Instructions: Heat oil over medium heat, add onions and cook, stirring until onions are clear (3 to 4 minutes). Add minced garlic, stir a few minutes. Add crushed tomatoes and sauce; bring to a boil, turn heat down to low so sauce barely simmers. Add oregano, rosemary, black pepper, thyme, crushed red peppers, sugar and salt. In a large frying pan brown ground beef, stirring to break up lumps. Drain off fat. Add to sauce. Simmer sauce uncovered for 1 to 2 hours. For the last ten minutes of simmering, add basil. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to a pan of boiling water and cook lasagna noodles as package directs. Drain noodles into a bowl and set by lasagna pan. Brush a 9x13 baking dish with a little olive oil. Preheat oven to 325 degrees if using a glass dish (which we recommend).

If using a metal pan, preheat over to 350 degrees. Lay down a layer of noodles, covering the bottom of the dish. Add enough sauce to cover the noodles. You want about 1/4 inch of sauce and it should go all the way to the edge of the pan. Dot sauce with ricotta cheese. It helps if you stir up the cheese in the container and dab it out with a tablespoon. It doesnt have to cover the sauce in a smooth layer. Use half the ricotta cheese for the first layer of noodles and half for the second. For the final, third layer of noodles, cover with tomato sauce and top with shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake for about an hour, until cheese is browned. Let stand about 10 minutes before cutting and serving. Lasagna can be assembled the night before cooking. Add about 15 minutes to the cooking time if the lasagna goes from the refrigerator into the oven.

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