Crock Pot Lasagna - easy and delish!
I love when my kids are eager to help me in the kitchen. My 9-year-old saw me pulling out ingredients to and jumped in to assist. His help was welcome since I was making a lasagna, which would need lots of mixing and layers.
As I've said before, I'm not ashamed to take shortcuts when I cook. I also learned from my mom to "doctor" things up, as she would say. So, I know there are simple things to add to make the more convenient stuff taste more homemade. I used sauce in a jar, but added a little garlic (the minced stuff in a jar with olive oil.) and some Italian seasoning.
Lasagna is one of those dishes that leaves much room for experimentation. So, I'll fill you in on how I made this batch. Leave out the stuff you don't like, substitute with what you do and make it your own.
I really don't make lasagna often because not too many of the people in my house like it. But, I do, so I figured even if only hubby and I eat it, it's worth it. And it was my first time this fall using my crock pot. I'd never done one in the crock pot before. I think that's another thing that keeps me from making it much is all the work involved in boiling the noodles.
Another shortcut to this dish is that I had cooked a couple pounds of ground Italian Johnsonville sausage for French bread pizzas a couple weeks ago. I put the leftover sausage in the freezer and pulled it out to use in the lasagna rather than taking the time to brown a pan of beef.
This was so easy!!!! I got the inspiration from watching a video of the Crockin' Girls online making a crock pot version of lasagna. I could not believe how easy it was. I will never boil lasagna noodles again!
1 1/2 jars pasta sauce
4 cups fresh spinach
15 oz. container Ricotta cheese
8 oz. bag Lasagna shredded blend (Romano, Mozzarella, Parmesan, Provolone)
3 tsp. grated Parmesan
1 tsp. minced garlic in olive oil (add to sauce)
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
8 oz. lasagna noodles
1 lb. browned Italian sausage
1 small can mushrooms
In a small bowl, blend the three cheeses and a teaspoon of Italian seasoning. Reserve about 1/2 cup of shredded cheese for top. Then start layering.
Here's how I did my layering:
sauce
spinach
noodles
sauce
Italian sausage
mushrooms
cheese blend
spinach
noodles
sauce
sausage
mushrooms
cheese blend
spinach
noodles
sauce
Extra cheese
Italian seasoning
I put mine in the crock pot on high for about 2 hours.
As I've said before, I'm not ashamed to take shortcuts when I cook. I also learned from my mom to "doctor" things up, as she would say. So, I know there are simple things to add to make the more convenient stuff taste more homemade. I used sauce in a jar, but added a little garlic (the minced stuff in a jar with olive oil.) and some Italian seasoning.
Lasagna is one of those dishes that leaves much room for experimentation. So, I'll fill you in on how I made this batch. Leave out the stuff you don't like, substitute with what you do and make it your own.I really don't make lasagna often because not too many of the people in my house like it. But, I do, so I figured even if only hubby and I eat it, it's worth it. And it was my first time this fall using my crock pot. I'd never done one in the crock pot before. I think that's another thing that keeps me from making it much is all the work involved in boiling the noodles.
Another shortcut to this dish is that I had cooked a couple pounds of ground Italian Johnsonville sausage for French bread pizzas a couple weeks ago. I put the leftover sausage in the freezer and pulled it out to use in the lasagna rather than taking the time to brown a pan of beef.
This was so easy!!!! I got the inspiration from watching a video of the Crockin' Girls online making a crock pot version of lasagna. I could not believe how easy it was. I will never boil lasagna noodles again!
1 1/2 jars pasta sauce
4 cups fresh spinach
15 oz. container Ricotta cheese
8 oz. bag Lasagna shredded blend (Romano, Mozzarella, Parmesan, Provolone)
3 tsp. grated Parmesan
1 tsp. minced garlic in olive oil (add to sauce)
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
8 oz. lasagna noodles
1 lb. browned Italian sausage
1 small can mushrooms
In a small bowl, blend the three cheeses and a teaspoon of Italian seasoning. Reserve about 1/2 cup of shredded cheese for top. Then start layering.
Here's how I did my layering:
sauce
spinach
noodles
sauce
Italian sausage
mushrooms
cheese blend
spinach
noodles
sauce
sausage
mushrooms
cheese blend
spinach
noodles
sauce
Extra cheese
Italian seasoning
I put mine in the crock pot on high for about 2 hours.
Wow cooking it in a crock pot is a great idea. I use the heck out of mine but never thought of this. I am a huge lasagna fan but sadly nobody else in my family is.
ReplyDeleteI haven't done a lasagna in the crock pot yet, I better, this looks awesome. Thanks for sharing this at my Sunday Dinner Link Party! Hope to see you next week.
ReplyDelete