No Fuss Lasagna Food

FUSS-FREE LASAGNE

Steps:

• Make the meat sauce: heat the oil in a large saucepan and gently cook the onions for 10 mins until golden. Add the garlic, herbs and bay, then cook 2 mins more. Heat a large frying pan. Crumble in a quarter of the beef, cook until brown, then add to the onions. Continue to fry the beef in batches and add to the onions until all the meat is used up. Tip the tomatoes and ketchup in with the onions and beef. Rinse the cans out with the red wine, if you have some, or with a little water, then add to the pan. Season and bring to a simmer. Gently cook for 30 mins until thick and saucy, then set aside.
• Meanwhile, make the white sauce. Tip everything into a pan, season, then bring to a simmer, whisking continuously. Don't worry if it's lumpy - if you whisk enough the sauce will come together. Simmer for 5 mins, whisking, until smooth and thickened, then remove from the heat. If not using straight away, cover with cling film and set aside.
• Make sure you divide everything up so that you can make two lasagnes. Place a thin layer of meat sauce in an ovenproof baking dish, drizzle with a little white sauce and scatter with a little mozzarella. Cover with a layer of lasagne sheets, then top with more of both sauces, more mozzarella and more lasagne sheets. Repeat once more, then cover the top layer of lasagne in just white sauce. Finally scatter over some Parmesan. The lasagnes can now be chilled in the fridge for a day ready to be cooked, or frozen for up to 3 months - see tips, below.
• To cook, heat oven to 200C/180C fan/ gas 6. Cook for 35-40 mins until brown on the top and crisp around the edges. Leave to settle for 10 mins before cutting into squares and serving with a green salad and some garlic bread, if you like.

NO-FUSS LASAGNA

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Add tomato paste, water, spaghetti sauce mix, sugar, parsley, salt, garlic powder and pepper. Simmer, partially covered, for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally. , In a bowl, combine eggs with cottage cheese, half of the cheddar cheese and half of the mozzarella. Set aside. Spoon a third of the meat sauce into a 13x9-in. baking dish. Place half of the uncooked noodles over sauce. Top with a third of meat sauce and press down. Spoon cottage cheese mixture over all. Cover with remaining noodles and meat sauce. Cover and refrigerate overnight., Bake, covered, at 350° for 1 hour. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining cheddar and mozzarella cheeses. Bake an additional 15 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting. Freeze option: After assembling, sprinkle lasagna with remaining cheddar and mozzarella cheeses. Cover and freeze unbaked lasagna. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 350°. Bake lasagna as directed, increasing time as necessary to heat through and for a thermometer inserted in center to read 165°.

NO-FUSS LASAGNA

Steps:

• Coat the bottom of a large pot with olive oil and turn heat on medium to medium-high. Add onion and saute until beginning to turn translucent. Add salt and stir inches Add garlic, stir in and saute until fragrant and onions are totally translucent. Add basil, oregano, and pepper. Add shredded carrot, stir in and saute for about 30 seconds. Add can of crushed tomatoes and tomato paste. Stir in and let simmer for at least 20 minutes and tomato paste has dissolved into the sauce.
• Spread about 1/4 cup sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch casserole dish. Lay three sheets of lasagna noodles on top of sauce in dish. Drop a large spoonful of ricotta on each and spread with fingers until each sheet has a fairly even coating. Sprinkle mozzarella over ricotta, then add a little bit of sauce over each sheet. Layer three more lasagna sheets in same direction as the previous layer and gently press down. Repeat until you lay down a fifth layer of noodles.
• For the final layer top with remaining sauce and mozzarella then sprinkle with a little salt, basil, and parsley.
• Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees F for 50 minutes. If desired, take off foil and put back in oven for another 5 minutes to crisp the top of the lasagna.