Lasagna
This is the quick method. I use my own sauce that I make, but you can use whatever premade variety you like.
---
1 box of lasagna noodles (uncooked)
1 12 oz bag of chedder cheese
1 12 oz bag of mozzarella cheese (if you like, you can use the Italian mix that Kraft has instead, it has mozzarella, provolone and romano)
1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce
Grated parmesan cheese (just get the stuff in the shaker bottle, it works great)
Heat your oven to 350 degrees. While that's heating, you can build the lasagna in a 13x9 sheet pan. You might want to heat your pasta sauce to make it easier to spread, depends on what kind you use. It also helps to pour it into something you can get a big spoon into. Start with a thin layer of sauce at the bottom of the pan, and layer the uncooked noodles on top of it. Yes, uncooked. I started doing it that way with a box that said not to cook them, and have since found it works just as well if it doesn't say that on the box. It's much MUCH eaiser than precooking them, but you can still do that if you want to. You know, if you like making things complicated. *ahem* Anyhoo, you can probally get 3-4 noodles on the bottom, just cover at best you can without putting noodles on top of each other. Now, layer a healthy dose of pasta sauce. You don't want a huge amount, but enough to cover the noodles so you can barely see them in places is good. Next, sprinkle on a good dose of all the cheeses. I should note here that you can use whatever cheeses you like, these are ones that I like. I don't like ricotta cheese, which is what a lot of recipes call for (or cottage cheese, which some call for instead). Anyhoo, about a handful of each is good, make sure to distribute it evenly. Now, put another layer of noodles, sauce and cheese. Repeat until you've filled the pan. Make sure your last layer on top is the cheese layer! Once you're done layering, cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. After that time, remove the foil and bake for another 15-20 minutes. LET IT SIT FOR AT LEAST 10 MINUTES after baking! This way, it sets up and won't completly fall apart when you cut into it. A good lasagna should have visable structure, but the noodles will be soft enough to just slice your fork into for a good mouthfull. Serve with your favorite hot bread and salad.
SMALLER SIZE!
Sometimes, I'll just want enough for me and since I don't like leftovers, baking a huge pan doesn't really work for me. So, I'll use a small loaf pan, like you would make meatloaf in. It's just big enough to fit one noodle, and I just size down the amounts of cheese and pasta. I also only cook for 30 minutes covered, then 15 uncovered to account for the smaller size.
3 Comments
Recommended Comments