How to Make a Lasagna, Easy and Delicious

Do you want to make a great lasagna but without all the effort and time? Here are some time saving tips to making a great tasting lasagna!

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• lasagna
• sauce
• meat
• cheeses

1. Buy your lasagna ingredients. Here is what I use.
   
   2 cans or jars of spaghetti, slightly more than 16 oz.
   1 lb ground round or sirlion
   ½ Hot Italian sausage
   1 (15 oz.) container Ricotta
   1 egg, beaten
   8 oz. grated Mozzarella cheese
   1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
   1 tbsp. parsley flakes
   Dash or more of nutmeg
2. I used a lasagna recipe right off of the lasagna box early on. Now I cook it without really measuring. My recipe above is an approx. amount. Here is a great recipe at Cooks.com. http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1835,153167-227197,00.html
3. After you select your lasagna recipe buy all the ingredients. Buy grated cheese, Italian sausage and sauce in a jar, all time saving tips!
4. Doing all your preparation concurrently will speed this process up for you. Less time in the kitchen is great at the end of the day. You will be able to do this lasagna prep in 15 minutes or less!
5. Start with your pasta. Some no-boil lasagna recipes have you run water over the noodles. Instead place your pasta in a long rectangular pan and run very hot water into the pan. Let the pasta stand while you prep your lasagna.
6. While the lasagna is soaking start cooking your ground meat on the stove. I use hot Italian sausage to get an extra flavor boost. You can use just Italian sausage or add ground round or sirloin.
7. While the meat is cooking, mix your cheese filling. The recipe I recommended includes nutmeg in the cheese filling. This is one of those spices that really makes the lasagna extra delicious. I always use grated cheese to speed this time up.
8. When the meat is done, add sauce to the meat. Reserve some sauce, without meat for the bottom and top of the lasagna.
9. After your meat and cheese filling is ready it’s time to layer the lasagna in a pan.
   Pour a small amount of the jar sauce into the bottom of the pan. Then place lasagna, meat sauce and then cheese filling. Top with another layer of lasagna. Some people use a deep pan this recipe works either way.
10. Once your layers are getting to the top of the pan, add your last layer of pasta and pour the sauce (without meat) on top being sure to fully cover the pasta. Top the pan with aluminum foil to bake. This keeps the pasta covered with sauce and the moisture in the pan to get the lasagna fully cooked. It’s great not having to boil the lasagna!
11. Bake 45-1 hour in a 350◦ oven. During the last 5 minutes take off the aluminum foil and add grated cheese on top.
12. Add some great and easy sides to this yummy treat. I recommend Pepperidge Farms Texas Toast, you'll find it in the frozen food section. Add a bag of salad or make a quick green salad to round out your meal.

Tips & Warnings

• Experiment with different sauce flavors, to turn this into your own signature lasagna recipe.
• Be careful making this for family and friends. They will ask for it over and over!