Crockpot Lasagna



 

So you all have my friend Chell to thank for this post as well.  We were talking about food and she told me about this recipe she tried.  Another winner for any big football finale gathering...lasagna that you prep in the morning and ignore all day until dinner?  Winner winner!  I gave her recipe my own little twist (and of course encourage you to do the same) and here's the result.

Crockpot Lasagna

1 lb ground meat*
2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup minced onion
1 large (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
2 tsp Italian Seasoning
1 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
1/2 tsp black pepper
8 oz (1/2 box) uncooked lasagna noodles
4 cups shredded mozzarella
2 cups cottage cheese

Brown your ground meat in a large deep-sided skillet. Add in onions and garlic, cook stirring for 2-3 minutes until onions are translucent.

Add crushed tomatoes, Italian Seasoning, tomato paste, black and red peppers to the meat.

In a small bowl, mix mozzarella and cottage cheese.  Set aside.

Lightly coat crockpot with cooking spray and then spread 1/4 of the meat sauce in the bottom of the crockpot.

Arrange 1/3 of your uncookied noodles on top.  Break into smaller pieces to make them fit if needed.

Spread 1/3 of your cheese mixture on top.

Repeat layers (sauce/noodles/cheese) two more times. Then spread the last 1/4 of the sauce on top of the last layer of cheese.

Put the crockpot cover on, set temperature to warm and let cook for at least 4 hours. 

When it's done cooking, remove the lid and let sit for 10 minutes before serving. This will help the lasagna set so it's more like lasagna and less like soup.

Serve it up with your favorite crusty bread and football fans.

NOTES

*Can use ground beef, chicken, turkey or pork. I used ground turkey for mine.

Chell says she makes hers in the morning before going to work so it's ready to eat when she gets home at the end of the day. You can throw it together in the morning and by Superbowl kick off will be ready to scoop out.

Instead of using canned tomatoes and herbing it up, you can always just subsitute your favorite jar of spaghetti sauce instead.

If you want to add veggies to your dish, can certainly throw in a layer.  If you add zucchini or yellow squash, slice them very thin and you won't need to pre-cook.  Same with mushrooms.  If you want to add carrots, I would partially cook them before adding in.

It's pretty easy to adapt this to your own favorite lasagna recipe, be creative...and then tell me how it goes, always welcome new suggestions.