Easy Lasagna
Typical lasagna recipes are a mystery to me. Why do they have you making so many layers, and in a 13×19 baking dish? That sounds like guaranteed overflow. I always use my roomy 10×15 dish and it’s stress-free.
I think my lasagna recipe is sort of a compromise between Project Lasagna and Costco Lasagna. It’s flexible to move closer to either end of that spectrum – take more shortcuts if need be, or a put in bit more effort to bring it into from-scratch territory.
I am blessed by the fact that my kids will eat zucchini. My daughter will gobble it cooked on its own, but my son asks for seconds of my lower-carb lasagna. It’s not the prettiest version, but it’s easy enough to pull off on a weeknight, and yummy enough for the whole family.
Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
- 3/4 lb bulk Italian sausage
- 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
- 26 oz jar marinara sauce
- 8 oz can tomato sauce (optional, if using a larger pan)
- 6-8 no-boil lasagna noodles (depending on the size of your baking dish)
- 1 egg
- 15 oz tub ricotta
- Fresh or dried herbs
- Salt and pepper
- 2-3 medium zucchinis
- 8-12 oz pre-shredded mozzarella
Instructions:
In a large saucepan, cook sausage until no longer pink, then add mushrooms and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are softened. Stir in jar and can of sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and set aside. In a medium bowl, beat egg. Stir in ricotta, 1/2 tsp each dried oregano and or basil; several tablespoons of minced fresh herbs if you have them! Also 1/4 tsp salt, and fresh-ground pepper. Slice zucchini into thin rounds.
Preheat oven to 400. Grease your baking dish.
Layers:
- Sauce (a generous cupful)
- Noodles (3 or 4)
- Half of ricotta mixture
- Zucchini: neatly make a single layer of rounds
- Half of mozzarella
- Sauce (about 2 cups)
- Noodles (3 or 4)
- Remining ricotta mixture
- Zucchini
- Remaining sauce
Cover with foil. Bake at 400 for 35 mins. Remove foil, add the remaining mozzarella, bake for 10 more minutes. Let rest 5-10 mins before serving.
To use regular lasagna noodles, no need for an elaborate extra step. Simply pour boiling water over lasagna noodles and let soak 10-15 mins. For a 13×19 baking dish, I used 8 oz pasta or 1/2 box (about 10 noodles).