Lasagna

Happy Thursday everyone! Today we are making something that is easy to put together and is a nice alternative to all that turkey and ham you are about to eat during the holidays. :)

Who loves Lasagna?! I do! AND I love making it because we have left overs for the next couple days. It's awesome to have a hot lunch and not have to worry about dinner the next day. Hey, even food bloggers like a day off ever so often.

Just to apologize in advance, we were hungry and ate this before I got a chance to photograph it SO the final pictures are less than desirable :) sorry about that!

Ingredients:
12 oven ready lasagna noodles
Pasta Sauce or a large jar of Spaghetti sauce
1 pound Ground Turkey Breast (Regular version: Ground Beef)
15 oz. container Ricotta Cheese
2 1/2 cups Mozzarella Cheese
1 cup Parmesan Cheese
1 egg
1 Tbsp. Dried Parsley flakes

To start off, preheat your oven to 350. In a large skillet, brown your ground turkey over medium heat, and then stir in your pasta sauce. Turn your burner to low to allow the pasta meat/sauce to stay warm while you prepare your other ingredients.

In another medium sized bowl, combine your ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup of your Parmesan cheese, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, your egg, and the dried parsley flakes. Stir until incorporated and set aside.

Take a 13x9 pan and spray it with nonstick cooking spray. Take a ladle and spoon some of your pasta sauce mixture into the pan (just barely enough to cover the bottom of the pan).

Next layer on 3 lasagna noodles.

Then cover your lasagna noodles with some of your ricotta mixture (as much or as little as your like, the official taste tester LOVES ricotta so we use a ton).

Once this step is complete, spoon more of your pasta sauce mixture on, and continue the layering process until you run out of noodles, ricotta mixture, and pasta sauce.

(2nd layer sauce)

 

(2nd layer noodles)

(2nd layer ricotta)

and so on and so on until you have (drum roll please)...

 

DADAAAAAAAAAAA! I know, I know. In the picture it still looks the same as the first layer, but under that sauce is 4 AWESOME lasagna layers :)

P.S. if you run out of ricotta or sauce before you run out of noodles, just do less layers. The lasagna police won't come after you, I promise. :)

Once your layers are complete, top the lasagna with your remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. It should look like this:

YUM!

Now grab a piece of foil that is big enough to cover your 13x9 pan. Spray the bottom of it with non-stick cooking spray (so the cheese won't stick) and cover you pan.

Bake your lasagna for 45 minutes and then remove the cover and bake it for an additional 15 minutes. Here is what your final product looks like (and by final product I mean the next day when I remembered to take the picture... sorry I don't have one of the whole thing!):

There ya have it, the most awesome homemade lasagna you will ever taste! I served mine with some garlic bread and a Caesar salad for the perfect Italian meal. :)

Happy Cooking

& Enjoy!!