Friday, August 19, 2011

Quick and quicker

This is an easy lasagna to make...and very good.
"World's Best Lasagna"
Ingredients
1 pound Italian sausage
3/4 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
1/2 cup water ( I did not use water, but rather extra tomato sauce)
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
12 lasagna noodles
16 ounces ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced (used mozz and provolone)
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
1. In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. (I mixed all the tomato things w/all the seasonings together in a seperate bowl before adding to meat) Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
4. To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups (I used more than 1 1/2 cups in the layers) of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.
And this recipe is extremely easy to throw together...and really tasty!
"Chili Dog Casserole"
Ingredients
2 (15 ounce) cans chili with beans
1 (16 ounce) package beef frankfurters
10 (8 inch) flour tortillas
1 (8 ounce) package Cheddar cheese, shredded
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Spread 1 can of chili and beans in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Roll up franks inside tortillas and place in baking dish, seam side down, on top of chili and bean 'bed'. Top with remaining can of chili and beans, and sprinkle with cheese.
3. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil, and bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes. (Enjoy any condiment along w/this dish you normally eat w/hotdogs)

I add the recipes when the left-overs are gobbled up as well.  :)

2 comments:

Anne said...

You sure do make alot of good and different meals for your family,Candace. Mormor used to make a casserole that had hotdogs in it. Daddy,Caleb and I are looking forward to eating these delicious meals.

Kristin said...

Chili Dog recipe is something that I am going to try for sure...This week! The lasagna is almost exactly what I make except I put ground beef and no fennel seeds. I like the idea of putting fennel seeds in it. They are really good for you. The other thing is that my family would go crazy if I put that much tomato "stuff" in my lasagna. I am the only one that likes tomatoes. Meradeth really doesn't like "topatoes" as she calls them.