Anyone got a good lasagna recipe?

[Betty]

I am cooking for my parents this week, they are visiting.

[MrScorpio]

1. Try spinach in with the ricotta mix

Yummy

[sbj405]

10. Also, shredded zuchinni and yellow squash. n/t

[calico1]

2. Get a box of

Barilla lasagna noodles. You don't need to precook them and that makes it easier. I get about 1 lb. of ground meat, a jar of sauce (you might need 2 if you like it saucy), a 16 oz. bag of mozzarella cheese and a container of ricotta. You want to brown the meat with some onions, garlic and about 1/2 teaspoon of all purpose seasoning, or just some salt and pepper. You can omit any of this stuff if you don't like it. The box of noodles should have directions on how to layer all the ingredients. I personally only use a thin layer of ricotta on the noodles because I don't care too much for ricotta--at least not for lasagna. Other people love it so it depends on what you like. Then after I do this I layer sauce, then cheese and continue this process til I have about 3 layers. The top layer of noodles just gets some plain sauce and cheese. Then I cover the pan with foil and bake. The package will tell you how long. The last few minutes you should uncover. I am not Italian but this works out good for me. Maybe some Italian DU'ers can give you some more authentic recipes, but personally I like the noodles I mentioned because I think the hardest part before these came out was pre boiling all the noodles and making sure they didn't break. That was always a pain and took a long time!

[flamingyouth]

6. Definitely second the use of Barilla noodles

I love them, they taste great and makes making lasagna so much easier.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

7. Oven-ready noodles = Best thing since sliced bread

It cuts the prep time in half, and the noodles taste great! I haven't tried the Barilla ones; but I've been very pleased with the San Giorgio "Oven Ready" brand.

I like a lot of mozzarella and ricotta cheeses; and add black olives to the sauce. :9

[tcfrogs]

3. Do you eat meat?

I have a great one, but it involves Italian sausage & ground beef. Of course, you could improvise, but then I can't give you the recipe in good conscience.

[onebigbadwulf]

4. Meat - lots and lots of meat

oh yessss

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

5. Here's a good one

Use the recipe on the back of the Prince no-boil lasagna box, with these exceptions:

1) Sautee 3 sliced red peppers and half a white onion in olive oil w/ 3 TBSP minced garlic, 1 TBSP oregano, 1 TBSP basil.
2) Puree the pepper/onion mixture with a hand blender
3) In a second pan cook 1-1/2 lb italian sausage with 2 TBSP minced garlic.
4) Add pureed pepper/onion mixture and sausage to 3 jars of Barilla chunky spaghetti sauce (available at aldi) or the Classico equivalent

Follow remainder of instructions from the lasagna box.

My wife just made this a couple of days ago. It is wonderful!

[XNASA]

8. The secret is, to cook everything before you load it into the pan.

Brown or saute any veggies or meat that you decide to use. That keeps it nice and firm. The worst thing is when it gets all runny. Use at least 3 different kinds of cheese. The precooked lasagne noodles work well. That's about it.

I once figured out, that it cost me between $15-18 to make a lasagne. Now, I just buy a good frozen one for about $10 and save myself the time and trouble.

I'm gettin' lazier by the minute.

[elehhhhna]

9. Make it (neatly) in a spring-form pan...

When you take the pan off, it's gorgeous (esp. if you use some spinach.)

NEVER use lo-fat ricotta. Never!

Prego works right out of the jar, baby!

Preshredded cheese, frozen lasagna, no-boil noodles. Easy.

[Betty]

11. Thanks everyone.

nm