Making lasagna seems to take forever, right? It is a labor of love, but I’ve figured out a couple of things over the years to speed up the process to come up with my Best Ever Lasagna. If you’re like me and prefer to make your own sauce (see my recipe here), you will be in the kitchen for hours. If you’re thinking ahead, just make a double batch of sauce and freeze the rest to make lasagna later. Your future self will love you! It may sound a little odd, but seriously, when I thaw out the spaghetti sauce to make lasagna, I often say out loud, “thank you Shari of three weeks ago!”
So my tips for speeding up the process allow you to make lasagna without boiling the noodles first! I have tried those “no boil” noodles, but find that the finished product is a bit gummy. This recipe uses regular lasagna noodles, but you add some extra water to the sauce and let the lasagna sit overnight before baking so you don’t have to boil the noodles first.
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I hate trying to spread out the layer of ricotta! My workaround here is to use cottage cheese and put it in the blender with the other ingredients. My high-speed Blendtec blender does a great job. It becomes a pourable layer that you can easily spread out.
Last but not least, I make two lasagnas at a time and freeze one for later. Once again, your future self will love you! There’s nothing better than having a yummy lasagna in the oven without all of the work that goes into the prep.
In the picture are the 9 x 13 baking dish that I use and the adorable blue plate that I’m seriously crazy about.
Here is the recipe to my Grandma’s Spaghetti Sauce. My Quick Parmesan Garlic Bread is the perfect complement to this dish!
Best Ever Lasagna (no noodle boiling required!)
Ingredients
Cheese Layer
- 1 22 oz. container 1% cottage cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 Baby Bell light cheese rounds use Fontina for substitute
- 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese bag
- 1 1/2 cloves Gourmet Garden garlic puree
- 2 eggs
Remaining Ingredients
- 7 cups Grandma's Spaghetti Sauce see link above
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 8 oz. Monterey Jack cheese shredded
- 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese bag
- 1 package 16 oz Creamette Lasagna noodles
- 8 oz mozzarella cheese shredded
Instructions
- Make 2 lasagnas (9 x 13) as follows:
- Add cottage cheese, salt, garlic, parmesan cheese, Baby Bell cheeses and eggs to a blender and puree them.
- Mixture will be the consistency of cake batter.
- Add the water to the spaghetti sauce and mix well.
- Spread 3/4 cup sauce on bottom of each pan.
- Add a layer of uncooked pasta.
- Pour 1/2 cup of blended cottage cheese mixture over noodles and spread evenly.
- Add a layer of Monterey Jack cheese.
- Repeat layering for a total of 3 layers with spaghetti sauce as the top layer.
- Add a little chicken broth if noodles are not covered by the sauce.
- Refrigerate overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Bake covered for 35 minutes, then uncovered for 10 minutes
- Add a layer of mozzarella on top and cook an additional 5 minutes (total 50 min cooking time).
- Let stand 15 minutes before serving.
- If desired, pour additional sauce over the top prior to serving.
- Enjoy!
Notes
If cooking from frozen, bake for ~ 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours at 350F. Alternatively, thaw the lasagna out in the refrigerator and cook according to the instructions above.
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