When I enter lasagna territory, I make a double batch. We freeze the rest with our food saver–8 meals frozen with an afternoon of labor. That is a great investment of time! I use a deep dish lasagna pan. And I do not cook the noodles ahead of time (this saves time AND the noodles are hard to deal with cooked and hot and broken. . . ). You can make meatless lasagna. I make lasagna with meat. So here is my recipe for meatballs (which I double for the lasagna):
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 slices soft white bread broken up
- 1 tablespoon parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon minced parsley
- 1 egg well beaten
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
With your hands, mix above items in a bowl. Fry the meatballs in oil. Thanks to my mother for this handed down recipe!
- spaghetti sauce (either jarred or homemade – we use jarred for lasagna and purchase it during BOGO sales)
- 2 boxes lasagna noodles – uncooked
- 4 cups ricotta cheese
- 10 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (divided)
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
- 8 eggs
- 1 tablespoon parsley
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
In a large bowl, combine ricotta cheese, 8 cups mozzarella cheese and the rest of the ingredients listed below the cheese. Mix well.
Crumble the meatballs you plan to use in a separate bowl.
In a large deep dish lasagna pan, place a layer of sauce, a layer of crumbled meatballs, a layer of noodles (don’t overlap) and a layer of cheese mixture. Repeat 3 times. Then a layer of sauce, layer of noodles, and the extra two cups of shredded mozzarella cheese. Cover with foil.
Bake at 350 for an hour. Poke the top noodles with a fork to make sure they are soft. Once the noodles are done. Take the foil off and cook 10 more minutes. Take out of the oven and let stand 10 minutes before cutting and serving.
After the lasagna is cool, cut into portions for your family. Foodsaver and freeze them. Enjoy!