add 3 sheets of pasta in a single layer over the sauce. 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).
- 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 before slicing and serving. This lets the pasta fully absorb all of the bubbling sauce, so you don’t end up with soupy slices.
Nutrition Information
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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Yum! I made this, using the oven ready lasagna and the extra mozzarella. I also added a layer of fresh spinach, and 1 lb. ground meat seasoned with salt, pepper, Italian seasonings and fennel seed. I’m not sure how much “2 large handfuls” of basil is. I used 3 (2/3 oz.) packages of basil, and it turned out great. This is definitely a keeper!
This was very good; thanks for sharing the recipe. I made three pans of it for friends who had just lost their husband/dad. Wanted a recipe that was easy but delicious and would be easy to feed an unknown number of gathering family. The son and daughter-in-law are also both professional chefs – so yes, it needed to be good. I made my own creme fraiche as the store bought was crazily expensive. That was easy.. Added Italian sausage to the sauce and layered whole baby spinach leaves and raw grated carrots between each layer. I also used more cheese – probably over 2 cups of mozzarella /pan. Took almost an hour to bake since it was cooled before time and each was a pretty big pan with the veggies in there. The chefs’ text back to me? “Amazing!” So thanks again for sharing this!
Dear Jenn, the lasagna – amazing! This review is LONG overdue. You have changed my life in the kitchen over the past year. You are a household name here, my family knows when something is delicious its your recipe. You have taken the guess work out of if dinner is going to turn out or not – if its your recipe I know its going to turn out perfectly. Your website, notes, how you personally answer questions, “pair with”, all of it, A+, you are very talented. As a busy mom of 3, I thank you for making life a little easier with wonderful food.
So glad you enjoyed the lasagna and the recipes in general, thanks for the kind words!
Am eating a slice right now! Delicious! Tastes “elegant” which I’ve never said about lasagne! I did add 6 ounces of spinach and some Italian sausage to one layer because I had it on hand. Will definitely make again…..I’m so enjoying each bite!
Can you assemble a day in advance and cook the following day? I like to have everything ready when I have guests for dinner. Absolutely love this lasagna, my husband does not like lasagna but requested this for our guests. Thank you for all of your great recipes.
Yes Betty, I think that will work. Glad you enjoy the recipes!
Hello,
Recently discovered your site & couldn’t love it more; your recipes seamlessly blend the needs of a “foodie” sensibility with the realities of being a busy mom who doesn’t have time to spend all day in the kitchen (sigh)… also, I love how you often devise recipes for parents who are adventurous eaters, who happen to have children who aren’t necessarily that way (yet!) 🙂
Onto my question: I was thinking of making this for Passover (we’re not concerned about dairy at the table 🙂 ) – it looks perfect because my kids, like yours, are not big ricotta fans… do you think matzoh would work in place of the noodles, or will it be too dry? I’m also (half-)pondering how I might work spinach into it (“half” because the spinach would certainly be the dealbreaker w/ the kids anyway) – most spinach lasagna recipes have you mix the spinach into the ricotta – is there any way to do it here without the ricotta?
Thank you!!!
Rosa
Hi Rosa, so glad you’re enjoying the recipes! Yes, I think you could add spinach to this. I would just add it as a layer. Regarding the matzo, I really don’t know- I suspect it would get really mushy (so do it at your own risk :). If do you try it, I’d love to hear how it turns out!
I make a matzoh lasagna at Passover, always. though I do use an arugula pesto and ricotta layer. It works perfectly. Dampen the matzoh and cover with paper towel. In a lightly greased baking dish put a layer of sauce, then the matzoh so it’s snug, ricotta layer, cheese then matzoh again, sauce and cheese, then matzoh, ricotta mixture, cheese. Can send full recipe.
I made this last night. It was wonderful . The sauce is lovely . I will add a bit more mozzarella next time but thank you again for a wonderful recipe.
Can I substitute homemade yogurt for the creme fraiche?
Hi Pam, I’ve never tried this with yogurt so I can’t say for sure. If you try it that way, I’d love to hear how it turns out!
A+ recipe. This lasagna is so delicious that I actually brushed my teeth right after dinner in order to prevent me from “sampling” it continuously!
I pureed the sauce with a hand blender because I was afraid one of my sons and/or his friend would dislike tomato chunks in it. Since I didn’t have fresh basil, I used dried; and I also used no-boil noodles. I will definitely be making this again!
Thanks for the hand blender idea. It made it much easier.
This was so scrumptious! Over the course of 3 days, I nearly ate the whole pan myself. I believe my son got one piece, but unfortunately for him, he was a little slow.