Lasagna

My hubby loves lasagna, and he would probably eat it every night if I made it.  However, making lasagna is not very fun; plus it takes FOREVER to bake!  I have never had much success with oven-baked lasagna so when I saw this recipe for a crockpot version, I was thrilled to try it.  The first time was not so good; both the hubby and I HATE ricotta in lasagna, but I wasn't thinking.  The second time, using cottage cheese this round, was the charm though!

{Hubby's second helping means that his "it's good" is actually a "this is FANTASTIC" (he had 3 helpings for the record)}

{Brown meat (the green stuff is garlic scapes)}

{Making cheesy filling with cottage cheese instead of ricotta the night before}

{Cheesy goodness!}

{Making meat sauce the night before}

{When layering, start AND end with meat sauce}

{Meat sauce, noodles, cheese filling, and repeat}

{Ending with meat sauce}

{Side view of finished lasagna}

{My first of 2 helpings :o) }

Crockpot Lasagna



Makes 6 servings

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound ground beef

2-15 oz cans diced tomatoes, drained

2 cans tomato sauce

1 can tomato paste

1 tablespoon dried basil

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 pound cottage cheese

1 package Italian cheeses (about 2 cups), divided

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1 egg

1 tablespoon dried parsley

6 regular lasagna noodles, uncooked

1. Heat olive oil in a large pan; add onions and garlic cooking until translucent.
2. Add beef and cook through.
3. Add tomato products, basil, and oregano, stirring to combine; simmer sauce for 30-40 minutes.  (If you want to use a 24 oz jar of premade spaghetti sauce, just add to meat)
4. Mix cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, egg, parsley, and 1 1/2 cups Italian cheeses together until combined.
5. In a crockpot, place 1/3 of meat sauce on the bottom, and then top with 3 lasagna noodles, broken to fit.  Spoon 1/2 of cheese mixture onto noodles.  Repeat layers ending with meat sauce.
6. Cook for 6-8 hours on low.  Watch the noodles because they can get overdone and be mushy.
7. Serve lasagna with sprinkling of remainin Italian cheese.

Do you have a favorite food that takes a while to make?  How often do you make it?  Have you tried another method of making your food like in a crockpot?

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