I stole this from here but made some alterations to suit little tummies.
1 (26-ounce) jar pasta sauce
Cooking spray
1 (15-ounce) carton part-skim ricotta cheese
1 - 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 no-boil lasagna noodles
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Parmesan cheese
Preparation
Preheat oven to 450°.
Spread 1/2 cup pasta sauce in bottom of an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Combine ricotta, Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper, and salt. Arrange 2 noodles over sauce; top with 1 cup ricotta mixture and 3/4 cup sauce. Repeat layers, ending with noodles. Spread remaining sauce over noodles. Cover and bake at 450° for 25 minutes or until noodles are tender and sauce is bubbly. Uncover lasagna, and top with Parmesan. Bake lasagna an additional 5 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes. It feeds 4-6.
Showing posts with label Italian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Italian. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Anguish-free Lasagne
I love lasagne. DOB loves lasagne. I hate making lasagne, as no matter how laboriously I stack the ingredients, it makes a goopy mess. But I promised DOB lasagne this week, a promise I was regretting yesterday evening when I looked at the recipe and realized it expected me to have three hours waiting between me and dinner time, which even if I had had there were lots of other things to do with them than wrestle with lasagne noodles.
Then it occurred to me that DOB was neither a chef nor an artist, and had never been known to complain about presentation of food. It also struck me that I had read somewhere a concept for making an unlayered sort of lasagne. So I did, as follows:
Brown 1 lb. hamburger, 1/2 medium onion, chopped, 1 clove garlic. Toss in crockpot with a medium can of tomato sauce and a large can of chunky tomatoes, a teaspoon or so of oregano and all the basil that was left in the jar (maybe 1/2 teaspoon? I would have added more if I'd had it.) Add 8 oz. lasagne noodles, broken into 2 inch lengths. Cook on high for about two hours, stirring occasionally, until noodles are cooked.
Add 2 cups cottage cheese and one cup mozarella, stir well, and cook another 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is nice and stringy.
It was a goopy pile, but not much more so than when I generally try to make lasagne. I bet you could also do it even quicker in a pot on the stove by cooking the noodles separately, it would just require more attention and stirring. DOB actually liked it better, because he doesn't like the crunchy spots that form on regular lasagne, or cleaning a regular lasagne pan. I'll still stack the layers for company, but for family meals this one is a keeper.
Then it occurred to me that DOB was neither a chef nor an artist, and had never been known to complain about presentation of food. It also struck me that I had read somewhere a concept for making an unlayered sort of lasagne. So I did, as follows:
Brown 1 lb. hamburger, 1/2 medium onion, chopped, 1 clove garlic. Toss in crockpot with a medium can of tomato sauce and a large can of chunky tomatoes, a teaspoon or so of oregano and all the basil that was left in the jar (maybe 1/2 teaspoon? I would have added more if I'd had it.) Add 8 oz. lasagne noodles, broken into 2 inch lengths. Cook on high for about two hours, stirring occasionally, until noodles are cooked.
Add 2 cups cottage cheese and one cup mozarella, stir well, and cook another 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is nice and stringy.
It was a goopy pile, but not much more so than when I generally try to make lasagne. I bet you could also do it even quicker in a pot on the stove by cooking the noodles separately, it would just require more attention and stirring. DOB actually liked it better, because he doesn't like the crunchy spots that form on regular lasagne, or cleaning a regular lasagne pan. I'll still stack the layers for company, but for family meals this one is a keeper.
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