Tasty Tuesday - Lasagna Anyone?

Welcome back to:

TASTY TUESDAY

We seem to have a lot of friends having babies lately. I wanted to take them a dinner, but most of my girlfriends have a lot of family helping them out the first couple weeks and weren’t in need at the time. So I decided to take them something they could stick in the freezer and cook at a later time.

I used to think lasagna was such a daunting meal, but I have a few tricks that helped me make up 4 x the lasagna in no time.

First I made up a big batch of sauce. Yes those are Prego jars in the background. I don’t make my sauce from scratch but I do add a little more to it to make it tasty. And I like the flavor of Prego the best.
Then I mixed up the yummy cheese layer. I put cottage cheese in my lasagna!
I bought my favorite NO BOILING REQUIRED lasagna and found some 8×8 disposable pans, perfect for when you are taking meals to people. I don’t want them to have to remember to return dishes.
Then begins the assembly. 1/2 cup of sauce on the bottom, pasta, 1 cup cheese mixture, 3/4 cup sauce, pasta, repeat!
For the top layer I just added a little more sauce and topped that with shredded mozzarella cheese.
I covered them with foil, wrote the directions on the top of the foil and snapped on the lid. Here they are. All ready to be delivered! Perfect for one of those days when you’re overwhelmed with kids and a new baby!
Here is my recipe for quick lasagna: (this is for one 13×9 size lasagna)

1 pound ground beef (or turkey)

1 jar of Prego

basil

oregano

garlic salt

pepper

sugar

No Boil lasagna noodles

8 oz cottage cheese

8 oz ricotta cheese

3 cups shredded mozzarella

* Brown your meat and drain the fat. Add Prego sauce and spices (I don’t usually measure, but I would say 1/2 tsp garlic salt & 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp of each of the others). Let it simmer for flavors to meld together. Let it set and cool as you mix together the cheeses.

* In a big bowl mix cottage cheese, ricotta cheese and 1 1/2 cups of mozzarella cheese in a large bowl.

* Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 13×9 baking dish.

* Start with a little sauce on the bottom, just so it covers the bottom of the pan. Add a layer of pasta, then 1 cup of cheese mixture, and 3/4 cup to 1 cup of sauce. Start again with a layer of pasta, cheese, sauce. When I get to the top, I finish it with some sauce and the remaining mozzarella.

* Bake covered with foil for 55-60 minutes. Uncover and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Because I froze mine, I bake them for an hour and a half to an hour and 45 minutes covered and then 10 minutes uncovered.

Hopefully this sounds easy enough that you will want to give it a try!

Here is where I’m linking up this week:

Mommy by day Crafter by night

A to Zebra Celebrations