Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Freakin' Awesome Lasagna

Hello...today I am going to share with you my recipe for some amaaaaazing lasagna. This recipe is from Mi Estrella Favorita (my favorite star), Becky. She and I met in Spanish class at Ricks College a million years ago...she sat in front of me on the first day of class and laughed at my smart aleck remark and we've been great friends ever since.

Before the recipe, let me say welcome to Kristy, my first "follower"...I am thrilled to have you! I tried to leave a comment welcoming you on your blog but it is private!!!! I am not permitted!!! But I enjoy your comments on my sis in law Jenny's blog anyway!!! She is so cute to advertise for me!!! Feel free to send me any of your recipe favorites! I am always looking for new ones!

OK...now to the recipe...this stuff is awesome!!!

2 jars Prego traditional spaghetti sauce
12 lasagna noodles (these will go in four layers of three)
1 container part-skim Ricotta cheese
2:1 mozzarella/cheddar cheese ratio...I could give you amounts, but I just pile it on
1 pkg of pepperoni
1 lb ground beef, browned, seasoned, and drained (see spices below)

Spices for ground beef:
dash of garlic powder
1/8 tsp of onion powder
1/8 tsp of chili powder (yes, really)
1/8 tsp basil
1/8 tsp parsley flakes
1/8 tsp oregano

While browning ground beef, boil water and cook 12 lasagna noodles.

After ground beef is seasoned, browned, and drained, set aside.

Now you are going to layer in a 9 x 13 baking dish, prepped with cooking spray...
Layer one-Prego, just enough to spread and cover bottom of baking dish
Layer two-3 lasagna noodles, side by side
Layer three-teaspoon size blobs of ricotta (I usually do 12, like if you were baking cookies)
Layer four-seasoned, browned ground beef, drained
Layer five-pepperoni slices
Layer six-cheese mixture
Layer seven- 3 lasagna noodles, side by side
Press down all over lasagna now to make it dense so you can do more layers!!!
Layer eight-sauce, etc. (you are repeating layers 1-7 again, pressing it into pan periodically.

When baking dish is nearly full, cover with tin foil and bake for 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees. About ten minutes before it is done, remove foil and top with cheese, then finish cooking.

YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1 comment:

  1. Your recipe is very similar to mine, but I thought I would pass on some clues I had a friend tell me. 1.) If you use lowfat cottage cheese instead of Ricotta, it makes the dis lower in fat, and I don't think it changes the flavor at all. 2.) Buy "Oven Ready" lasagna noodles, and they don't have to be pre-cooked! You just layer then in as you normally would, and bake. The oven-ready noodles (easily found at Wal-mart) come out soft and perfect with out the pre-cooking step! 3.) (Even though I don't like to eat them) Toss a small can of mushrooms into the spagetti sauce mixture for the added flavor. 4.) Try using 1/2lb of sausage and 1/2lb ground beef for a little extra kick! 5.) Add parmesean cheese in with the cheese mixture. And 6.) Bake the night before for abotu 30 min, refridgerate over night, and back for another 30 min the next night before serving. It seems to help the flavors blend more.

    Just some thoughts. Hope you don't mind me sharing...

    I haven't tried the pepperoni in my lasagna before...I will try that soon. Thanks for the idea!

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