I have been making this lasagna for so long but have never written down the recipe.  I wing it every time!  So here goes nothing!!  Lasagna to me is a great leftover meal to make especially if you have a ton of veggies to use up.  My sister and her husband are vegetarians and so I have gotten used to making this lasagna packed FULL of any veggie that she has in her fridge that she needs to use up.  When we are with them I just make 2 simultanoulsy, one with meat, one without.  If it’s just for us, I make 1 for dinner, and 1 to freeze or to take to a friend.  You can bake it from frozen in twice the time – usually 2-2 1/2 hours.  Just throw a tented piece of foil over it, that you remove after an hour.

Also, I’ve found this is a GREAT way to get Addie to eat veggies.  I chop them extra fine and she has no idea they are in there!  Such good news!

EASY LASAGNA

Ingredients:

- 8 ounces uncooked lasagna noodles (I do not cook mine ahead of time, just buy regular lasagna noodles – no need to splurge in the “no boil” kind)
- 1/2 lb ground beef or ground turkey or spicy Italian sausage (or if you have all 3 to use up, by all means! I usually do sausage and turkey as both are always in my freezer.)
- 4 cups (~ 2 jars) Classico Sweet Pepper or Italian Sausage Sauce (or mix whatever you feel like – sometimes I buy 2 different kinds to keep ‘em guessing)
- 1 jar Classic Alfredo sauce (or any other brand you like)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
- 2 cups ricotta cheese
- 1 small container of basil pesto (optional)
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan
- An assortment of fresh veggies, chopped/diced – I like to use red & yellow bell peppers, onion, zuchinni, & yellow squash – but truly you can use ANYTHING, including cooked leftovers.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Add marinara sauce, water, salt and Italian Seasoning.  Cover and simmer 10 minutes.
3. In a separate pan, saute veggies in olive oil for just a few minutes, start with hardier veggies first and then softer (i.e. onions, carrots, peppers, yellow squash, zuchini, mushrooms…) they do not need to be cooked through. Salt & pepper to taste and then sat aside.
4. Use the now empty pan to cook the meat and then add to the sauce.
5. While meat is cooking, grate the cheese and set aside. In a separate bowl, mix the ricotta in with the pesto (if you are using) to your preference.  I think I mix about 3 – 4 tablespoons of pesto in with the ricotta.  Set aside.
6. Layer in a 9 x 13″ baking dish – the deeper the better.  Sometimes I prefer to make this in a deep foil pan (or 2 smaller deep foil pans).
7. Bake for 1 hour or until noodles no longer feel crunchy when knife is inserted.

Layers – does not need to be perfect!!

1/3 Meat Sauce
1/2 Noodles
1/2 Alfredo Sauce
1/2 Ricotta with Pesto
1/2 Mozzarella
1/3 Meat Sauce
All Veggies (Can also add these to the sauce instead)
1/2 Noodles
1/2 Alfredo Sauce
1/2 Ricotta with Pesto
1/2 Mozzarella
1/3 Meat Sauce
Parmesan

Serve with a big green salad and warm, buttered french bread.  I usually pull out a mini baguette from the freezer from Costco.