Busy Day Lasagna Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese. Drain noodles well; stir into cheese mixture., Spread 1 cup pasta sauce into a greased 11x7-in. baking dish. Layer with half of the noodle mixture and 1 cup sauce; layer with the remaining noodle mixture and sauce. Sprinkle with remaining cheese., Cover with greased foil; bake until heated through, 10-15 minutes.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13 X 9 dish (which is a 3 quart dish)
• Cook pasta in boiling water 8 - 10 minutes, drain.
• Cook ground beef until brown, drain fat.
• Add ground beef to the cooked pasta and spaghetti sauce; mix well.
• Pour 1/2 of the pasta/beef mixture into greased dish. On top of this, spread the cottage cheese in an even layer; sprinkle with 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese.
• Place remaining pasta mixture over cheese, top with remaining mozzarella cheese. cover and bake in oven for 25-35 minutes. You may want to uncover for the last 10 minutes. Cheese should be melted. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting/serving.

Steps:

• Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir beef and onion in the hot skillet until beef browns and onion softens, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain and discard grease.
• Add spaghetti sauce, cream cheese, and sour cream to the skillet. Mix well.
• Spray a 5-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Layer noodles, beef mixture, and cheeses in the slow cooker. Repeat layers as necessary until cooker is full.
• Cover and cook on High for 2 hours. Switch to Low and cook until noodles are soft and cheeses are melted, about 2 hours more.

Steps:

• Make the sauce: Heat oil in a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Add sausage, if using, and cook, stirring occasionally, until it's starting to brown but not yet crisp, about 5 minutes.
• Add onion and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is totally softened and translucent (without letting it brown), 8 to 10 minutes. Add tomato paste and continue to cook, stirring until the tomato paste has turned a deeper brick red color, tinting the oil and onions a fiery orange color, about 2 minutes.
• Using your hands, crush the whole tomatoes into smaller, bite-size pieces and add them and the crushed tomatoes, stirring to scrape up any bits from the bottom of the pot. Fill one of the tomato cans halfway with water and add it to the pot. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomato sauce has thickened and flavors have come together, 20 to 30 minutes.
• Make the lasagna: Heat oven to 375 degrees and set a large pot of salted water to boil.
• Set aside 1 cup mozzarella. In a medium bowl, combine remaining mozzarella, ricotta, 1 cup Parmesan and cream; season with salt and pepper and set aside.
• Cook lasagna noodles in the large pot of salted boiling water until just softened (before they are even aldente), about 4 minutes. Drain and separate any noodles that are trying to stick together, slicking them with a bit of olive oil to prevent them from sticking further.
• Spoon a bit of sauce on the bottom of a 3-quart baking dish and top with a layer of noodles, avoiding any heavy overlap.
• Top with about 1 ¼ cups of sauce, and dollop ¼ of the cheese mixture over. Top with another layer of noodles and repeat three more times, ending with the last of the noodles (depending on size of the noodle/shape of the baking dish, you may have a few extra noodles) and the last of the sauce. Top with reserved 1 cup mozzarella and more Parmesan, if you like.
• Cover loosely with aluminum foil and place baking dish on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet (to prevent any overflow from burning on the bottom of your oven).
• Bake until pasta is completely tender and cooked through and sauce is bubbling up around the edges, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove foil and increase temperature to 450 degrees. Continue to bake until lasagna is golden brown on top with frilly, crispy edges and corners, another 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool slightly before eating.