This lasgana was for a wine tasting event.
I needed an easy fill-yourself-up-don’t-get-wasted food to serve.
Lasagna for the bill perfectly.
This recipe is easy and good. In a perfect world I would have time to make my own sauce and everything but I didn’t. I used two shortcuts: using No-boil noodles and my favorite tomato basil sauce.
Even with the shortcuts it’s still good.
Hope you enjoy it.
Also, it can easily be made gluten-free with oven ready gluten free lasagna sheets. The Gluten free version was not even noticeable to people!
The original recipe is from Meaningful Eats
Easy Dinner Party Lasagna
An EASY recipe for gluten-free lasagna using barilla gluten free lasagna noodles!
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 1hour
Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Servings 12 people
Ingredients
For the Cheese Mixture:
- 1 16oz bag of shredded mozzarella cheese low-moisture
- 8 oz ricotta cheese
- 8 oz cottage cheese small curd
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
For the Sauce/Lasagna:
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1/2 white onion finely diced
- 29 oz can Hunt’s Tomato Sauce or another canned tomato sauce
- 24-28 oz bottle jarred tomato basil pasta sauce I like the Tomato Basil sauce from Trader Joe’s best
- 10 oz Gluten-Free Oven Ready Lasagna Noodles I use Barilla
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425F.
- Set aside one cup of the mozzarella cheese for topping the lasagna later. In a medium bowl, mix together the remaining mozzarella and rest of the cheese mixture ingredients (mozzarella, ricotta, cottage cheese, parmesan, eggs, parsley and pepper) until combined.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the ground beef and onion. Brown the ground beef, breaking into very small chunks as you do. (The smaller the better so there aren’t big chunks of meat in the lasagna.)
- Drain the meat of any excess grease and return to the pan. Add the sauces and mix until heated through.
- Spoon a thin layer of sauce onto the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Using 5 noodles for the first layer – dip a noodle in the sauce and spread the top of the noodle with a layer of sauce. Place in the pan. Dipping/covering each individual noodle with sauce ensures the noodles will cook through. (See the photos in the post.) Repeat with the remaining noodles. You may have to break the 5th noodle in half to fit it along the bottom of the pan. If it breaks no problem, just layer it in the best you can!
- Layer the rest of the lasagna as follows:Add 1/2 of the cheese mixture in dollops across the top of the noodle/sauce layer. Spread with a small spatula until smooth.
- Spread a few small spoonfuls of sauce over the cheese layer. Dip/cover another 5 noodles and lay them on top of the cheese mixture.
- Add the other 1/2 of the cheese mixture in dollops across the top of the noodle/sauce layer. Spread with a small spatula until smooth.Spread a few small spoonfuls of sauce over the cheese layer.
- Dip/cover the remaining 6 noodles in sauce and and lay them on top.
- Spread any remaining sauce over top of the lasagna.
- Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 40 minutes covered.
- Remove the foil and top with the reserved mozzarella cheese.
- Bake for another 15-20 minutes until browned and bubbling.
- Let the lasagna sit for 20 minutes before serving. Slice and enjoy!
Notes
Ingredient Notes:
- Gluten-Free Oven-Ready Lasagna Noodles: You can fine these widely available these days. My favorite brand is Barilla.
- San Marzano Canned whole tomatoes: you can use other brands but I find san Marzano tomatoes have the best flavor. I purée them if I buy them whole.
- Jarred Tomato Pasta Sauce: My personal favorite for this dish is Trader Joe’s Tomato Basil.
- Ground Beef: You can also use ground sausage for more flavor. Be sure to break up the ground beef into very small pieces when you cook it. Nobody wants big chunks of meat in lasagna!
- Ricotta/Cottage Cheese: This is my personal favorite combination of cheeses for lasagna. The cottage cheese ensures the ricotta mixture stays moist and distinct.
