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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Superb! It is mild yet packs flavour. Thank you for sharing this recipe with us. Can’t wait for more.
I have had a pasta maker in an upper cabinet for a long time, and I pulled it down to make this. I do not doubt it is a nice dish with no-boil noodles, but the homemade noodles were wonderful and not that difficult. I added some sauteed mushrooms too. A very good lasagna!
This is so good. And, fairly, easy, as lasagne goes. I use the barilla oven ready noodles. My family loves it! It feels like a treat on a weeknight. Thanks for all of your recipes! I love making so much from your site.
I have made this twice. The second time I added sautéed mushrooms. It was so easy and delicious. You made me like lasagna. 🙂
Please keep the vegetarian meals coming.
Wife and I are split on this one. She’s not a fan of deep, rich tomato sauces, so she loved the brighter taste of this one.
Me…I could eat tomato paste out of the tube, so the fresher/lighter taste of this sauce didn’t do it for me.
Still a very good recipe, just not in line with my tastes. I liked that it’s easy to do, and that it’s a cheese lasagna without the ricotta or cottage cheese that’s so prevalent elsewhere.
This recipe is wonderful! So easy and tastes amazing. Before this, all the recipes I’ve seen were either too labor-intensive or too “store bought.” I added turkey and one layer sauteed power greens, and I only used about half the creme fraiche called for. Thanks so much for sharing this!!!
Can I divide this between (2) 8×8 pans (give 1 away and keep 1)? I would like to make this for a friend recovering from surgery, but 13×9 would be too much.
Definitely!
Delicious!
This is delicious and the Creme Fraiche gives it a rich flavour, without adding meat. I used dried no cook lasagna noodles. It is light tasting and I may not even make traditional one again. I have made it twice in the last two weeks, so easy and so delicious! I too could not stop stealing bites before serving.
Is there a particular brand of shredded whole milk mozzarella that you love…or are you freshly shredding your mozzarella?
Hi RK, I do shred the mozzarella and the brand I generally use is Galbani. Hope you enjoy!
Easy and delicious. Made it twice. Once with regular and once with gluten free pasta. Comments were ‘deliciously rich and authentic” and ‘can I get the recipe’ so this one is definitely a keeper. Thanks!
Joan S