easiest lasagna
Options
happyfrogg
Posts: 86 Member
Hey folks,
When I was in college my roomie showed me how to make the easiest lasagna ever, and I thought I'd share it here. I even took pictures while I made it tonight!
You'll need:
lasagna noodles
1 container of ricotta cheese
1 bag pre-shredded mozzarella (or whatever blend) cheese (or shred your own if you're not a lazy punk like me)
1 jar of your choice of sauce, or make your own
ground meat of choice, if desired
extra veggies of choice, if desired
olive oil
Preheat your oven to 375F.
Decide what size lasagna you want to make. "Normal" size is in a 9" x 13" baking dish / casserole pan thing. I like to make a smaller version since it's just my husband and I and there's only so much lasagna one should eat in a week.
I use a 9" x 9" pan, like you use for brownies. Pour a little bit of olive oil in the bottom of the baking dish and spread it out with your (clean!) fingers or with a paper towel. Set aside.
Put a pot of water to boil on the stove. Cook the lasagna noodles according to the package directions. I boil the water then add the noodles and cook for about 10 minutes.
If you're making your own sauce, now's the time to do it. If you're adding veggies and/or meat to your jar sauce, now's the time to cut them up and sautée / brown stuff up. For this night's lasagna, I used a jar of homemade roasted tomato sauce I made and then froze a couple months ago. I poured a little olive oil in my skillet, browned some ground turkey, then added one small diced onion, half a green bell pepper (also diced) and two cloves of garlic smashed through my garlic press. When that was nice and cooked until the onions were translucent, I added the jar of sauce and let everything simmer for maybe 10 minutes. I've also made this dish with zucchini slices, spinach, etc. Three cheers for fresh veg.
However, you don't NEED to do any of that. You could just use the jar of sauce-- and you don't even need to heat that up first. Once the noodles are done cooking, drain them (you can give them a quick rinse with cold water so that they don't stick together so badly, or you can lay them out on paper towel on the counter, or you can toss a little olive oil on them so they don't stick, or you can let them stick and then wrestle with them and curse loudly). If you're using a small pan you'll have to cut the noodles so they fit-- see the pictures below. I can use two (cut) lasagna noodles per layer of lasagna in the small pan, or three noodles per layer in the big.
Now it's time for the ricotta layer. Just blob some on to each noodle with a spoon. I use probably 3 tablespoons of ricotta per noodle per layer, but you can adjust this to your taste. You can then kind of spread the ricotta out a little (it'll even itself out in the oven, for the most part). In the picture I've spread out two noodles but left the third as "blobs" to show you what I mean.
Next is a layer of sauce. Just spoon or pour it over the ricotta and noodles. Super duper easy if you use the jar stuff!
Finally, sprinkle on some shredded cheese (sometimes I also shake some parmesan on to this layer). Now just repeat that whole thing-- noodles, ricotta, sauce, cheese-- two or three more times! Tonight's lasagna is a three-layer affair but you could do four, if the mood or appetite strikes you.
There's a picture of the start of the next layer, so you can see how I use the cut noodles (cut into 1/3 and 2/3 length pieces).
If you're me, you'll get to the top layer and realize you miscounted your noodles and you're short one noodle. So then you have to boil a new pot of water and cook one. lousy. noodle. Sigh. When you're done constructing your masterpiece, slide it in to the oven and leave it there for about 25 minutes. (Lots of people cook lasagna for longer than that. But I was hungry and the cheese was browned and melty so I say "good enough.")
Voilà, lasagna! Serve with a salad and/or crusty bread and/or preferred wine, and enjoy. Nutritional info will obviously vary depending on what kind of noodles, sauce, add-ins, and cheeses you use. Tonight's came to about 350-370 cals per smallish serving.
When I was in college my roomie showed me how to make the easiest lasagna ever, and I thought I'd share it here. I even took pictures while I made it tonight!
You'll need:
lasagna noodles
1 container of ricotta cheese
1 bag pre-shredded mozzarella (or whatever blend) cheese (or shred your own if you're not a lazy punk like me)
1 jar of your choice of sauce, or make your own
ground meat of choice, if desired
extra veggies of choice, if desired
olive oil
Preheat your oven to 375F.
Decide what size lasagna you want to make. "Normal" size is in a 9" x 13" baking dish / casserole pan thing. I like to make a smaller version since it's just my husband and I and there's only so much lasagna one should eat in a week.
I use a 9" x 9" pan, like you use for brownies. Pour a little bit of olive oil in the bottom of the baking dish and spread it out with your (clean!) fingers or with a paper towel. Set aside.Put a pot of water to boil on the stove. Cook the lasagna noodles according to the package directions. I boil the water then add the noodles and cook for about 10 minutes.
If you're making your own sauce, now's the time to do it. If you're adding veggies and/or meat to your jar sauce, now's the time to cut them up and sautée / brown stuff up. For this night's lasagna, I used a jar of homemade roasted tomato sauce I made and then froze a couple months ago. I poured a little olive oil in my skillet, browned some ground turkey, then added one small diced onion, half a green bell pepper (also diced) and two cloves of garlic smashed through my garlic press. When that was nice and cooked until the onions were translucent, I added the jar of sauce and let everything simmer for maybe 10 minutes. I've also made this dish with zucchini slices, spinach, etc. Three cheers for fresh veg.
However, you don't NEED to do any of that. You could just use the jar of sauce-- and you don't even need to heat that up first. Once the noodles are done cooking, drain them (you can give them a quick rinse with cold water so that they don't stick together so badly, or you can lay them out on paper towel on the counter, or you can toss a little olive oil on them so they don't stick, or you can let them stick and then wrestle with them and curse loudly). If you're using a small pan you'll have to cut the noodles so they fit-- see the pictures below. I can use two (cut) lasagna noodles per layer of lasagna in the small pan, or three noodles per layer in the big.
Now it's time for the ricotta layer. Just blob some on to each noodle with a spoon. I use probably 3 tablespoons of ricotta per noodle per layer, but you can adjust this to your taste. You can then kind of spread the ricotta out a little (it'll even itself out in the oven, for the most part). In the picture I've spread out two noodles but left the third as "blobs" to show you what I mean.
Next is a layer of sauce. Just spoon or pour it over the ricotta and noodles. Super duper easy if you use the jar stuff!
Finally, sprinkle on some shredded cheese (sometimes I also shake some parmesan on to this layer). Now just repeat that whole thing-- noodles, ricotta, sauce, cheese-- two or three more times! Tonight's lasagna is a three-layer affair but you could do four, if the mood or appetite strikes you.
There's a picture of the start of the next layer, so you can see how I use the cut noodles (cut into 1/3 and 2/3 length pieces).
If you're me, you'll get to the top layer and realize you miscounted your noodles and you're short one noodle. So then you have to boil a new pot of water and cook one. lousy. noodle. Sigh. When you're done constructing your masterpiece, slide it in to the oven and leave it there for about 25 minutes. (Lots of people cook lasagna for longer than that. But I was hungry and the cheese was browned and melty so I say "good enough.")
Voilà, lasagna! Serve with a salad and/or crusty bread and/or preferred wine, and enjoy. Nutritional info will obviously vary depending on what kind of noodles, sauce, add-ins, and cheeses you use. Tonight's came to about 350-370 cals per smallish serving.
0