Tomato sauce
Ricotta
Mozzarella
Parmesan
Egg
Lasagna noodles
Foil
This is one of my family’s favorite meals. When I make lasagna, it’s an all day production. Usually, I can make 5 pans for the freezer for $50, if not lower. Much cheaper, and much more tasty than Stouffer’s any day of the week. It’s definitely slightly easier to make it in bulk, and cheaper too. If you’re buying everything from scratch, and not shopping from your pantry, you might look for huge cans of crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce in the restaurant aisle, or at Sam’s Club.
I start with a large pot of tomato sauce. Lots of crushed tomatoes, lots of ground beef, and lots of garlic. You want it slightly thinner than spaghetti sauce, because it’s going to cook down. Allow to simmer while you get everything else ready.
These next amounts are for 1 pan at a time. If you find an Italian blend of shredded cheese on sale, use that. My feelings won’t be hurt.
Combine a large container of ricotta with about 1 cup grated mozzarella and 1/2 cup of parmesan. Add in one whole egg and mix to combine.
Rinse 1 box of lasagna noodles to remove excess starch. I don’t parboil my noodles.
Using a large glass baking dish, or a foil dish for the freezer, layer sauce, noodles, sauce, cheese, noodles, sauce, cheese mixture, until you reach almost to the top of the dish. You want to end with a layer of sauce and grated parmesan. Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and allow to bake 15 more minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to set for 10-15 minutes. I usually use that time to make a pan of garlic bread.
Eat and enjoy!
If you’re making extra for the freezer, make sure you wrap it well and label it so you’re not trying to figure out what it is next summer.
Kristin
A quick tip if you don’t have time to layer it, make ziti. It is just like lasagna but everything is mixed together, placed in the pan, then topped with cheese and baked. I make this for my family all the time and it’s a huge hit.
I’ve made that a few times, also. 🙂