Gina Rae Mitchell

 

 

 

A quick and easy lasagna recipe for your crazy, busy life.

This is my quick and easy lasagna recipe. If you lead a busy life and need a recipe that doesn’t require all day to make, this is the lasagna recipe for you. It’s homestyle comfort food at it’s best. It is also kid-tested and husband approved.

The only ingredient I use that requires cooking before assembly is the ground beef. To prevent the time needed for this step, I brown a large quantity of ground beef purchased when it’s on sale. Then I divide and freeze it in quart bags* to have for fast use in bbq, pizza, nachos, pasta dishes, chili, etc.

I recommend Hunt’s Premium Pasta sauce* because to my taste buds it seems to most resemble my own simmered all day sauce. If you have a favorite store-bought sauce, by all means use that. I love the Barilla no-cook lasagna sheets because they are thinner and always cook up tender. Again, only my opinion. I do seem to have a lot of those opinion things.

If you hate to wash dishes, use a disposable aluminum foil pan*. No need to grease it. I never store leftovers in anything aluminum. I keep a stack of these pans on hand for everything from baking, mixing large amounts of ingredients, catching the used oil during an oil change, or giving to the grandkids for the sandbox. They are so useful.

[box] How many times have you wanted to make lasagna but didn’t want to spend all day making it? Give this recipe a try.[/box]

1. Layer the ingredients listed below in the recipe.
2. Cover with foil.
3. Pop it in the oven for one hour.
4. Remove from oven and serve with a pre-packaged salad.
5. Dinner done!

Total time from assembling to table is just 1 hour & 10 minutes. Use that hour of baking time to help the kids with homework, do a couple quick chores, or unwind from your busy day while the lasagna bakes.

Do you find yourself in need of a quick dish for a pot-luck, unexpected dinner guests, a meal for someone in need, or you just don’t keep all these ingredients on hand? Make two pans at once. Cover and freeze one unbaked pan. There is comfort for me in knowing I have something available when I need it.

My husband likes his lasagna on the juicy side. Since the noodles absorb a lot of liquid overnight, when we reheat leftovers, he pours a little tomato juice* over the top.

Enjoy and let me know what you think.

 

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Gina Rae’s Quick and Easy Lasagna Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 – cans Hunt’s Premium Pasta Sauce (24 oz/680 gr each) I like Hunt’s roasted garlic & onion but garlic & herb works well too
• 1 – box Barilla Oven-Ready Lasagna
• Approximately 16 oz of Cottage cheese (You may use ricotta cheese but I never have that on hand so I use cottage cheese)
• 1 bag of thawed, cooked ground beef  (The amount is up to you. Use more or less to your preference)
• 1 – 16 oz bag of shredded mozzarella  (I use whichever brand is on sale)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375° 
• Use a 9×13 dish or pan. If you hate to wash dishes, use a disposable aluminum foil pan. No need to grease it. I do not store leftovers in the aluminum foil pan.
• Pour 1/3 of 1 can of pasta sauce in the bottom of the pan.
• Place 1 layer of noodle on top of the sauce. Break one up to fill in the spaces.
• Next add another 1/3 can of sauce
• Followed by 2 large dollops of cottage cheese and some of the ground beef. Swirl with a spoon back to cover the noodles. If you prefer meat-less, simply leave that out. If you dislike cottage cheese, replace it with ricotta or some of the mozzarella.
• Repeat the above layers: noodles – sauce – cottage cheese – ground beef. Swirling to make sure to cover the noodles.
• When you have run out of ingredients, top the dish with the shredded mozzarella.
• Cover with foil
• Bake for 45 minutes, then remove the foil covering and bake another 15 minutes to brown the top.
• Remove from oven and serve.

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*Below are some items recommended in this post.

Hunt's Roasted Garlic & Oni...Shop on AmazonEHOMEA2Z Disposable Aluminu...Shop on AmazonGlad Food Storage and Freez...Shop on AmazonCampbell's 100% Tomato Juic...Shop on Amazon

 

 

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Approximate nutritional information

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