Ridiculously Easy Lasagna for Two (and a Quarter)

This recipe is so easy it is almost embarassing to post it. But, someone ::cough cough:: asked for it so here goes.

My husband is a lasagna freak. Which cracks me up since he is a) really picky about food and b) hates to have his food "touch". I'm not kidding. My grandmother has taken to getting the plates with dividers specially for him.

Another friend of mine put me onto this idea too. A full pan of lasagna is WAY too much for just the two of us and went to waste more often than not. She suggested getting the Glad Ovenware containers and making two mini-lasagnas. So I did. It's awesome. One small tray is perfect for the 2 of us (and now Keagan) and then I freeze the second one. Voila. Two dinners, done.

Ingredients:

Barilla No-Boil Lasagna Noodles
1 large can of crushed tomatoes
1 lb. your choice of mild sausage or ground beef. (I usually go with the sausage unless I have beef in the freezer)
1 small onion, diced
2 - 3 cloves of minced garlic
Large container of part skim Ricotta Cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese
2 - 3 cups of Mozzarella cheese
Salt, Pepper, Italian Seasoning
pinch of sugar

Heat up pan with a bit of EVOO. Add onion and garlic, stirring occassionally for about 2 minutes.

Add meat and cook through. Season with salt, pepper, Italian Seasoning at your discretion.

Drain meat. Pour in can of crushed tomatoes and bring to a simmer. (You can add more seasoning at this point, it's your call.)

In the meantime, put Ricotta in a large bowl. Mix in egg and parmesan cheese. Add some pepper and Italian Seasoning. Make sure it is mixed well.

Get out your trays and pasta. Remember THESE NOODLES DON'T HAVE TO BE COOKED. Turn off the tomato/meat pan and begin layering.

Tomato/Meat
1 Layer of Noodles
Ricotta
Tomato/Meat
1 Layer of Noodles (I try to face them the opposite direction of the first layer...does that make sense?)
Ricotta

Top with as much mozzarella cheese as your heart desires.

Cover with tin foil (*note - I found if you spray the tinfoil with non-stick cooking spray you will thank me later) and bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour. About 15 minutes before being done remove the tinfoil so the cheese can get a bit crispy.



Now, with most Italian dishes I've found that they are generally better the second day. This is no exception. To "twice bake" the lasagna simply cover with a bit more cheese the next day and heat through (usually takes a half hour to 45 minutes).

Enjoy!