ISO Lasagna for dummies

[oppose]

I've never made a lasgna and i was wondering if anyone had a easy to follow recipe even a 10 year old could understand lol. i like ground beef so can i put that in easily?

[Robo410]

yup. here goes

needed

1 lb ground beef
1 large jar marinara sauce (ragu, classico, prego...whatever is your fave)
1 15 oz can diced tomato
1 med onion chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 medium tub cottage cheese (regular not low fat)
1 pack or container grated parmesan cheese
1 bag of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 box Barilla no boil lasagna noodles
salt pepper Italian seasoning (optional hot sauce)
(also optional would be mushrooms and zucchini)
evoo (extra virgin olive oil)
1/4 cup dry white or red wine

Lasagna pan deep 9 x 13 pan
stew pan

in your stew pan (large sauce pot) over medium heat soften/brown onion and garlic in a little evoo (tbspn or so) . (If using other vegetables chop and add them as the onion softens.)

Set aside contents of pan in a bowl and add meet and brown...breaking up chunks with a spoon or spatula. Once it is cooked, add vegetables back in and add the marinara and the diced tomatoes.

add 1 tsp Italian seasoning, several grinds of pepper, a pinch of salt , a dash or two of hot sauce if using. stir and continue to heat slowly.

Add 1/4 cup of dry wine (white or red) if using . bring to a simmer, cover and reduce heat. you wan the barest simmer. Stir every few minutes.

pre heat oven to 350* center rack

prepare lasagna pan by wiping the inside with a little oil on a paper towel
get your cheeses ready (out and open)

spoon some of your meat sauce into the bottom of the pan
lay a single layer of lasagna noodles
more meat sauce on top
sprinkle with parmesan cheese and half a handful of mozzarella
add another layer of pasta sheats
more meat sauce
now spread on the cottage cheese
sprinkle on the parmesan
another layer of pasta sheats
more meat sauce
parm and moz cheese
You now know if you have room in your pan for more pasta? how much sauce is left? You need to cover all the sheats so they soften. How much cheese is left? All this will decide if you go for a 4th layer or just finish now with sauce and cheese

Cover pan with foil (grease the underside of the foil so it doesn't react to the tomato sauce)

bake in preheated oven 1 hr ... remove foil after 45 min and sprinkle on some more cheese if any is left

let stand covered again for 15 min before cutting and serving.

a final variation: you can add slices of pepperoni or other cooked sausage to any layer. You can add chopped squeezed dry spinach to the cottage cheese and mix it up before layering it.

another point: taste the sauce before layering...if it needs a touch more salt or Italian herbs, now is the time before you assemble.

enjoy!

[Barbara L]

This is the recipe my mom always used and now I do. It tastes so good you would never know how easy it is to make!

Barbara

Lasagna

Ingredients:

1 can (2 ½ cups) tomatoes (whole or diced)

1 8-oz. can tomato sauce

1 pound lean ground beef

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ cup chopped onion

2 Tablespoons dried parsley

1 ½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

9 lasagna noodles

¾ pound mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 pound cottage cheese (I usually use a whole large carton)

¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Brown beef. Add onion, garlic, parsley, salt, pepper, tomatoes, and tomato sauce. Cover and simmer 30 minutes.

Cook noodles, following directions on package. Drain and separate.

In 9x12 baking dish (glass or metal) arrange ½ of the sauce, then noodles, mozzarella, cottage cheese, and ¼ cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat, ending with remaining sauce and Parmesan cheese.

Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Serves 8

[urmaniac13]

Although they look impressive, lasagne is actually pretty easy to make, even for learning children.

I suggest using a fresh pasta sheet, or one of those prepackaged dry sheets which don't require precooking. (which means you can lay them down dry.)
Bolognese sauce is very much adjustable to your liking, but if the children have no/very little experience in cooking some of the quality premade sauces out of a jar can be used, just add it after browning some mince and chopped onions.
Grease and spread over some of the sauce at the bottom of the pan.
Spread over a layer of the pasta sheet to cover the entire surface, then sprinkle over either crumbled ricotta, chopped fresh mozzarella, or bechamele sauce, then bolognese sauce, repeat the layers until the pan is almost full, stopping at the bolognese on top. MAKE SURE ALL THE PASTA SHEETS ARE FULLY COVERED WITH SAUCE.

Bake in preheated oven for about 20 - 25 minutes at 180°C/350°F covered.
Remove the cover, sprinkle grated parmigiano over the entire surface, broil until the top is golden.

[jennyema]

Buy a box of Barilla No Boil Noodles and follow the recipe on the box.

It's fool proof and very good.

[auntieshelly]

Instead of cottage cheese, I use ricotta cheese. I like to add a package of frozen spinach that has been defrosted and well drained (twist in towel to remove excess water) to the ricotta along with two well beaten eggs, 1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg, black pepper to taste and lots of chopped fresh basil or parsley. I mix this together and use it to layer with the noodles, sauce, and other cheeses. Let us know how your lasagna turns out!

[Clienta]

I do the same thing as AuntieShelly minus the nutmeg.

But instead of a ground beef layer. I take Italian sausage out of its casings, cook up in a pan, remove sausage & leave drippings. I then add a bunch of sliced mushrooms to the drippings cook until done. Mix back in sausage & use this as my meat layer.

As for cheese I mix packaged (shredded) mozzarella with a little fresh mozzarella (let fresh sit on some paper towels to get some of the moisture out)before shredding & fresh grated parmesan.