Easy Shortcut Lasagna Recipes

EASY LASAGNA II

Steps:

• In a large skillet over medium heat brown the ground beef. Drain the grease. Add spaghetti sauce and simmer for 5 minutes.
• In a large bowl, mix together the cottage cheese, 2 cups of the mozzarella cheese, eggs, half of the grated Parmesan cheese, dried parsley, salt and ground black pepper.
• To assemble, in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish evenly spread 3/4 cup of the sauce mixture. Cover with 3 uncooked lasagna noodles, 1 3/4 cup of the cheese mixture, and 1/4 cup sauce. Repeat layers once more: top with 3 noodles, remaining sauce, remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Add 1/2 cup water to the edges of the pan. Cover with aluminum foil.
• Bake in a preheated 350 degree F(175 degrees C) oven for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

QUICK LASAGNA

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 400°. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Cook the beef and garlic in the skillet over medium heat about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the beef is brown; drain.
• Stir the Italian seasoning and spaghetti sauce into the beef. Spread 1/4 cup of the beef mixture in the ungreased square pan.
• Top with 2 noodles, placing them so they do not overlap or touch the sides of the pan because they will expand as they bake. Spread about 1/2 cup of the remaining beef mixture over the noodles.
• Spread about 1/2 cup of the cottage cheese over the beef mixture. Sprinkle with about 1/3 cup of the mozzarella cheese.
• Repeat layering twice more, beginning with 2 more noodles and following directions in steps 3 and 4 Sprinkle with the parmesan cheese.
• Cover with aluminum foil and bake 30 minutes. Carefully remove the foil, and continue baking about 10 minutes longer or until lasagna is bubbly around the edges and looks very hot. Let stand 10 minutes, so the lasagna will become easier to cut and serve.

SHORTCUT LASAGNA

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, cook and stir meat, onion, salt and garlic powder until meat is brown and onion is tender. If meat created a lot of grease, you can drain. But it will be hard keeping all the onions, they get stuck in strainer.
• Stir in Spaghetti sauce and simmer for 15mins, stirring occasionally.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Mix cottage cheese, parmesan cheese and parsley flakes together.
• In an 11 x 7 ungreased baking dish (like a pyrex glass dish) cover the bottom with the 8 oz can of tomato sauce. This is to prevent the lasagna noodle from sticking and will also cook them.
• Start placing the lasagna noodle on top for the sauce. You may need to "cut" the corners of the pasta to fit it in the pan. they should overlay a bit.
• After your first layer of noodles add sauce, mozzarella cheese and cottage cheese mixture.
• Repeat with the noodles now going in the opposite direction. (so horizontal first then the next layer Parallel).
• Now you have 2 layers, add on more layer of noodle and top off with sauce and shredded cheese. you should have used most of the cottage cheese mixture on the first two layers.
• Cover with tin-foil and bake 40 to 45 minutes
• Let stand at room temperature for 10mins uncovered.
• Cut into squares and enjoy!

EASY SHORTCUT LASAGNA

Steps:

• If Adding Meat Layer:.
• Combine ground beef, egg, finely minced garlic and garlic powder, breadcrumbs, grated parmesan and chopped Italian parsley in a large mixing bowl. Run water over the bread slices to soak them and squeeze the water out. Add a splash of wine if desired.
• Mix meat for several minutes by hand, and roll out into fairly compact and tight meatballs. I make mine about 1 inch to 1.5 inch in size.
• Brown / sear the meatballs while continually rolling them with the utensils of your choice. I use two wooden spoons, but I've also used tongs to do this. The key is to get them browned enough to be "medium rare", not raw, as the cooking time is not long in the lasagna. However, they need to be done well enough to stick mostly together for slicing. I think next time I may chill them in the refrigerator. I put layers of paper towels down on a platter to hold the meatballs while they are cooling off.
• If Adding Spinach Layer:.
• Steam the spinach until it softens somewhat. It will continue to soften further in the lasagna while it's cooking.
• Making the Lasagna:.
• Open the jars of your favorite spaghetti sauce, and heat to a low simmer. If using meatballs, put them in the sauce to soak up some additional flavor.
• Note about the sauce: I am Italian American, and make my own marinara sauce from scratch several times a year. It takes all day, so I freeze it in storage containers for later use. However, when I use store bought sauce, I prefer the sauce made by Del Grosso, a small company in Tipton, Pennsylvania. Their products include both inexpensive sauces, and a line of specialty ones called "La Famiglia Del Grosso that are roughly twice the price of Ragu or Prego ($6-$7 a for a 26 ounce jar). This recipe is about shortcuts, not making things from scratch. The company's "Aunt Mary Ann's Sunday Marinara" tastes very, very much like the sauce I make from scratch, so that is what I used for this recipe.
• Here is the product link:.
• http://www.delgrossosauce.com/content/aunt-mary-anns-sunday-marinara-1.
• Boil the lasagna noodles to just below al dente. What worked for me as a guess was one minute shorter than the lowest recommended time - this was 9 minutes for the Mueller brand noodles that were on sale for 2:1 the day I was shopping for supplies for this project. The noodle layers will also soften while the lasagna is cooking, so do not worry if they are a little stiff.
• If using meat, remove the meatballs from the sauce and slice into roughly ¼ inch slices. Don't worry if the crumble (as some will). These will form the meat layer of the lasagna.
• Wash and chop the Italian parsley and sweet basil into fairly small pieces. In a big mixing bowl, combine evenly the ricotta cheese with the chopped parsley and basil, the ground pepper and the pinch or two of granulated garlic.
• Put a thin layer of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 11, 10 x 13, or 12 x 11 pan (your sizes may vary somewhat). I used a Pyrex type glassware for mine.
• Layer the lasagna noodles with slight overlapping in the pan. If you need to, don't be afraid to use small "band aid" sections or cross sections to make the layer. You should have plenty of noodles.
• Using a spatula, or spoon of your choice, make a layer of sauce covering the noodles. Add a layer of the ricotta mixture covering the sauce. If adding meat, arrange slices or crumbles of the meatballs next. If not, use the steamed spinach to create a veggie layer. Now sprinkle a later of mozzarella cheese, and top with a light to moderate dusting of parmesan cheese.
• You will now repeat the process at least one more time. Depending on the depth of your pan, and the thickness of the optional meats, it could be twice more:.
• 1) Noodles.
• 2) Sauce.
• 3) Ricotta mixture.
• 4) Meat or spinach.
• 5) Mozzarella cheese.
• 6) Parmesan cheese.
• The last layer does not contain meat or spinach, and will be roughly at the top of the pan itself. That's fine. The top layer should be with noodles, a some sauce and a mix of mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.
• Cover with aluminum foil.
• Bake at 350 F for a total of 45-50 minutes. Remove the foil after the first 30 minutes so that the top can brown lightly into a crust. Let it stand for 15 or 20 minutes before serving to firm up the layers, and avoid burning your tongue.
• Hope this works out for you, but it has become a family favorite in our house, and only takes a short while to prepare when compared to the time investment in a day-long "from scratch" lasagna recipe.

