Everybody Loves Lasagna
Posted by Emily on 03 May 2010 | Tagged as: Get Real, Main Course, Meat, Musings, Pasta, Recipe
One thing I have learned in the last year is that time and planning put in on the front end of cooking yields less stress in the long run as you always have something healthy and good to eat at hand when you are really in a pinch: the baby is having a meltdown, or you ran out of time to fix lunch before work, or your partner is out for the night and you are left to fend for yourself with baby throwing food from his high chair and the clock ticking down to bath time. Lasagna is one of those fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, and if made right, one stop healthy balanced meal. It freezes well, travels well, and most people like it, including my 14 month old son. He ate half of my piece the other night. To get all four food groups in one slice, I use ground pork sausage or ground turkey and tons of spinach to the traditional cheese lasagna. I also don’t use the third cheese usually found in lasagna: mozzarella. Omitting it cuts down on the cheesiness factor, but also on the fat. I don’t miss it so long as there is tons of spinach!
What you need:
-2 cups low fat ricotta cheese
-1 cup Parmesan cheese
-1/2 cup fresh basil, or 1 Tsp dried basil
-1/2 Tsp salt
-1/2 Tsp pepper
-6 cups tomato sauce (use jarred sauce, or make your own using 16 oz canned tomatoes, 1 small can tomato paste, 1 Tbs of water, 1/2 onion, one clove garlic, and a Tsp of sugar, 1/2 Tsp salt and 1/2 Tsp dried oregano)
-1 8 oz package lasagna noodles
-1 large bag of frozen spinach
-1 pound ground pork sausage or ground turkey
What to do:
Preheat the oven to 375 and put a large pot of water on to boil while you do the following steps:
Cook the tomato sauce with the frozen spinach and the basil
Cook the meat in a bit of oil until done (add 1/4 Tsp nutmeg)
Then, boil the pasta in 3 batches for about 1-2 minutes and remove to cool on a flat surface
To assemble the lasagna, spread a bit of the tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9 by 13 inch baking dish, then add a layer of the noodles, spread ricotta over the noodles, sprinkle a layer of Parmesan, add all the cooked meat, a layer noodles, a layer of ricotta, a layer of sauce, a layer of noodles, a layer of sauce and top with remaining Parmesan.
Bake for about 30 minutes, or until brown on top.
Serve alone, or with a large salad.
Tip: The assembled, unbaked lasagna can be held in the refrigerator, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, for up to 24 hours. It can also be frozen, wrapped in additional layer of foil for up to two months before being taken out to defrost for 24 hours and cooked in the oven. This is why it is the perfect thing to make before going to the hospital to have a baby, or to bring over to friends who have just come home from the hospital. Oh and the extra spinach is good for moms in recovery.