Monday, August 9, 2010

Make Ahead Meals: Lasagna



My sister Melissa just gave birth to my newest nephew Sean Arthur. As a first time mother who works, I know that meal planning is very important to her. In order to help her out and other busy men and women out there I have decided to post a series on Yummy Make Ahead Meal Recipes! These will be recipes that you can make a head and freeze.



Make Ahead Meals: Lasagna



Ingredients:

2 pound ground turkey or beef (I use a combination of both)
2 boxes of Lasagna (I use one box of whole wheat, one regular)
3 cups frozen veggies (thaw)
2 pounds of ricotta cheese
4 eggs
4 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
4 large jars of tomato sauce or 12 cups of Home Made Sauce
12 small foil pans I use 7x5 pans that are 3 for a $1 at DollarTree





Cook Ground Turkey/Beef until well done.

Cook Lasagna Noodles according to the directions on the package. I actually cook the whole wheat separate from the regular noodles but I don't think it is necessary.

Place thawed Veggies in a blender/food processor with 2 cups of Tomato Sauce. Blend until smooth. Mix veggie paste with the rest of the tomato sauce. Add well cooked meat to this sauce.

In a medium bowl, mix 4 eggs with 2 pounds of ricotta cheese.



Take your foil pan and ladle in enough tomato/veggie mix to cover the bottom of the pan.



Cut two noodles to size and place them on top of the sauce I alternate whole wheat and regular noodles


Scoop 1/2 cup of ricotta/egg mixture and spread on top of the noodles

Scoop 1/2 cup of sauce mixture on top of the cheese

Repeat this until the the pan is filled.

Pour 1/2 cup of sauce on top of the last layer of noodles

Sprinkle 1/2 of mozzarella cheese on top of sauce


This isn't the best picture, this is the last one I made so the cheese is probably only 1/4 cup instead of 1/2.


Place the lid on top or if you pan did not come with a top use a piece of foil. Wrap the pan and lid in foil to prevent freezer burn.

When ready to eat, remove from freezer in the morning, place in the refrigerator.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Enjoy!

1 comment:

lasagna recipe said...

I make this all the time for hubby every time he and his friends would go out fishing. They do rent a cabin with microwave. So, my lasagna has to be cooked already. They'll just reheat it there. They say they always have it for dinner on the first night. Funny how they say it feels like dinner at home, when the whole idea of their camping is to have a break from home and have a 'just us boys' time, lol! Oh well, we do love those weirdos so not exactly complaining here. :)