What do you get when you combine meatballs, fresh pasta and loads of cheese? The best comfort food/one-dish-meal/entertaining dish to come out of the oven.
It's comfort week in The Kitchn and we're in love with the combination of meatballs, four cheeses, and fresh herbs to create a decadent lasagna complete with crispy edges and a gooey center. The combination of creamy ricotta, soft and mild fresh mozzarella and pleasantly sharp Pecorino Romano makes for velvety layers of cheese to hold the fresh pasta sheets in place. Meanwhile, shards of intensely flavored and full-bodied Piave are laid atop the lasagna before baking, creating a decorative - and tasty - top crust. Piave is a hard cheese from Italy, boasting strong flavors and an almost sweet, pineapple-like finish. If you can't find it, feel free to substitute with shards of Parmigiano-Reggiano.

serves 8
For the Meatball Sauce:
1 pound ground beef
3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup whole milk
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh parsley; finely chopped
1 egg
2 1/2 tablespoons Pecorino Romano cheese; finely grated
Salt
pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup red wine
2 1/2 cups tomato sauce
For the Lasagna:
1 pound fresh mozzarella; diced into bite-sized pieces
1 1/2 pound fresh ricotta cheese
1 cup Pecorino Romano cheese; grated
2 eggs
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh parsley; finely chopped
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh basil; finely chopped
Salt
Pepper
2 pounds fresh pasta
1/4 pound piave cheese; thinly sliced
Mix together the ground beef, panko, milk, parsley, egg and Pecorino Romano just to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Shape into one-inch balls, about 18 meatballs in total.
Add olive oil to a large skillet or cast iron pan and fry until brown on all sides; about 8-10 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel to drain. Meanwhile, deglaze the pan with red wine and stir in tomato sauce. Add the meatballs to the sauce/wine mixture to bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Cook meatballs, covered, over low heat for about 15 minutes, until cooked all the way through. Remove the sauce from the heat and gently break apart the meatballs. Set aside.
In a large bowl, stir together mozzarella, ricotta, Pecorino Romano, eggs, herbs, salt and pepper. Set aside.
Bring a large pot of water to boil. Season well with salt and cook pasta sheets for two minutes. Remove pasta and shock in ice water to stop cooking.
Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. In a 9x13 pan (or two 8x8) pans, spread a thin layer of tomato/meat sauce on the bottom of the pan. Spread 1/3 of the cheese mixture over top. Layer evenly with 1/3 the cooked pasta sheets and then spread with 1/3 the remaining tomato mixture. Repeat this two more times, reserving a bit of the cheese mixture to layer on top. Top with slices of piave cheese.
Bake 30 minutes covered with foil. Remove foil and bake 45 minutes more, or until the top is browned and bubbling around the edges.
Related: Gooey and Bubbly: 5 Exciting Lasagnas To Warm You Up!
(Images: Rebekah Peppler)
Elizabeth Apron fro...

My grandmother used to always have whole meatballs at the bottom of her lasagna. I'm not sure if that is how she was taught by her Italian best friend, but that way the people who didn't want meat just didn't grab any meatballs.
oh yummy. I may make this on Christmas Eve.
I made this recipe 2 nights ago. Instead of fresh pasta, I used no-boil noodles and let the assembled lasagna sit overnight before cooking. This lasagna was easily the best I'd ever had. Dicing rather than shredding the mozzarella really helped create a creamy, cheesy lasagna. I kept the meatballs in large pieces, cutting them only in half. I planned to substitute piave with parmesan, but I managed to find piave at the grocery. It was great.
Next time, I may try to fresh pasta, and test the difference.
I've got this in the oven right now... I'm hoping it turns out well. I substituted sliced zucchini (1/8" on the mandoline, salted, patted dry w/ towels) for one layer of the pasta-- so I only bought 1 lb of lasagna noodles (1 box). Even though I subbed zukes for one layer, it still seemed like just one box of the noodles would work for the recipe as written. I can't imagine using TWO boxes of lasagna noodles for one 9 x 13" pan. Maybe the proportions are off??? Just frustrating that I had to toss 1/2 a box of par-cooked noodles.
Even so, I think it will be delicious. Thanks for the recipe!