Hearty Lasagna For Two Recipes

HEARTY HOMEMADE LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine sauce, meat and water. Spread 1 cup of the sauce mixture onto bottom of 12x8-inch baking dish.
• Top with layers of half each of the uncooked lasagna noodles, ricotta cheese and remaining sauce mixture. Repeat all layers; sprinkle with shredded cheese. Cover tightly with foil.
• Bake 1 hour. Let stand 5 to 10 min. before cutting to serve.

HEARTY LASAGNA FOR TWO

Steps:

• 1. In Crock pot, cook meat, onion and garlic on a high temp until meat starts to brown and onions and garlic have sweated, but not burned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, paste, sauce and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 3/4 tbsp salt, pepper and 1 tsp of dried parsley. Let this come up in temperature, cover and simmer for approx 2 1/2 hrs.
• 2. Prepare noodles by breaking noodles to fit an 8x8 baking pan. Set aside until ready to assemble after sauce has simmered. Once it has simmered long enough, turn off Crock pot rinse the noodles with warm water, no need to cook the noodles. Preheat oven to 375° F.
• 3. Prepare cheese mixture by adding ricotta cheese, egg, 1 tsp parsley and 1/4 tsp salt. Add 1 tbsp of the Parmesan cheese and mix to combine.
• 4. To Assemble: With a 1/2 c measuring cup, or ladle, place one or 1 1/2 scoops of sauce on the bottom of the 8x8 pan. Place one layer of your pre-measured noodles on the sauce. Spread or dollop the ricotta mixture on top of the noodles and try to spread it best you can. Sprinkle or place the Mozzarella/Provolone cheese mixture on top of that. Next, another layer of the sauce, then sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over that. You repeat this (starting with another layer of noodles) until all of the ricotta is gone. I did two good layers with about 1-1 1/2 cups sauce in each layer, and 2 hand fulls of the shredded cheese mix, to give you an idea. Once you have completed the last layer with Parmesan, I sprinkle a little extra, if any, of the shredded cheese on there too. Cover this tight with foil. PLACE ON BAKING SHEET, this probably will bubble over slightly. Into the 375° oven for 25 minutes. Very carefully, remove the foil at this point, and continue to bake for an additional 25 minutes or so. Remove from oven and let lasagna cool for 15 minutes or so. Meanwhile, you can store the remaining sauce in a freezer container, make an additional lasagna (8x8 pretty aluminum pan, just be careful as it will be heavy, may want to use a baking sheet until the freezer sets it up) and freeze it for a later day or keep in the fridge for spaghetti, pizza, bread stick dipping sauce or whatever you want to use this for.

HEARTY SAUSAGE AND CHEESE LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a Dutch oven, cook sausage over medium heat 6-8 minutes or until no longer pink, breaking into crumbles. Remove with a slotted spoon. Discard drippings in pan., Add onions to same pan; cook and stir over medium heat until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, celery, parsley, bay leaf, brown sugar, oregano, salt and thyme. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Remove bay leaf., Remove 1 cup sauce from pan. Stir cooked sausage into remaining sauce. Spread reserved sauce into a greased 13x9-in. baking dish. Layer with three noodles and half of each of the following: sausage mixture, ricotta, mozzarella and provolone. Repeat layers (dish will be full)., Bake, covered, 55-65 minutes or until cheese is melted. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.