My favorite cartoon as a child was Garfield. Being a lazy smart-aleck myself, I empathized with the lasagna-loving feline and his apathetic attitude. I also shared his passion for pasta. Now a "mature adult," I have managed to rein in my adolescent sarcasm and overcome my tendency towards lethargy, but I'm still a sucker for an ooey gooey pan of cheesy goodness.
While laziness is not one of my defining character traits any more, I do still try to keep my dinner preparations quick and easy, mainly because I'm starving after a long day at work and if I try to make anything too time-consuming I'm more likely to satisfy my hunger by shoving handfuls of candy into my mouth! That being said, a great pan of lasagna just really cannot be rushed. It takes time to brown the meat, mix up the cheese, assemble the casserole and bake the darn thing.
So if you were hoping I was going to give you a super-fast lasagna recipe, well, sorry to disappoint. I have found a few ways to shorten the process, though. I use no-boil noodles, store-bought sauce, and I bake it the day before I plan to serve it. Like spaghetti, it tastes better the second day anyway! The only problem with doing it this way is that smelling it bake all evening makes it almost impossible to wait till the next day to eat it. I guess my level of self-control is still about the same as Garfield's. I'll have to work on that. Meanwhile, I think my lasagna is ready. Second supper, anyone?
My Favorite Lasagna
Prep time: 15 min Bake time: 60 min
Serves 12
1 lb Italian sausage
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
42 oz spaghetti sauce (about 1.5 jars)
1/2 cup water
8 oz ricotta cheese
8 oz cottage cheese (small curd)
1-2 Tbs Italian seasoning
2 eggs
Salt and pepper, to taste
8 no-boil lasagna noodles
2 cups shredded mozzarella
Preheat oven to 350F.
Brown sausage with onion, drain and return to pan. Add garlic and cook another minute, till fragrant. Add spaghetti sauce and water. Heat through.
Meanwhile, combine ricotta, cottage cheese, Italian seasoning, eggs, and salt and pepper.
Spoon 1.5 cups of meat sauce into the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan. Add a layer of noodles, then half the ricotta mixture, then a large handful of mozzarella. Add another 1.5 cups of sauce, then more noodles, the rest of the ricotta mixture, and another handful of mozzarella. Finish with the last of the sauce and mozzarella.
Cover tightly with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake another 15 minutes or till golden brown and bubbly.
By the way, I've never been able to find 8 oz containers of ricotta or cottage cheese, only 15 or 16 oz, so I frequently use the extra to make a second batch of lasagna to keep in the freezer for nights when I'm just feeling too much like Garfield to bother making dinner at all.
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