Lazy Man’s Lasagna

Name: Lazy Man's Lasagna
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h
Ingredients: ½ pound ground beef; 1 medium onion, diced small; 2 cloves of garlic minced; ½ pound of ziti or penne (about 2 ¾ of a cup) cooked to just before al dente *see note; 8 oz ricotta cheese (half of a 15 oz container); 1 can (14.5 oz) crushed tomatoes; 1 can (14.5 oz) tomato sauce; 1 can (6 oz) tomato paste; 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning; ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes; 2 cups shredded mozzarella; 1 cup shredded parmesan; 1 egg

January 14, 2020Brianna

I really love lasagna but don’t make it too often. One day I had planned to make a lasagna but discovered I didn’t actually have lasagna noodles so instead I decided to try making it with the noodles I had on hand and this Lazy Man’s Lasagna was born. I hope you love it as much as my family has.

Lazy Man’s Lasagna

Print Recipe

All the delicious taste of lasagna with way less work and time to prepare!

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 60 minutes
Yield: Feeds about 6 1x

Ingredients

Scale

½ pound ground beef

1 medium onion, diced small

2 cloves of garlic minced

½ pound of ziti or penne (about 2 ¾ of a cup) cooked to just before al dente *see note

8 oz ricotta cheese (half of a 15 oz container)

1 can (14.5 oz) crushed tomatoes

1 can (14.5 oz) tomato sauce

1 can (6 oz) tomato paste

2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 cups shredded mozzarella

1 cup shredded parmesan

1 egg

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

Lightly spray a 10×10 baking dish and set aside (*see note)

In a large saucepan, cook ground beef, onions, and garlic till meat is cooked through. Drain excess fat and return to pan. Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes. Stir together and simmer on low heat for at least 10-15 minutes while you cook the noodles and prep the rest of the dish.

Combine ricotta, egg, ½ cup mozzarella and ¼ parmesan cheese and then add 1 cup of sauce to it. Add pasta into the cheese mixture and toss to coat evenly.

Pour about ½ cup of tomato sauce into the bottom of your baking dish to coat bottom of pan. Add ½ of the noodle mixture and spread evenly. Pour half the remaining sauce over the noodles evenly and then sprinkle half of the remaining shredded cheese over the sauce. Repeat this process for the second half of the noodles, sauce, and cheese.

Cover with foil and bake till cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling, about 30 minutes.

Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Notes

This makes 1 very full 10×10 dish of food. If you’d rather a dish not be quite so full you can do this in a 9×13 but the dish won’t have as thick of layers.
Don’t cook the pasta to soft or even al dente or you’ll have very very soft noodles in the end.

This dish can be prepared up to a few days in advanced. Cover tightly with plastic wrap after assembled and place in refrigerator. Remove the plastic wrap, add foil over top and add about 10-15 minutes of baking time.

Keywords: Lazy Man's Lasagna