Quick and Easy Lasagna

February vacation has officially begun! Today was just a day for laundry, dishes/cleaning off the counter tops where we seem to accumulate anything and everything, and grocery shopping. I still have about 3 loads of laundry to do too. I continuously amaze myself with how quickly I fill a laundry basket...and then wait to wash all those clothes...

While I was at Market Basket, I was frustrated for many reasons. First, they didn't have 3 things that I was looking for, which means tomorrow I'll have to run out to Shaws to find them. Second, like every time I go there, people seriously have no awareness of others when they grocery shop. Let's leave our carriage in the middle of the aisle. Let's stand right in front of three people looking for ground meet and not move when the other three people know exactly what they want and are reaching around you to get it. Let's not take a number at the deli and then get frustrated by the people who do take a number and get service before you. And third, don't send your kid, with the carriage, down a different aisle to get items and then yell from the next aisle over at the top of your lungs to check if he's alright. If you're so concerned about your 8 year-old being okay on his own in control of a carriage, then don't leave him by himself. Also, don't wear next to nothing when you're grocery shopping with your 8 year-old and newborn. And last, don't try to explain to an 8 year-old the concept of comparison shopping, why you have to buy Market Basket brand, and why mommy and daddy's salaries aren't great....he won't understand it. All he understands is that he wants Tostito's Scoops because "Market Basket chip are gross, they taste like nothing and you know it". That kid probably could've done the shopping on his own just fine.

Okay, okay, I will end my rant there. Back to the food. So, the original plan was to have ground sausage in this lasagna as well as the beef, but Market Basket doesn't have ground sausage (I won't rant again, I won't rant again...). I took the original recipe and made it a little easier, using a jar of sauce rather than fully homemade. One, to save time, and two, I have 3 jars of sauce to use at home, so that saves time and uses supplies I already have. I did add some of the ingredients of the homemade sauce to my jar of sauce, just to give it a little more flare. My favorite jarred sauce is Newman's Own Fire Roasted Tomato & Garlic. It's seriously delicious. I don't like sauces that are too tart or tangy with tomato flavor. Plain marinara does nothing for me. I need garlic, roasted tomatoes, roasted red peppers, anything with a little sweetness and flavor.

Quick and Easy Lasagna
adapted from Foodie Crush

1.5 lbs ground beef  (or 1 lb. beef and 1/2 lb. ground sweet Italian Sausage)
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 medium yellow onion, diced
Kosher salt & fresh ground black pepper
1/3 cup white wine
1/3 cup whole milk
1 jar of your preferred sauce (or check the original recipe for making your own)
1 pkg. no-boil lasagna noodles
15 oz. ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped parsley ( I used a small handful of dried parsley)
16 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
1 small can tomato sauce (just in case)

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a skillet, brown the ground meet just until no longer pink. Add the garlic and cook for one minute.
3. Add in the onion, salt and pepper and cook for three minutes until onions begin to turn translucent.
4. Add in the wine and cook for three minutes or until mostly absorbed.
5. Add the milk and cook until absorbed.
6. Add the jar of sauce, cook and stir until heated through.
7. In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, egg, Parmesan and parsley. Mix well.
8. Spread a bit of the sauce in the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 dish. **Note: I used some of my meat sauce mixture, this might be a good place to use the can of tomato sauce so you can use the meat sauce mix in the layers.
9. Lay 4 lasagna noodles on top. Top with 1/2 the ricotta mixture, then 1/3 of the meat sauce mixture.
10. Repeat with another layer of noodle, ricotta and meat sauce. Sprinkle 1 cup of mozzarella on top.
11. Place one more layer of noodles, meat sauce and the rest of the mozzarella. **Note: This is where I ran out of meat sauce mixture and luckily had a can of plain sauce in the cabinet.
12. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 10 more minutes.

 

This recipe is great if you want to make it for a quick weeknight dinner. It took me about 20 minutes of prep and then the 40 minutes to cook. I've made a couple of other lasagnas. My favorite red sauce lasagna is definitely the meat and mornay lasagna. I've also made some butternut squash ones, which I prefer.

Meat & Mornay Lasagna

Roasted Butternut Squash, Sage and Goat Cheese Lasagna

Butternut Squash Lasagna