LASAGNA 8X8 PAN RECIPES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray 8x8-inch glass baking dish with cooking spray. Stir together ricotta cheese, egg and Parmesan cheese in small bowl; set aside.
• Cook beef and onion in large skillet until beef is crumbled and no longer pink, stirring occasionally. Stir in Italian seasoning and garlic and cook until fragrant. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar and salt. Simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Spread 1-1/4 cups meat sauce over bottom of dish. Place 2 noodles over meat sauce, top with half of the ricotta cheese mixture, 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese and 1-1/4 cups meat sauce. Repeat layers. Top with remaining noodles, meat sauce and mozzarella cheese.
• Spray underside of aluminum foil with cooking spray; cover dish tightly with foil. Bake 30 minutes. Remove foil; bake 15 minutes more or until cheese melts and sauce is bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Steps:

• In Crock pot, cook meat, onion and garlic on a high temp until meat starts to brown and onions and garlic have sweated, but not burned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, paste, sauce and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 3/4 tbsp salt, pepper and 1 tsp of dried parsley. Let this come up in temperature, cover and simmer for approx 2 1/2 hrs.
• Prepare noodles by breaking noodles to fit an 8x8 baking pan. Set aside until ready to assemble after sauce has simmered. Once it has simmered long enough, turn off Crock pot rinse the noodles with warm water, no need to cook the noodles. Preheat oven to 375° F.
• Prepare cheese mixture by adding ricotta cheese, egg, 1 tsp parsley and 1/4 tsp salt. Add 1 tbsp of the Parmesan cheese and mix to combine.
• To Assemble: With a 1/2 c measuring cup, or ladle, place one or 1 1/2 scoops of sauce on the bottom of the 8x8 pan. Place one layer of your pre-measured noodles on the sauce. Spread or dollop the ricotta mixture on top of the noodles and try to spread it best you can. Sprinkle or place the Mozzarella/Provolone cheese mixture on top of that. Next, another layer of the sauce, then sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over that. You repeat this (starting with another layer of noodles) until all of the ricotta is gone. I did two good layers with about 1-1 1/2 cups sauce in each layer, and 2 hand fulls of the shredded cheese mix, to give you an idea. Once you have completed the last layer with Parmesan, I sprinkle a little extra, if any, of the shredded cheese on there too. Cover this tight with foil. PLACE ON BAKING SHEET, this probably will bubble over slightly. Into the 375° oven for 25 minutes. Very carefully, remove the foil at this point, and continue to bake for an additional 25 minutes or so. Remove from oven and let lasagna cool for 15 minutes or so. Meanwhile, you can store the remaining sauce in a freezer container, make an additional lasagna (8x8 pretty aluminum pan, just be careful as it will be heavy, may want to use a baking sheet until the freezer sets it up) and freeze it for a later day or keep in the fridge for spaghetti, pizza, bread stick dipping sauce or whatever you want to use this for.