SHORTCUT LASAGNA

Steps:

• In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce mix and vegetable juice. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. , Remove from the heat. Cover the bottom of a lightly greased 13x9-in. baking dish with a thin layer of meat sauce. Layer with 3 lasagna noodles, one-third of the cottage cheese, one-third of the mozzarella cheese and one-third of the remaining meat sauce. Repeat layers twice. , Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350° for 1 hour or until heated through. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

SHORTCUT SAUSAGE LASAGNA

Steps:

• Crumble the sausage into a large microwave-safe bowl. Cover; microwave on high for 3-5 minutes or until meat is no longer pink, stirring once; drain. Stir in the spaghetti sauce, onion, green pepper, water, olives and salt. , In a greased 11x7-in. microwave-safe dish, layer 1-1/3 cups meat sauce, three noodles, 1/2 cup ricotta cheese and 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers. Top with remaining meat sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. , Cover and microwave at 70% power for 21-24 minutes or until noodles are tender. Sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella cheese. Microwave, uncovered, on high for 45-60 seconds or until cheese is melted. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.

EASIEST EVER LASAGNE

Steps:

• Heat a large non-stick frying pan until hot. Add about half the mince and fry it over a medium heat for 4-5 minutes until browned. Stir it with a wooden spoon and press out any lumps while it is frying. Tip the browned mince into a bowl. Tip the remaining raw mince into the pan and add the garlic and oregano. Fry it as you did with the previous batch, then return all the mince to the pan and mix it together.
• Tip in the mushrooms and roasted veg sauce, and squirt in the ketchup (you can be generous). Season with black pepper and salt if you like. Stir well to mix everything together, turn the heat up under the pan and bring to the boil, then turn it down so it bubbles gently. Cover the pan and cook for 30-35 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes to mix everything together. As it cooks, the mushrooms will shrink and make the mince more saucy.
• While you're waiting for the meat to cook, break the egg into a large bowl and beat it with a whisk or fork to break up the white and the yolk. Pour the cream into the bowl, then grate about two thirds of the cheese and add to the bowl. Be careful, a grater looks innocent enough, but it's sharp so mind your fingers. Season with a good grinding of black pepper. Beat well to mix. Now turn the oven on to 180C/gas 4/fan 160C.
• Lay the lasagne in a dish and cover with boiling water. Leave for 5 minutes. Take an ovenproof dish measuring about 28-30cm x 22-23cm and 7.5cm deep. Spread about a couple of spoonfuls of meat sauce over the bottom, then cover with 3-4 sheets of lasagne (lift them out of the water with tongs) overlapping them slightly to make them fit if you need to. Drizzle over just a little of the cheese sauce - about 2-3 spoonfuls.
• Spoon over half the remaining meat and spread it out, right to the edges of the dish. Cover with 3-4 more sheets of lasagne, then spoon over the remaining meat, spreading it out evenly and almost to the edges. Cover with 3-4 more sheets of lasagne.
• Pour what's left of the cheese sauce over the top. Jiggle the dish so the sauce runs to the edges and squelch the corners of the pasta into the sauce so there's none poking up. Grate the rest of the cheese evenly all over, then grate over about 1⁄2 teaspoon of nutmeg. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until bubbling and golden. Leave to stand for 5 minutes before decorating the top if you like. Cut into 6 portions and serve with a salad.