Sunday, January 22, 2012

Lasagna...oooey gooey yummyness


     I had never made lasagna until I became gluten free. It wasn't a dish that my family ever made when I was growing up. I always assumed it was super hard to make. However, that is so very not true. Lasagna isn't any harder to make than any other casserole. I think we just didn't have it when I was growing up because my Dad isn't a big fan of cheesy stuff. I'm not sure how we are related because I LOVE all things cheese. I guess that must come from my Mom's genes!
     There are two schools of thought out there on lasagna. One group of people ALWAYS cooks the noodles before and the other group throws the uncooked noodles into the pan. I'm of the school of easier is better. I do not pre-cook my lasagna noodles. I put them in the pan while they are hard as rocks. As long as you line the bottom of the pan with some sauce you should be just fine. I also make sure that my meat sauce has plenty of moisture so that the noodles will have liquids to soak up while they cook. I've never had an issue of undercooked noodles. That just saves me one less step and one less pan to wash. LOVE IT!
    
Lasagna-gluten free

1lb. Hamburger or Turkey burger
1 small onion,diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 jar of your favorite gf spaghetti sauce
1 carton ricotta cheese or cottage cheese
2 eggs
2 tsp. Parsley
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 C. Parmesan cheese
2-3 c. Mozzarella or Italian shredded cheese
1 box of gluten free lasagna noodles

Generously spray a 9x13 in. pan with cooking spray. Pour 1/3 of the spaghetti sauce in the bottom of the pan. Set aside.

In a skillet brown the meat. When the meat is almost finished cooking add in the diced onion and garlic. Finish browning. Pour the remaining spaghetti sauce over the meat and simmer for 5-10min.

While the meat is cooking, mix the filling. In a small bowl combine the container of ricotta or cottage cheese (I sometimes do a mixture of 1/2 ricotta and 1/2 cottage cheese), eggs, black pepper, parsley, and Parmesan cheese. Mix until combined. Set aside.

Now it is time to put it all together. In your 9x13 pan with the sauce in the bottom. Lay 3 lasagna noodles on top of the sauce. Top with 1/2 of the meat mixture, 1/2 of the cheese mixture, a handful of shredded cheese. Top with 3 more noodles, the other 1/2 of the meat mixture, other half of the cheese mixture, another handful of shredded cheese. Top with 3 more noodles and the remainder of the shredded cheese.  Cover with foil and bake at 350 deg. for about 1 hour. Uncover and turn the oven up to 400 deg. Bake for another 20 min to brown the cheese on top. Remove the pan from the oven and let it rest for 10-15min. before cutting. That gives it time to set up.

Let's make lasagna!
Brown your meat ( I used ground turkey)
In a small bowl mix the cheesy filling mixture.
Generously spray a 9x13in. pan with cooking spray. Dump 1/3 of the jar of spaghetti sauce into the bottom of the pan.
Spread out the sauce and lay down 3 lasagna noodles.
On top of the noodles layer 1/2 the meat mixture and 1/2 the cheese mixture. Repeat
Into the oven.........
Don't forget to let it rest for 10-15 min. once it comes out of the oven.


    Enjoy!! This also freezes very well. I put it in containers and pop it into the freezer. It makes a great lunch or supper for another day!


-Jessica







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