I am ending my April menu of "oven foodery" with the best oven-baked meal of Spring: Lasagna. It is so delicious, you'd think you were eating at an Italian restaurant. It's so easy to make, you almost don't have to be in the kitchen. Okay, that might be stretching it a bit. But it's no exaggeration to say that Mom's Easy Lasagna recipe is budget friendly.
Speaking of budget, ours took another hit this month. Yup! We had to replace our heating and air conditioning system. Bad news for our wallet. Gasp. Fall down. Be sad. It was an old system, so looking on the bright side, our utility bills should be lower. New AC or not, it is time to think about recipes that do not use the oven, so that the hot from the oven doesn't heat up the kitchen.
Before we pack away the "oven-baked recipes" on our food menu, we have a silly ritual of choosing the best oven-baked meal for Spring. This year the winner for our last oven-baked meal before summer is Mom's Easy Lasagna. I hope you enjoy it.
Mom's Easy Lasagna
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. Italian sausage
1/2 medium sweet white onion, diced
1/2 large bell pepper (green, red, or yellow), seeds and veins removed, diced
1/2 lb. Barilla NO BOILING REQUIRED Lasagne pasta
2 Jars Barilla Marinara sauce
2 eggs
Container Ricotta cheese
1 1/2 lbs. Mozzarella cheese, grated
3/4 lbs. Container grated parmesan cheese
2 tbls. Garlic Powder
2 tbls. Oregano
2 tbls. Italian Spice
Salt
Parsley diced (fresh flat leaf preferred)
1 Garlic Cloves, minced
Directions:
Brown lean ground beef and pork sausage or Italian sausage in skillet until lightly browned and cooked through. Put a few layers of paper towels in large bowl. With slotted spoon, remove browned meat from skillet draining off excess beef fat and put on top of blotting towels.
After all the meat has been removed from the skillet, drain off and dispose of excess beef fat. Wipe skillet clean with paper towel.
Add diced green pepper and onion to skillet. Brown for a few minutes on medium high heat, add meat back into the skillet, lower the heat and continue to cook for 5 minutes stirring frequently. Add oregano, parsley, Italian Spice. Add a pinch of garlic powder and a pinch of garlic salt, to taste.
Of the 2 jars of marinara sauce, add 1 jar and half of the other jar of sauce to meat mixture. Stir and allow sauce to simmer 15-45 minutes to thicken (do not scorch bottom, stir frequently). Remove from heat.
In small bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the ricotta cheese and mix fairly well.
Assembly:
In dry 13 x 9 inch glass lasagna dish, ladle half of marinara sauce that remains in the 2nd jar over the bottom of the dish. Place a layer noodles, 4 length wise (edges slightly overlapping). Ladle sauce sparingly into center trough of the 4 noodles. Place a layer of mozzarella cheese on top of sauce. Place ricotta cheese dollops mixture every 2 inches in center of noodles on top of mozzarella cheese, sprinkle grated parmesan cheese in thin even layer on top of ricotta cheese.
Apply second layer of noodles, topping again with sauce and cheese. Finish with another layer of noodles, if you have extra sauce and cheese that you can spread that over the top. Otherwise, omit 3rd layer of pasta.
Tent lasagna pan with aluminum foil (not touching noodles or sauce).
Bake at 375°F for 45 minutes. Allow to cool before serving.
This is an awesome flavor filled meal!
Note - Flavor improves the next time you heat-and-eat this dish. Yes, it can be reheated in the microwave. Cover well, or leave aluminum tent on when storing in the refrigerator.
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. Italian sausage
1/2 medium sweet white onion, diced
1/2 large bell pepper (green, red, or yellow), seeds and veins removed, diced
1/2 lb. Barilla NO BOILING REQUIRED Lasagne pasta
2 Jars Barilla Marinara sauce
2 eggs
Container Ricotta cheese
1 1/2 lbs. Mozzarella cheese, grated
3/4 lbs. Container grated parmesan cheese
2 tbls. Garlic Powder
2 tbls. Oregano
2 tbls. Italian Spice
Salt
Parsley diced (fresh flat leaf preferred)
1 Garlic Cloves, minced
Directions:
Brown lean ground beef and pork sausage or Italian sausage in skillet until lightly browned and cooked through. Put a few layers of paper towels in large bowl. With slotted spoon, remove browned meat from skillet draining off excess beef fat and put on top of blotting towels.
After all the meat has been removed from the skillet, drain off and dispose of excess beef fat. Wipe skillet clean with paper towel.
Add diced green pepper and onion to skillet. Brown for a few minutes on medium high heat, add meat back into the skillet, lower the heat and continue to cook for 5 minutes stirring frequently. Add oregano, parsley, Italian Spice. Add a pinch of garlic powder and a pinch of garlic salt, to taste.
Of the 2 jars of marinara sauce, add 1 jar and half of the other jar of sauce to meat mixture. Stir and allow sauce to simmer 15-45 minutes to thicken (do not scorch bottom, stir frequently). Remove from heat.
In small bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the ricotta cheese and mix fairly well.
Assembly:
In dry 13 x 9 inch glass lasagna dish, ladle half of marinara sauce that remains in the 2nd jar over the bottom of the dish. Place a layer noodles, 4 length wise (edges slightly overlapping). Ladle sauce sparingly into center trough of the 4 noodles. Place a layer of mozzarella cheese on top of sauce. Place ricotta cheese dollops mixture every 2 inches in center of noodles on top of mozzarella cheese, sprinkle grated parmesan cheese in thin even layer on top of ricotta cheese.
Apply second layer of noodles, topping again with sauce and cheese. Finish with another layer of noodles, if you have extra sauce and cheese that you can spread that over the top. Otherwise, omit 3rd layer of pasta.
Tent lasagna pan with aluminum foil (not touching noodles or sauce).
Bake at 375°F for 45 minutes. Allow to cool before serving.
This is an awesome flavor filled meal!
Note - Flavor improves the next time you heat-and-eat this dish. Yes, it can be reheated in the microwave. Cover well, or leave aluminum tent on when storing in the refrigerator.
Stay cool. Cook smart. Thanks for following my blog.