Versatile Lasagna

Sometimes dinner comes along and you just have to improvise. Spending my days with a baby and toddler can mean that my best laid dinner plans don’t always pan out. It also means that I can make a trip to the grocery store, list in hand, and manage to leave without a few key ingredients to my meal plan.

With this in mind, I try to keep a few basic recipes and ingredients on hand to prevent those dinner emergencies. Frozen dinners are for Friday nights, quesadillas for Sunday afternoons, and eating out for date nights – I want something more for weeknights. So, my weeknight backup plans need to be relatively healthy, simple to make, and affordable. There are several recipes I fall back on (and plan to share), and lasagna is one of them.

I’ve tried several different types of lasagna recipes and discovered that this is a dish that is very versatile and open to interpretation. While you do have to plan ahead for a good 45 to 60 minutes cooking time, you don’t have to worry too much about having the “right” ingredients on hand. With a combination of the following ingredients, you can easily whip up a yummy lasagna:

Lasagna Noodles (I prefer the “no boil” noodles.)
Spaghetti Sauce (Any flavor/brand will do) or an Alfredo Sauce
One of the following: Ricotta Cheese, Cream Cheese, or Cottage Cheese (this is my least fav of the 3)
One (or a combination of) the following: Ground Meat, Sausage, Bacon, Chicken, Spinach
Mozerella Cheese (Adding Parmesan on top or a bit of colby jack mixed in is also yummy)
Egg
Spices
Vegetables such as Onion (I consider this a “must”), Peppers, Mushrooms

With these on hand, I’ve made the following versions of lasagna:
Vegetarian Lasagna
Chicken White Sauce Lasagna (Rich)
Spinach and Bacon Lasagna
Ground Beef, Onion, and Pepper Lasagna
Spinach/Chicken White Sauce Lasagna (I like the texture spinach adds)
Ground Beef, Spinach, & Veggie Lasagna (Hearty)
Whatever else I dream up (or have on hand)

While the ricotta/egg filling is my favorite, ricotta is a bit pricey and lasagna is the only dish I use it for. I almost always  have cream cheese on hand, so I’ve used the cream cheese/egg filling quite often lately and my  husband loves it!

Here’s a lasagna recipe I dreamed up one night that I thought was one of my best. Unfortunately, I don’t really measure the spices, but I’ll give it a guess.

Mindy’s Lasagna
Serving Size: 4

Ingredients:
1 26 oz Hunt’s Garlic and Herb
8 No Boil Lasagna Noodles
1/4 cup frozen spinach, thawed
1/4 cup Yellow Onion, diced
1/4 cup Red Onion, diced
2 garlic cloves (or 1 teaspoon)
1 lb ground beef
15 oz Ricotta cheese (could substitute cream cheese)
1 egg
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
1 1/2 to 2 cups Mozzerella Cheese (we like it cheesy)
salt and pepper
1.2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon basil

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375
Cook hamburger with salt and pepper to taste on stove top.
Cook spinach, onions, and garlic on stove top until onions are translucent.
Combine hamburger, spaghetti sauce, and spinach mixture.
Mix Ricotta, parmesan, egg, basil, nutmeg, pinch of salt and pepper
Use an 8×8 pan
Layer 1/3 of sauce mixture
layer 2 noodles
Layer ricotta mix, then sauce, then mozzerella
Repeat
Layer 2 noodles
Layer sauce
Top with mozzerella
Cover with aluminum foil
Bake 50 minutes, uncover, bake an additional 10 minutes. Let sit 5 minutes before serving. (Cooking times will vary with boiled noodles)

Next up: Easy, yummy, inexpensive…White Sauce