Not Pretty But Tasty Slow Cooker Lasagna-ci |
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Prep Time: 0 Minutes Cook Time: 0 Minutes |
Ready In: 0 Minutes Servings: 10 |
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Adapted from my long time lasagna recipe to suit my brother's love of it, but not of cooking . Now, it's the ONLY way we make lasagna! It's not a pretty dish, but it's so tasty, and so easy and it makes your house smell wonderful all day. Read more . Serve with garlic bread and a simple salad and don't plan on moving for a few hours after eating! ;) Ingredients:
2lb italian sausage |
about 50oz favorite red pasta sauce(homemade or bottled---just get around that much, depending on sizes of jars available, etc |
1 box lasagna noodles(not no boil ) |
1 onion, diced |
4 cloves garlic, minced |
about 4 cups shredded mozzarella |
6oz parmesan cheese, shredded(not in the green can;) |
15oz ricotta |
1 large container cottage cheese |
1t dry italian seasonings(fresh is fine, of course, just double it, at least) |
salt and pepper |
Directions:
1. In large pan, brown sausage in small amount of olive oil, if needed. Add garlic and onion about halfway through browning process. Don't over cook the meat, cook til just done.
2. Remove meat from heat and drain excess grease, then and add pasta sauce and salt and pepper to meat mixture and stir to combine. Simmer while preparing cheese mixture.
3. Combine ricotta and cottage cheeses, Italian seasoning, and all but 1 cup each of mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.
4. Spray slow cooker with no stick spray and put small amount of meat/sauce mixture on bottom of pot.
5. Break noodles to fit and add double layer of noodles over bottom sauce layer, then another layer of the meat sauce, then spread a layer of the soft cheese mixture, then a layer of noodles, breaking to fit, and making sure to cover as much of the mixture as possible.
6. Then, continue with another layer of meat sauce, then soft cheese, then noodles, meat sauce, soft cheese, ending with this, then adding the shredded cheese to the top.
7. Cook on low for about 6 hours. Top will be bubbly and noodles will be tender(you can test by finding one of the uppermost noodles...if it's soft, the rest will be, so you're done ;)
8. Let rest at least 20 minutes or so(maybe while you're assembling a salad and/or making garlic bread, because this is not easy to cut into, and if it's not cooled a lil, it's even more difficult :)
9. -please note-the serving in the photo is with my own pasta sauce(with fresh mushrooms) and fresh herbs...the recipe can be tweaked to suit your tastes, but this was intended to be an easy starting point recipe, and one that a beginner can impress company with, even with using dried herbs and jarred sauce :)
10. **Warning, this is NOT a pretty dish...it's soooooooo tasty, and the flavors are incredibly melded and rich, but it's not gonna come out of the pot in the pretty layers of traditional lasagna. Also, we've made this only in an oblong slow cooker. I know the concept will work in a round one, but I'm not sure how the serving will go. Also, this will FILL a large slow cooker and feed a small army...so, please use it when presentation is less important than an easy, delicious meal for a crowd. :)
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