Experience full-flavored Italian American comfort food with Chef Tom's Grilled Lasagna. Delight in the rich grilled Italian sausage & beef red sauce with San Marzano tomatoes, creamy three cheese spread with Italian herbs and spices, all layered with pasta. An unforgettable recipe!
WHAT YOU'LL LOVE
- Grilling the sausage links separately for char before dicing them into the sauce adds a layer of smoky flavor that simmering raw sausage in the pot alone wouldn't develop
- Reducing the white wine until nearly gone, scraping up the fond as it cooks, pulls all the browned bits left from the beef and vegetables directly into the sauce
- Setting aside a cup of the mozzarella-parmesan blend before mixing the rest into the ricotta spread means there's a dedicated topping layer, rather than digging cheese back out of the filling
- Baking the lasagna covered first, then uncovered for the second half, lets the layers set through steam before the top gets a chance to brown and the sauce bubbles at the edges
Grilled Lasagna
Tom Jackson
Rated 5.0 stars by 8 users
Category
Entree
Cuisine
Italian
Servings
12
Prep Time
1 hour
Cook Time
2 hours
Calories
503
Chef Tom brings home the Italian American comfort food classic with his Grilled Lasagna. This Grilled Lasagna features a grilled Italian sausage & beef red sauce with San Marzano tomatoes, a creamy three cheese spread with Italian herbs and spices, all layered with pasta and cooked to perfection on the Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill.
Ingredients
-
12 oz oven ready lasagna pasta sheets
- 1 lb hot Italian Sausage links
-
1 tbsp Colonial Chile Infused Oil
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 1/2 cups yellow onion, small dice
- 3/4 cup carrots, grated
-
2 tbsp Cattleman’s Grill Italiano Seasoning
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 4-6 cloves garlic, grated
- 2 Calabrian chiles, minced
- 1/2 cup white wine
-
1 (28 oz can) Ciao San Marzano Tomatoes
- 2 cups beef stock
- 1/2 cup half-and-half
- 1 lb mozzarella
- 4 oz parmesan
- 2 lb ricotta
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp fresh basil, minced
-
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
-
1 tbsp Cattleman’s Grill Italiano Seasoning
- 1/4 meat sauce
- Pasta
- 1/4 meat sauce
- 1/2 ricotta spread
- Pasta
- 1/4 meat sauce
- 1/2 ricotta spread
- Pasta
- 1/4 meat sauce
- 1 cup mozz/parm
For the meat sauce:
For the ricotta spread:
Lasagna Layer Breakdown:
Directions
- Preheat your Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill to 425°F, set up for direct grilling.
- Grill the sausage links over direct heat until you have nice grill marks on all sides. Remove from the grill. Cool and dice.
To make the meat sauce:
- Preheat a Lodge 6 Quart Enamel Dutch Oven over medium-high heat. Add the Colonial Chile Infused Oil, then the ground beef. Cook until browned, stirring occasionally.
- Reduce heat to medium. Add the onion, carrot and Cattleman’s Grill Italiano Seasoning. Cook until the onions begin to turn translucent.
- Add the tomato paste, garlic and Calabrian chiles. Cook for about one minute stirring frequently.
- Add the white wine and cook until nearly entirely reduced, scraping the bottom of the dutch oven with a wooden spoon to loosen the fond.
- Add the juice from the can of Ciao San Marzano Whole Peeled Italian Tomatoes. Crush the whole tomatoes by hand, then add them to the dutch oven as well. Pour in the beef stock, half-and-half and diced Italian sausage links.
- Bring the sauce to a simmer and allow to reduce and thicken for about 15 minutes. You should have about 8 cups of sauce when it is finished.
To make the ricotta spread:
- Combine the mozzarella and parmesan and toss to mix. Remove one cup of the cheese and set aside for later.
Combine the remaining mozzarella and parmesan with the ricotta, eggs, Cattleman’s Grill Italiano Seasoning, basic and extra virgin olive oil. Mix well with a spatula.
- Build the lasagna in a half sized disposable foil pan. Start by spreading 1/4 of the meat sauce in the bottom of the pan. Cover the sauce with sheets of oven ready lasagna, overlapping them slightly and covering the entire surface. Top the lasagna with another 1/4 of the meat sauce, followed by half of the ricotta spread. Spread the mixture out evenly. Repeat the process with another layer of pasta, 1/4 meat sauce, 1/2 (remaining) ricotta mixture. Again spread the mixture evenly. Top with one last layer of pasta, then the remaining meat sauce. Sprinkle the reserved mozzarella/parmesan mixture over the sauce.
The pan should be very full. Turn up the sides of the pan, if needed. Spray a foil lid with pan spray, then cover the pan.
- Cook the lasagna on the second shelf of the grill at 425°F for 45 minutes. Remove the lid and cook uncovered for another 45 minutes, or until the top of the Grilled Lasagna is browned and sauce is bubbling around the edges.
- Let the Grilled Lasagna cool for about 15 minutes before slicing to serve.
Recipe Note
Recipe FAQ
Why grill the Italian sausage links separately before dicing them into the meat sauce?
Charring them over direct heat first builds a smoky flavor into the sausage that simply simmering raw sausage in the sauce wouldn't develop, adding a layer of char before it's diced and folded in.
Why reduce the white wine until it's nearly gone before adding the tomatoes?
Cooking the wine down while scraping the bottom of the dutch oven picks up all the browned bits left behind from the beef, onions, and garlic, pulling that fond directly into the sauce rather than leaving it stuck to the pan.
Why set aside a cup of the mozzarella-parmesan blend before mixing the rest into the ricotta?
Reserving it upfront means there's a dedicated topping layer ready for the final assembly, rather than needing to portion cheese back out of the already-mixed ricotta spread.
Why bake the lasagna covered for the first half and uncovered for the second?
The covered stage lets the layers heat through and set using trapped steam. Removing the lid for the second half then gives the top a chance to brown and the sauce room to bubble up around the edges.
What internal temperature should the ground beef and sausage actually reach?
Neither the ground beef ("cook until browned") nor the grilled sausage gets a stated temperature check anywhere in this recipe. Both go on to simmer in the sauce for 15 minutes and then bake inside the lasagna for another 90 minutes, which should carry them well past 160°F — but it's worth confirming with a thermometer rather than relying on browning and bake time alone.
How indoor-friendly is this recipe?
5 out of 5 — a regular oven can bake this exactly the way the pellet grill does; the grill is only being used as an outdoor oven, aside from the initial sear on the sausage.
Recipe Highlights
Grilled sausage: Adds char and smoke before dicing into the sauce.
Fond-scraped wine reduction: Pulls browned flavor directly into the meat sauce.
Reserved cheese topping: Keeps a dedicated layer separate from the ricotta mix.
Covered-then-uncovered bake: Sets the layers before browning the top.
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Nutrition
Nutrition
- Nutrition Serving Size
- 14.51 oz
- per serving
- Calories
- 503
- Carbs
- 32 grams
- Protein
- 31 grams
- Fat
- 26 grams
- Sodium
- 700 milligrams
