So last night, we decided to use a bunch of stuff that we had on hand and made tuna noodle casserole. Just a standard recipe, but I jazzed it up with cream of mushroom and roasted garlic soup, and added some pepper jack cheese, while using tri-color rotini pasta instead of egg noodles. It wasn't bad, but it reinforced one major thing for me. I really don't like canned tuna.
But it did get me thinking about casseroles and such. It's handy to have something that you put into a baking dish, and then have as leftovers for a day or two (or feed four or five people once). There are two of those kind of meals that I do fairly well, and of those two this one is my favorite. So here's
Easy Lasagne
Ingredients:
One box of the "no boil" variety of lasagne noodles (love these things!)
Roughly two quarts of tomato sauce (use canned or the recipe on post 47)
1 Pound of Ground Beef
1 Package of Italian Sausage
1 Tub of Ricotta Cheese (half a pint, I think. we use low fat)
1 Small package of frozen spinach
2 bags of shreeded mozzerlla cheese (I use the mozzerella, asiago, romano blend)
Grated Parmesan Cheese
Instructions:
With a knife, slit open the sausage casings and remove the sausage. In a skillet, brown the ground beef and sausage together so you get a consistent sized batch of loose ground meat. (You'll probably have to break up the sausage a bit with a spatula). While the meat is cooking in the skillet, drain the thawed frozen spinich in a kitchen towel and mix with the ricotta in a food processor (you can add one egg to this if you like. I don't). Blend until fully integrated. Once the meat mixture is cooked, drain off as much fat as possible.
In a 9 x 13 baking dish, ladle a small amount of sauce to barely cover the bottom of the pan. Place one layer of the lasagne noodles (usually three noodles per layer) down on top of the sauce. Spread a layer of the ricotta/spinach mixture onto each noodle. Spread a layer of the meat mixure evenly over the ricotta/spinach. Ladle sauce over the meat so it's evenly covered, but very lightly. Sprinkle a layer of cheese over the whole thing. Take three more of the lasagne noodles and use them to press down the lower layers. Repeat a layer of ricotta/spinach, a layer of meat, sauce, and cheese. Then add a top layer of noodles. On the top, liberally ladle sauce so that it fills in around the sides of the layers. Sprinkle with Cheese and Grated Parmesan.
Bake covered with foil in a 375 degree oven for 45-50 minutes. Remove Foil and return to the oven for 10 more minutes.
Let the lasagne sit for 15 mintues before serving.
We usually get 6 large portions from this recipe. We portion leftovers into individual plastic containers and freeze them. They make a really nice, easy lunch.
So, what other "casserole" type recipes do the rest of you have?