Slow Cooker Vegetarian Lasagna With Weight Watchers Points Food

SLOW-COOKER LASAGNA

Steps:

• Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef, onion and garlic; cook, stirring frequently, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon as it cooks, about 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt, oregano, basil and red pepper flakes; simmer 5 minutes to allow flavors to blend.
• Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir together ricotta cheese and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese.
• Spoon 1/3 of beef mixture into a 5-quart slow cooker. Break 3 lasagna sheets in half and arrange over beef mixture; top with half of ricotta mixture. Repeat with another layer and finish with remaining 1/3 of beef mixture.
• Cover slow cooker and cook on low setting for 4 to 6 hours. Remove cover; turn off heat and season to taste, if desired.
• In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese; sprinkle over beef mixture. Cover and set aside until cheese melts and lasagna firms up, about 10 minutes.
• Serving size: 1/6 of lasagna

SLOW COOKER LASAGNA

Steps:

• Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef, onion and garlic; cook, stirring frequently, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon as it cooks, about 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt, oregano, basil and red pepper flakes; simmer 5 minutes to allow flavors to blend.
• Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir together ricotta cheese and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese.
• Spoon 1/3 of beef mixture into a 5-quart slow cooker. Break 3 lasagna sheets in half and arrange over beef mixture; top with half of ricotta mixture. Repeat with another layer and finish with remaining 1/3 of beef mixture.
• Cover slow cooker and cook on low setting for 4 to 6 hours. Remove cover; turn off heat and season to taste, if desired.
• In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese; sprinkle over beef mixture. Cover and set aside until cheese melts and lasagna firms up, about 10 minutes. Yields 1/6th of dish per serving.

SLOW COOKER VEGETARIAN LASAGNA

Steps:

• In medium bowl, combine marinara sauce and tomatoes with their juice.
• Spray 4.5-6 quart slow cooker bowl with nonstick cooking spray.
• Spoon 1 cup tomato-sauce mixture into bowl.
• Arrange 1/4 of noodles over sauce, overlapping noodles and breaking into large pieces to cover as much sauce as possible.
• Spoon about 3/4 cup sauce over noodles, then top with 1/2 cup ricotta, and 1/2 cup shredded cheese.
• Spread half of spinach over cheese.
• Repeat layering 2 more times beginning with noodles, but in middle layer, replace spinach with frozen crumbles. Place remaining noodles over spinach, then top with remaining sauce and shredded cheese.
• Cover slow cooker with lid and cook on low 2.5 to 3 hours or on high 1.5 to 1.75 hours, or until noodles are very tender.

SLOW COOKER VEGETARIAN LASAGNA WITH WEIGHT WATCHER'S POINTS

Steps:

• Combine egg, ricotta, spinach, mushrooms and zucchini in a large bowl.
• Combine crushed and diced tomatoes and their juice, garlic and crushed red pepper (if using) in a medium bowl.
• Generously coat a 6-quart or larger slow cooker with cooking spray. Spread 1 1/2 cups of the tomato mixture in the slow cooker. Arrange 5 noodles over the sauce, overlapping them slightly and breaking into pieces to cover as much of the sauce as possible. Spread half of the ricotta-vegetable mixture over the noodles and firmly pat down, then spoon on 1 1/2 cups sauce and sprinkle with 1 cup mozzarella. Repeat the layering one more time, starting with noodles. Top with a third layer of noodles. Evenly spread the remaining tomato sauce over the noodles. Set aside the remaining 1 cup mozzarella in the refrigerator.
• Put the lid on the slow cooker and cook on High for 2 hours or on Low for 4 hours. Turn off the slow cooker, sprinkle the reserved mozzarella on the lasagna, cover and let stand for 10 minutes to melt the cheese.

HEARTY VEGETABLE LASAGNA (WEIGHT WATCHERS)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400. Spray 8 inch square baking dish and 2 baking sheets with nonstick spray. I skipped this step and put my sauce in the bottom and didn't need anything to coat the bottom.
• Place eggplant and zucchini on prepared baking sheets, overlapping slices if necessary.
• Spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. I skipped the non-stick cooking spray and used olive oil. Bake until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes with their juice, mushrooms, bell pepper, basil, and remaining 1/8 teaspoon black pepper.
• Reduce heat and cook until sauce is bubbling but not thickened, about 10 minutes longer.
• Spread 1/2 cup of sauce in prepared baking dish. Cover with 1 lasagna noodle and top with 1/4 of eggplant and zucchini.
• Cover with 1/2 cup of sauce and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of mozzarella and 1 tablespoon of Parmesan. Repeat to make 4 more layers, ending with noodle topped with sauce. If any sauce remains, spoon over lasagna.
• Cover baking dish with foil and bake until bubbly, about 35 minutes. Uncover and bake until sauce is absorbed, about 10 minutes longer.
• Let stand about 5 minutes before serving.

WEIGHT WATCHERS EASY LASAGNAS (7 POINTS)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F Spray 2 (5 inch) square baking dishes or 2 (1.5 x 5.75 x 8 inch) foil pans with nonstick spray.
• Mix zucchini, spinach, and mushrooms on microwavable plate. Cover and microwave on high until vegetables are crisp-tender, 3-4 minutes, stirring once after 2 minutes. Drain; stir in 1/8 tsp of salt.
• Mix ricotta, 3 tbsp parmesan, oregano, red pepper flakes, and remaining 1/8 tsp salt in bowl. In each baking dish, layer, in order, 2 tbsp sauce, 1 half noodle, half of vegetables, 1 half noodle, half of ricotta mixture, 2 tbsp sauce, 1 half noodle, 1/4 cup sauce, and 1/2 tbsp parmesan. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until bubbling, 10-15 minutes.