Busy Day Lasagna Food

BUSY MOM LASAGNA

Steps:

• Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir beef and onion in the hot skillet until beef browns and onion softens, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain and discard grease.
• Add spaghetti sauce, cream cheese, and sour cream to the skillet. Mix well.
• Spray a 5-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Layer noodles, beef mixture, and cheeses in the slow cooker. Repeat layers as necessary until cooker is full.
• Cover and cook on High for 2 hours. Switch to Low and cook until noodles are soft and cheeses are melted, about 2 hours more.

BUSY DAY LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13 X 9 dish (which is a 3 quart dish)
• Cook pasta in boiling water 8 - 10 minutes, drain.
• Cook ground beef until brown, drain fat.
• Add ground beef to the cooked pasta and spaghetti sauce; mix well.
• Pour 1/2 of the pasta/beef mixture into greased dish. On top of this, spread the cottage cheese in an even layer; sprinkle with 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese.
• Place remaining pasta mixture over cheese, top with remaining mozzarella cheese. cover and bake in oven for 25-35 minutes. You may want to uncover for the last 10 minutes. Cheese should be melted. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting/serving.

CLASSIC LASAGNA

Steps:

• Make the sauce: Heat oil in a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Add sausage, if using, and cook, stirring occasionally, until it's starting to brown but not yet crisp, about 5 minutes.
• Add onion and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is totally softened and translucent (without letting it brown), 8 to 10 minutes. Add tomato paste and continue to cook, stirring until the tomato paste has turned a deeper brick red color, tinting the oil and onions a fiery orange color, about 2 minutes.
• Using your hands, crush the whole tomatoes into smaller, bite-size pieces and add them and the crushed tomatoes, stirring to scrape up any bits from the bottom of the pot. Fill one of the tomato cans halfway with water and add it to the pot. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomato sauce has thickened and flavors have come together, 20 to 30 minutes.
• Make the lasagna: Heat oven to 375 degrees and set a large pot of salted water to boil.
• Set aside 1 cup mozzarella. In a medium bowl, combine remaining mozzarella, ricotta, 1 cup Parmesan and cream; season with salt and pepper and set aside.
• Cook lasagna noodles in the large pot of salted boiling water until just softened (before they are even aldente), about 4 minutes. Drain and separate any noodles that are trying to stick together, slicking them with a bit of olive oil to prevent them from sticking further.
• Spoon a bit of sauce on the bottom of a 3-quart baking dish and top with a layer of noodles, avoiding any heavy overlap.
• Top with about 1 ¼ cups of sauce, and dollop ¼ of the cheese mixture over. Top with another layer of noodles and repeat three more times, ending with the last of the noodles (depending on size of the noodle/shape of the baking dish, you may have a few extra noodles) and the last of the sauce. Top with reserved 1 cup mozzarella and more Parmesan, if you like.
• Cover loosely with aluminum foil and place baking dish on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet (to prevent any overflow from burning on the bottom of your oven).
• Bake until pasta is completely tender and cooked through and sauce is bubbling up around the edges, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove foil and increase temperature to 450 degrees. Continue to bake until lasagna is golden brown on top with frilly, crispy edges and corners, another 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool slightly before eating.

LAZY LASAGNA CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Cook the pasta one minute shy of the package directions. Drain well and set aside.
• Meanwhile, in a large, deep skillet or Dutch oven, cook beef, onion, and ½ teaspoon garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Drain the grease and return the pan to the heat. Sprinkle with Italian Seasoning, salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring, for a minute or two. Add the marinara and water and let it simmer for a couple of minutes until warmed through. Stir in the cooked pasta, remove from the heat and set aside.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 13- x 9-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
• Add ricotta and egg to a large mixing bowl and stir until smooth. Add half of the shredded mozzarella, remaining garlic, half of the Parmesan cheese, parsley and remaining pepper.
• Add half of the beef/pasta mixture to the prepared baking dish. Spoon dollops of the ricotta mixture evenly over the top. Top with remaining beef/pasta mixture, spreading it out with the back of a spoon to cover the creamy layer.
• Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Bake, uncovered, 5 to 10 minutes longer or until bubbly and cheese is melted. Garnish with fresh basil and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

LAZY-DAY OVERNIGHT LASAGNA

Steps:

• Brown ground beef in a large skillet; drain well.
• Add spaghetti sauce and water and blend well; simmer 5 minutes.
• In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, chives, oregano and egg and mix well.
• In bottom of ungreased 13x9 baking dish or lasagna pan, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce.
• Top with half of the noodles, half of the ricotta cheese mixture and half of the mozzarella.
• Repeat with remaining noodles, ricotta cheese mixture and mozzarella.
• Top with remaining meat sauce.
• Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
• Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Uncover baking dish and bake for 50-60 minutes or until noodles are tender and casserole is bubbly.
• Cover: let stand for 15 minutes before serving.

LAZY-DAY LASAGNA

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 350°. Put the ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning in the bowl. Stir with the spoon until mixed.
• Spoon 1 cup of the spaghetti sauce evenly over bottom of the baking dish. Top with 4 of the uncooked lasagna noodles.
• Spread 1 cup of the ricotta cheese mixture over noodles, using the back of the spoon. Sprinkle with 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese.
• Spread 1 cup of the spaghetti sauce over mozzarella cheese. Make more layers with 4 lasagna noodles, the rest of the ricotta cheese mixture and 1 cup spaghetti sauce. (Be sure the spaghetti sauce completely covers the noodles.) Sprinkle with the rest of the mozzarella cheese.
• Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until lasagna is hot in center and cheese is melted. Use the pot holders to take pan out of oven it will be very hot and heavy. Let lasagna cool for 15 minutes. Cut into 4 rows by 2 rows, using the knife.