Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Economical Leftover Spaghetti Sauce Lasagna


Since our children are no longer living at home, we often have large amounts of leftovers after having spaghetti with meat sauce. In my quest to quit waxting so much food, I started saving the leftover sauce and keeping it in the freezer until there is enough to make hearty lasagna. It also saves me from having to go through the whole meat sauce process, which saves me huge amounts of time. If you're in a hurry, you could also use jars of ready made, but I prefer my own sauce. Besides, it is far more economical this way.



Since there are only two of us, I'm always able to make two smaller casseroles of lasagna, which also saves me another night of slaving over a hot stove, grill, or oven. What's not to love about that? So, let's get this show on the road, shall we?



Ingredients:

1/2 box of lasagna noodles, cooked al dente'

5 cups Italian meat sauce (or leftover spaghetti sauce)

1 container (15 ounce) container of ricotta cheese

4 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 cup (4 ounce) Parmesan cheese, shredded



Ingredients:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Cook noodles according to box directions, drain, and separate.

3. Heat meat sauce in a large pot, simmering until heated.

4. Spray 13x9 casserole dish with vegetable cooking spray.

5. Spread about 3/4 to 1 cup of meat sauce over the bottom of the pan.

6. Place 2 to 3 lasagna noodles over the meat sauce, overlapping if necessary.

7. Place bits of ricotta all over the noodles.

8. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the entire pan and cover with meat sauce.

9. Repeat layers until all ingredients are used, reserving enough mozzarella for topping.

10. Finally, sprinkle shredded Parmesan evenly over the top.

11. Cover casserole in foil so that it doesn't invert, otherwise you'll have cheese sticking to it.

12. Bake for 30 minutes in preheated oven for 30 minutes.

13. Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes.

14. After removing from oven, allow lasagna to sit for 5 minutes before serving.

15. Serve with garlic toast and tossed salad.