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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I loved everything about this recipe. I made it as family dinner on Sunday. My 4 year old daughter was all laughs as she squeezed the whole tomatoes. We love meat, so I used Italian sausage with spinach as part of the filling, my aupair from France suggested to flavor meat with Herbs de Provence. We paired with ceasar salad and your delicious rosemary foccacia bread. I loved all the family contributing, and the best part was enjoying it afterwards. Thanks again Jenn!
This was spectacular. Smooth and nice and delicious without being heavy. I added some mushrooms and spinach to the sauce – in retrospect it made the lasagne a little soupy so I would probably cook them separately from the sauce and drain them next time. I made the sauce over the weekend and then assembled the lasagne the night before with no boil noodles. Super easy to pop it in the oven when I got home from work and had a nice weekday evening meal for my family.
Elizabeth, I was reading through reviews to check if anyone made the sauce ahead of time. Thanks for sharing your success with doing exactly that!
This recipe is much better than “nice”. This was a wonderful change from our Thanksgiving turkey-fest (x2) and days of leftovers, and counting. We all really enjoyed this lasagna, and in my opinion, the fresh basil layered in-between and on top of it when it is done baking, is what makes this recipe five stars. The kids especially enjoyed that it was meat free. :p The amount of sauce called for is the perfect amount for three layers plus the top; but, I would have liked having extra on the side for when we finish this tomorrow night because I imagine the pasta will have absorbed the sauce by then. It’s not a big deal to make a second batch (and then freeze and use the rest for a crab ravioli recipe I have another time.) So my recommendation is to increase the sauce recipe by half for the left-over meal. Thanks, Jenn!
Jenn, I would like to try this, but I do not have creme fraiche. Would ricotta maybe mixed with sour cream work in its place?
Thanks,
Mary
I think you could get away with straight sour cream, Mary. Enjoy!
It’s also very easy and inexpensive to make creme fraiche. Google it to get a recipe. It’s just heavy cream, a bit of buttermilk and time. Delicious!
Thank you, this was super delicious. LOVED the sauce, how creative!!!! We added some ground sausage and spinach as well. Hubby prefers some meat in his lasagna and I had it in the house. I’d say “another keeper” but I have yet to find one that isn’t.
I added a sprig of rosemary to the simmering sauce and some fresh mushrooms. It was fantastic!! Perfect for my new vegetarian regime! Thanks ,Jenn, for another 5 star recipe !
PS I really liked using the creme fraiche instead of the ricotta …ricotta becomes mealy and this is so smooth and delicious!
This recipe is terrific! Loved it. Made it pretty much as written except added some leftover mushrooms that had been sauteed in butter and sherry to the sauce. Used the no-bake noodles as suggested. It turned out just great. Would certainly recommend this recipe. Time to retire the vegetarian lasagna recipe I used to make from Laurel’s Kitchen!
I mistakenly purchased a container of mascarpone cheese instead of crème fraiche to make this recipe. Is it OK to use?
Yes, Stan, I think that would work. LMK how it turns out!
Delicious. I kept waiting to hear, “where’s the meat?” But all I heard was, “this is good.” Thank you.
My new favorite lasagna. Sauce is delicious. Got the crème fraîche, no-boil noodles, cheeses, tomatoes and a basil plant at Trader Joe’s. Added a layer of hamburger, mushrooms and spinach. Next time will replace hamburger with loose sausage meat. Pairs well with arugula salad with shaved param, lemon and olive oil which is also on this site.