I love to cook. BUT the one thing I dislike is extra steps in a recipe, when there are quicker & easier ways to actually create the food you want. Yes, I will take short cuts any time they ACTUALLY work. This gives me time to spend with my family, reading, or doing whatever else comes to mind.
Plus it makes it so much easier when I am in the mood to create our frozen dinners … and lasagna is always made then. Hey, when you are feeding 4 males … you have to stock up on quick meals for later!!!
Ingredients:
* ground beef (tonight’s dinner ~ 1 – 2 lb.; freezing ~ 5)
* egg (tonight’s dinner ~ 1; freezing ~ one for each pan you are creating)
* ricotta cheese (tonight’s dinner ~ 1 small container; freezing ~ about 1 for ever 2 pans)
* shredded cheese (tonight’s dinner ~ 1 small package (7 – 16 oz., depends on how much cheese you like to put on your lasagna); freezing ~ 2 32-oz. packages (more if you like LOTS of cheese))
* Pasta Sauce, flavor of your choice (tonight’s dinner ~ 2 24-oz. containers; freezing ~ 2 containers for each pan)
* lasagna noodles (tonight’s dinner ~ part of a box; freezing ~ about 1 box for ever 2 pans); UNCOOKED
* salt & pepper, to taste (I just shake a little into the the ricotta mix)
Items needed:
* baking pan (the dollar tree has foil pans (2 for $1; you can order online or go to the store)
* aluminum foil
* skillet, size depends on amount of ground beef you are cooking
* spatula
* 2 mixing bowl
* spreading spatula
* dark colored sharpie
* helper (if freezing; if desired)
Direction:
Prepare the area you plan on using. If you are freezing, make sure you have enough space to prepare two pans at time.
Cooked your ground beef. Using spatula, make sure the meat does not cook in huge clumps. Once fully cooked, drain. Place in a bowl, and add pasta sauce to it. Just enough to cover meat, stir together (using spreading spatula). (Rinse spreading spatula, you will need it for next step.)
Put ricotta cheese & egg in the second mixing bowl. Mix together, adding a bit of salt & pepper for flavor.
Place the pan/pans out, and put a small amount of pasta sauce on the bottom. Move pan around to cover bottom. Place uncooked lasagna noodles side by side to cover the bottom of the pan. Put ricotta mix on the noodles, using spreading spatula, cover the noodles. Place some ground beef over the top of this, using the same spatula, spread it over the ricotta cheese. Cover with shredded cheese. You can add a little bit of sauce, you want, and spread it across the cheese. Place another row of lasagna across the cheese, add the ricotta, meat & cheese. (I only make two layers. It’s plenty for one meal, plus it’s not going over board.)
Cover with foil, for either option, making sure to you crunch it around the edges of the foil pan. Or if you are using regular backing pan, just firmly along edges (but do not FREEZE in regular baking pan unless foil can completely seal the pan along the edges).
Tonight’s Dinner:
Preheat oven to 450F. Once heated, place your pan of lasagna in the center of the bottom rack. This allows you to cook butter bread or garlic bread to go with your meal, if desired.
Bake for about 45 – 60 minutes. I always take the foil off the pan after about 30 minutes to allow cheese to fully melt & get a little “brown” around the edges. (I don’t know why, but I just like my lasagna like that.)
You can test the noodles by cutting into the the middle of the top, this will let you know if the noodles are fully cooked. Once they are, cut in to sections & enjoy!!!
Frozen:
Write the name of items you are freezing & the date on top of each foil covered pan with a dark sharpie. You can do this before you place foil on the pan, but since I do several pans at a time, I just wait & label them all at the end.
Stack your pans together, making sure you don’t over stack a shelf, and place in to your freezer.
Note: after about 24 hrs., I move the lasagna to my deep freezer. This makes sure the lasagna is pretty soil, and if any thing gets put on them, it won’t crush them.
Cooking your Frozen Lasagna:
If you go straight from freezer to oven, you might have to cook a little longer. I try pull my frozen lasagna out about 30 – 60 minutes before I cook it. So, the baking time is a little different here.
Preheat oven to 450F. Once heated, place your pan of lasagna in the center of the bottom rack. This allows you to cook butter bread or garlic bread to go with your meal, if desired.
Bake for about 60- 90 minutes. I always take the foil off the pan after about 60 minutes to allow cheese to fully melt & get a little “brown” around the edges.
You can test the noodles by cutting into the the middle of the top, this will let you know if the noodles are fully cooked. Once they are, cut in to sections & enjoy.
MeMa's Corner of the World 