Lasagna was one of the first meals my mom taught me how to cook. It’s not terribly difficult, but does take some time to put together. My husband, Tom, likes lasagna a lot more than I do, so I usually end up making it at his prompting. Part of the problem is that it makes SO much lasagna that I have leftovers for a week! I’m sure it’d be great for a family, but since it’s just the two of us, I usually get sick of lasagna before we can get through it all. Often times I wait until we have company coming over to help us eat it. This week, though, I decided to try something new: individual lasagna pans. You know, like they do at restaurants. I forgot to put foil over it while baking, so the edges got a little crispy, but Tom didn’t seem to mind! 

I’m sharing my basic lasagna recipe here, but I have lots of variations!

Ingredients:

Lasagna Noodles (about 9 or 10)

1 small tub Ricotta Cheese

2+ cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 jar spaghetti sauce of your choice

1 lb. ground beef (or turkey, or turkey sausage)

Salt

Pepper

Garlic

Oregano

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, and rinse with cold water. While pasta is cooking, brown meat in a skillet. Season to taste with spices. Spread a thin layer of spaghetti sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 (or similar) glass baking dish. When meat is thoroughly cooked, drain, and mix with remaining pasta sauce. Place a layer of noodles on bottom of baking dish. Spread a layer of ricotta cheese over top, followed by a layer of meat/sauce, and finally a layer of mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers 2 more times. Bake in oven, with foil over top, for about 45 minutes or until sauce is bubbly. If desired, sprinkle top with oregano or parsley.

**Tip: If you don't feel like cooking the lasagna noodles first, put them in the pan uncooked and just add 1 cup of water to the pasta sauce.  This lets the noodles just cook in the oven!

Other options include adding spinach, making a veggie version w/ zucchini and summer squash, etc. If I make it w/ turkey sausage, I also season w/ fennel seed. Experiment and have fun!!