Simple Lasagna
I haven't made lasagna in years, but have been craving it recently so I picked up a box of the no-boil noodles. I didn't follow a recipe, only the instructions on the back of the box for how to make sure the noodles cook properly.
I made a very simple, basic, meat and cheese lasagna. Below is my recipe.
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs of ground beef
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian herb mix
- 2 tablespoons dried parsley, separated
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 medium onion, chopped
- 1 24 oz jar of your favorite tomato sauce
- 1/2 c water
- 20 oz ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 4 oz shredded mozzarella
- salt and pepper
- 6 oz fresh mozzarella
- Handful of shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1 box of no-boil lasagna noodles (12 noodles)
Directions
- Heat a large saute pan over medium high heat
- Add your beef and brown for a few minutes while separating the meat into small pieces
- Add onions and garlic, let cook another few minutes, stirring continuously
- Add the oregano, Italian herbs, and 1T of the dried parsley
- Once the meat is completely cooked, add the jar of sauce. Pour the water into the empty jar, close it an shake it up, an pour that into the pan as well. Let simmer just a few minutes.
- Mix the ricotta with the egg, salt, pepper, remaining parsley, and the shredded mozzarella.
- Start to assemble the lasagna - start with a very thin layer of sauce at the bottom of a greased pan, top with 3 noodles laid crosswise (make sure they aren't touching - they will expand when they cook), then some of the ricotta mixture, meat, a few pieces of the fresh mozzarella. Repeat - noodles, ricotta, meat, fresh mozzarella; noodles, ricotta, meat, fresh mozzarella; last 3 noodles, rest of the ricotta, meat, fresh mozzarella, then the Parmesan.
- Bake on 350 - covered for 45 minutes, uncovered for 15 minutes. Let rest 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
Perfect! Like I said, I have never used those no-boil noodles, but was pretty happy with how they worked. And wow, so much easier than boiling noodles and trying to get them out of the water and into a pan without breaking them or dropping them. This lasagna hit the spot!
