Easy Weeknight Lasagna

When you blog about making food from scratch, your friends and family assume that EVERYTHING you make is from scratch.  You end up getting credit for things you didn't actually make.  It's kind of funny.

It's true that I make a KILLER lasagna from scratch.  Using my homemade pasta sauce and homemade noodles, the lasagna is seriously to die for.

But let's get real, I'm a working mother, I don't have time to whip out a scratch lasagna on any given weeknight.  So I learned how to improvise and I'm willing to share my trick with you.

You will never buy a frozen lasagna again!

Total prep time is 10 to 30 minutes, depending on whether you use meat or not.  And cook time ranges from 30 minutes to 45 minutes.  The key to making this lasagna great is to use a good, all-natural jar of sauce.  PLEASE skip the Preggo.  As a good Italian girl that brand makes me shudder.  I really prefer the brand Rao's, which makes a great Marinara sauce that isn't sweet (I HATE sweet pasta sauce!).

Give this recipe a try and your family will be very happy.  You can also make two lasagnas at once and freeze one to make weeknight dinners really easy!

Easy Weeknight Lasagna

The Blue Moon is not an ingredient, but definitely
makes the lasagna process more fun!

Ingredients:
2 jars Marinara Sauce
1 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground Italian sausage (or 3-4 sausage links, sliced)
salt, pepper, garlic powder
8 oz ricotta cheese
16 oz mozzarella cheese
3 to 4 oz of grated parmesan
2 boxes No-Boil Lasagna noodles

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brown ground beef and Italian sausage over medium heat.  While it's browning, add seasonings to taste.  Once it's fully cooked, pour both jars of pasta sauce into pot and let simmer for about 10 minutes.  Remove from heat.

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray (I like the Spectrum brand which doesn't contain nasty BHT preservatives like the mainstream brand does).  Using a ladle, spoon two ladles of pasta sauce into the bottom of the baking dish.  Layer four no-boil noodles over the top.  Spoon two more ladles of sauce over the top.  Using a large spoon scrape thin layers of ricotta and spread them over the sauce (about 8 separate thin scoops).  Layer slices of mozzarella around over the ricotta.  Add another layer of noodles.  Then repeat two more times (sauce, ricotta, mozzarella, noodles, sauce, ricotta, mozzarella, noodles).  After the third or fourth layer of noodles (depending on how deep your dish is), pour the remaining sauce over the top, and then spread mozzarella over the top, either sliced or grated.  Also add grated parmesan cheese.

Bake until sauce gets bubbly and cheese is melted - about 30 to 40 minutes.

This recipe can easily be made without the meat.  Simply layer the sauce right out of the jar (no pre-simmering required) and bake for about the same amount of time.