Lasagna

[elm2003]

I am having the in-laws over for dinner tomorrow night and I am making lasagna. I am womdering if I put the lasagna together today would it be ok until tomorrow. My husband seems to think the noodles might get soggy. Any advice?

[mudbug]

Bienvenu, elm2003. I would go ahead and bake it today and reheat gently (and covered, so the top doesn't dry out) when the company arrives.

[elm2003]

Thanks for the advice. It wont dry out if I bake ahead and reheat?

[SizzlininIN]

I'm not sure if it would or not but couldn't she put a pan with water in the oven along with it to cause like a steam effect to prevent it from drying out?

[elm2003]

Put the water when I bake it or reheat it?

[mudbug]

I would only use the water, if at all, when reheating. I think another key to prevent dryness is to be sure to use plenty of sauce, whether you bake it today or wait until tomorrow. I see no harm in waiting, but if you do, wrap tightly with foil.

[PA Baker]

Be sure to not cook the pasta to complete doneness (is that a word?) either. This will help prevent it from getting too mushy. I always stop cooking it when there is still a good amount of bite in it. Also when you drain it, rinse it with cold water to stop the cooking process. Actually, I've made it the day before, refrigerated it, and waited to bake it the next day for dinner w/o it drying out.

[SizzlininIN]

I thought you could put a dish of water in the oven when you reheat it. I thought it might create a steam effect in the oven. Not sure there's never any leftovers when I make it

Another alternative is to not bake it the day before but to get all the ingredients ready for quick assembly:

Well aren't there lasagna noodles now that you don't have to cook first?

Is there anyway you can just have your meat/sauce mixture made up in advance and put it in a sealed container.....then just put it in the microwave the next day to warm it up before adding it to the dish.

This way it shouldn't be too bad to assemble and put it in the oven before they come.

If your going to grate your cheeses fresh you could do that and put them in a sealed container or save yourself the grief and by those bags of shredded cheese. I like the Italian Blend by Kraft.

[elm2003]

I actually did fry up the meat and combined it with the sauce (2 jars) yesterday and put it in the fridge. The problem is that we have a funeral to go to tomorrow and I was thinking I could make it up ahead and put it in the fridge so that all I had to do would be to bake it since I dont know how much time I will have. Plus, last time we had them over I was still cooking when they got there. By the way, I have tried no-boil noodles and it turns out much more moist when you boil them.

[PA Baker]

I agree with your boil/no boil observation. It's just my opinion, but I'd make up the dish today, cover it with foil and stick it in the fridge, and bake it tomorrow. Plan on it taking an hour, give or take a bit.