Simply Lasagna

 Love, love, love this recipe!! It is so easy and is always a hit. This is a great dish to prepare if you need to feed a crowd. I made this for my husband's 30th birthday dinner for all of his family.

You will need: one pound of lean ground beef or turkey, one egg, a 24 oz. jar of spaghetti sauce (of your choice- I only have this because it was on sale), lasagna noodles, 15 oz. ricotta cheese (I used part skim), 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, parsley (1/4 cup fresh or 2 Tbsp. dried), and 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese.

Place the ricotta cheese into a mixing bowl.

 Add half of the shredded mozzarella cheese and all of the Parmesan cheese. 

 Add the parsley and one beaten egg.

Mix all of that well.

 Brown the lean ground beef in a large pan.

 Add the jar of spaghetti sauce to the cooked meat.

 Fill the jar halfway with water. Cover the jar with the lid and shake it well to get all of the sauce out of the jar.

 Pour the water from the sauce jar into the pan. This extra water is what will help cook the lasagna noodles while it is in the oven.

 Spread 1 cup meat sauce onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish.

 Top with 3-4 lasagna noodles. I broke one noodle up so that the noodles went all the way across my baking dish.

 Top the noodles with 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture...

...and and 1 cup meat sauce.

  Repeat layers twice. Top with remaining noodles, meat sauce and cheese mixture.

 

 Add the remaining shredded mozzarella cheese to the top.

  Cut a piece of foil that will cover the baking dish. The foil will keep all of the moisture in the dish and cook the noodles while the lasagna is in the oven. Spray one side of the foil with cooking spray. Cover the dish with the foil, sprayed side down. This is so that the foil does not stick to the cheese on top.

 Bake for 45 minutes and then remove the foil.

 Bake for another 15 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting to serve.

 

Simply Lasagna

Preheat oven to 350°

Servings: 12

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

- 1 lb. lean ground beef or turkey

- one egg

- 24 oz. jar of spaghetti sauce 

- lasagna noodles

-15 oz. ricotta cheese (I used part skim)

- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

-parsley (1/4 cup fresh or 2 Tbsp. dried)

- 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350°F. Brown meat in large skillet on medium-high heat. Meanwhile, mix half of the mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, parsley and egg until well blended; set aside. Drain meat and return to skillet. Stir in spaghetti sauce. Fill the jar halfway with water. Cover with lid and shake well. Add to meat mixture and stir until well blended. Spread 1 cup of meat sauce onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish. Top with layers of 3-4 lasagna noodles, 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture and 1/3of the meat sauce. Repeat layers twice. Top with remaining noodles, meat sauce and cheese mixture. Add the remaining mozzarella cheese on top. Cover with foil sprayed with cooking spray. Bake 1 hour or until heated through, removing foil after 45 min. Let stand 15 min. before cutting to serve.

Variation:

Substitute 1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach for the browned ground beef or add to the regular recipe. Thaw spinach, squeeze out water. Prepare as directed, covering each ricotta layer with 1/3 of the spinach.