Couscous Lasagna Recipes

WORLD'S BEST LASAGNA

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
• Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

COUSCOUS LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray 9x13" pan with cooking spray.
• Combine couscous, boiling stock, and salt in a large bowl and let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
• Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until the onion is translucent. Add the drained diced tomatoes and cook for about 10 minutes more.
• Stir the tomato/onion/garlic mixture into the couscous. Add reserved tomato juice, basil, raw spinach, and pepper. Mix until well combined.
• Spread half the couscous mixture in the 9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle on the light mozzarella cheese, then top with the remaining half of the couscous. Cover the dish with foil, and bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes, until hot and bubbly.
• If you like mushrooms, you could add 1/2 a pound or so of sliced fresh mushrooms to the onions and garlic as they saute in the olive oil.

ISRAELI COUSCOUS LASAGNA

Steps:

• Slice eggplant in 1/2 inch thick strips lengthwise. Sprinkle liberally on each side with salt. Place eggplant on a clean towel. Cover with another towel and top with a weighted skillet (fill with heavy kitchen bottles or weights or bricks). Let sit about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. After eggplant has sat, rinse off and blot dry with a towel. Dice eggplant slices into 1/2 inch cubes. Dice bell peppers and onion into 1/2 ince dice as well. Place diced veggies in a bowl and toss with garlic. Spread on a large baking sheet and spray generously with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss together again. Place in oven and roast veggies for about 45 minutes. Bring water and couscous to a boil in a medium saucepan with a sprinkle of salt. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook until water is absorbed, about 10 minutes. Remove roasted veggies to the bowl of a food processor or blender. Add in lemon juice, a little more salt and pepper, and red pepper flakes. Blend until smooth. Turn oven down to 350 degrees. Spray the bottom of a medium baking dish with olive oil. Remove 1/2 of couscous from the saucepan and spread into the bottom of the dish. Spread 1/2 eggplant spread (it will be kind of thing, you can make it easier to spread my adding a little water and blending if you want) and then top with 1/2 sliced mozarella. Add next layer of couscous, spread, and cheese. Put lasagna dish into oven and bake for 10 minutes, until warmed through and cheese is melted.

LASAGNA

Steps:

• In a large skillet over medium-high heat, saute the hamburger, sausage and garlic until brown. Drain off the excess fat. Add the tomatoes with their juice, tomato paste, 1/2 teaspoon salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Stir together well. Simmer over low heat, uncovered, for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the olive oil and a dash of salt. Cook the lasagna noodles according to the package directions until al dente. Drain the noodles and lay them flat on a piece of aluminium foil to keep their shape.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Grate the mozzarella cheese and set aside.
• Cut the basil into a chiffonade by stacking the leaves on top of one another, rolling them tightly and then cutting across. Finely chop the parsley. Add half the herbs to the meat mixture and stir together. In a medium bowl, combine the other half of the herbs, the cottage cheese, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan and the eggs, and stir together well.
• Now let's assemble the lasagna! Begin by laying 4 lasagna noodles in the bottom of a deep rectangular baking pan; the noodles should slightly overlap. Spoon half the cottage cheese mixture onto the noodles; spread to distribute evenly. Sprinkle half the mozzarella on top of the cottage cheese mixture. Spoon just under half the meat mixture on top of the mozzarella, and spread evenly, being careful not to disrupt the layers below. Now repeat the process, beginning with a layer of lasagna noodles, followed by the cottage cheese mixture, followed by the mozzarella and ending with a thick layer of the meat mixture.
• Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan over the top. Bake until the lasagna is hot and bubbly, 35 to 45 minutes. Allow to stand 10 minutes before cutting into squares.

CLASSIC LASAGNA

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.

VEGETABLE COUSCOUS LASAGNA RECIPE

Steps:

• Saute onions and garlic in 1 tbsp OO until tender Add chopped zucchini, summer squash and mushrooms and saute for 10-15 mins. Add (1) 28 oz. can delmonte diced tomatoes with basil and oregano and1/2 cup dry white wine. Also 1/4 cup frest basil. Simmer 10 mins. Mix 8 oz. shredded fontina cheese with 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Add approx. 2 oz. of the cheese mixture to the prepared couscous for flavor. Using 9x11 pan, take 1/2 of the couscous mixture and pat into pan to make a firm layer for vegetable mixture. Add 1/2 veggie mixture over the couscous and then the second layer of couscous over the veggie mixture. Add remaining veggie mixture and cover with the remaining cheese mixture. Bake on 350 degrees for 35-40 mins. or until cheese is golden. Do not over bake because it can get dry. Can also use other veggies.