EASY, great-for-company lasagna? What about those no-cook noodles? (wine, leftover, steam)

[LaceyEx]

Run out and get the Pillsbury grands!!!!

[catfancier]

Lacey, really? They're good enough to take to Xmas dinner?? Are there choices or just one kind? There will be eight of us -- I guess get two tubes or however they come?

How early/late can I make them? The hostess's oven will be in use so they won't be hot-hot for dinner as I have to bring them over...any tips on that?

Are my cake pans ok or do I need a cookie sheet? (When I moved this year the movers lost my dishpack with ALL MY PFALTZGRAFF DISHES and lots of baking stuff, like muffin tins and the well-worn cookie sheet....alas.)

[LaceyEx]

I use a pizza pan for 8 of them. They have buttermilk, southern, flaky-they are so good. Bake them prior to going. They are 8 in a tube - so 2 or 3 would be fine!

[nomoresnow]

We like the Grands, too. Our favorite are the flaky, but I make the southern style for chicken 'n' biscuits. Yum.

[jlawrence01]

I NEVER cook the noodles and have NEVER used NO-COOK noodles and I have made thousands of pans of lasagna in a commercial kitchen.

What I do is this. Prepare the lasagna in your normal pan. Seal the pan with a quality plastic wrap and then aluminum foil. Cook as you normally would. Ten minutes before the end of the cooking, take both wraps off of the pan, top the lasagna with a layer of cheese and return to the over UNCOVERED.

[Minathebrat]

Originally Posted by catfancier

Thanks so much, ladies! Mina and others...WHICH sauce do you prefer? (I'm assuming a store-bought unless you make your own...Barilla's own? Someone uploaded the lasagna recipe from the Barilla box itself and it just says "1 -2 jars sauce" without specifying...though I imagine they hope you buy Barilla! Their recipe is pretty stripped-down (said the non-cook) so I was going to add sweet Italian sausage, which my family likes. I imagine if I keep the meat (beef/sausage) under 2 pounds it wouldn't overwhelm the recipe. (Box recipe calls for 1 lb. ground beef.)

Appreciate the tip about letting it set!! We will be on a deadline and we're eating very early anyway (around 4 p.m.) so I will get my butt in gear and get this baby baked.

Now ladies...please see my new thread begging for biscuit help...our Christmas hostess parcelled out food duties and I stupidly raised my hand and got biscuits. Trust me...I either slither over to Church's chicken and buy theirs or you guys help me! Bisquick box? Jiffy? Somebody else's?
And I only have two circular cake pans, no muffin tins...do I need to run out and shop??

THANKS again! Y'all (I'm a new Texan) are the best!

Hi Cat..If I buy a store-bought sauce I usually pick one up from Trader Joe's- they have several nice ones that are fairly inexpensive, but I've tasted Barilla's sauce and it's not bad at all. I'm always ready to doctor them up if needed, bit of garlic and red wine goes a long way! lol

My family really loves italian sausage in lasagna as well. I have one trick for a meat lasagne. I always keep the meat on the bottom layer, right on top of the bottom noodle and under any ricotta cheese. The weight of the meat, which is probably your heaviest ingredient, can squish the filling out from between the noodles. Keeping it on the bottom remedies that problem.

So, my layers look like: layer of sauce on the bottom of the pan, dry noodle, layer of sauce, meat, 1/2 cheese, noodle, layer of sauce (light veggies can go here, like mushrooms, etc) 1/2 cheese, noodle, sauce and then topping cheese.

[JustJulia]

Like Jlawrence, I never boil my noodles, and I never buy the no-boil kind. I use plain old regular lasagna noodles, and my lasagnas always come out great. It's my husband's favorite dish, so I make lasagna about every other week. I could spend a few hours making a really complex lasagna like my mom does, and those are delicious too, but I'm a working mom and usually don't have a lot of time. Here's what I do:

In a large pot, heat two tablespoons of olive oil, and saute a couple of cloves of minced garlic and half an onion or so (chopped). Cook the onions until they are golden, not brown, and add a package of ground turkey. You can use the Italian seasoned kind, but plain works perfectly well if you season it yourself. When the meat is about half browned, sprinkle liberally with herbs and spices such as crushed basil, oregano, and fennel. An Italian herb blend is fine, as long as it's not old. (Smell the herbs. They should be fragrant, not dusty.) You can also skip the step with the onions and garlic if you're in a big hurry. The meat tastes better with the garlic and onions, but you can sprinkle some onion and garlic powder instead, in a pinch.

While that's cooking up, microwave one small package (10 oz? not the big bag) of frozen spinach. Alternately, the morning you're going to make lasagna, you can also put it in a small colander, rinse it very well, and then put it over a bowl in the fridge. Whatever you do to thaw it out is fine, but frozen spinach contains a LOT of water. Wring it out very, very well, or squish as much water out in the colander as you can or you'll be sorry. Your lasagna will be watery and gross.

When your meat's all cooked up and yummy, add two jars of spaghetti sauce. (If the meat is greasy, like if you used hamburger instead, drain it first). I like chunky garden style sauce, because the bits of carrots and stuff add good flavor. Let that simmer on low.

In a bowl, mix 8 oz ricotta (I like the part-skim), one of those 2-cup bags of Italian blend shredded cheese, an egg (beat it up first in a cup), and a generous sprinkle of nutmeg. Mix all that up, and then mix in the thawed, DRY spinach.

Now you have a pot of meat sauce and a bowl of spinach-cheese mixture. You will also need a couple of cups of shredded mozzarella. Sorry I didn't give you a list at the beginning. I am going from memory, and I always have these things on hand.

If you have some veggies, like mushrooms, broccoli, or carrots, chop them small and add them to the spaghetti sauce. No big chunks. Don't worry about sauteing them first. Just cut them up and throw them in if you want.

Spray a big glass pan with a little cooking spray to help prevent sticking. Ladle half the meat sauce in the pan, and top with about a quarter of the mozzarella and then three raw lasagna noodles. Don't let the noodles touch the sides or one another. Three noodles going lengthwise is perfect for the pan, unless you use a very large one. The noodles will expand a bit. Press them gently into the cheese and meat.

Spoon the spinach-cheese mixture onto the noodles. This is the most difficult part, because the ricotta is a bit sticky, but use a couple of spoons and you'll be fine. Gently squish the cheese to cover the noodles, and then add a little more mozzarella. Add three more noodles, pressing down gently.

Top with the rest of the sauce and the remaining cheese. No noodles should be exposed.

Cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes. The lasagna will be bubbling hot, and the cheese should be completely melted and gently browned. (Sometimes things get a little gooey when you remove the foil, so be careful). Once it comes out of the oven, let it cool for 15 to 20 minutes and set up. If you cut into it immediately, the cheese will be molten and too runny.

While it's cooling, put some garlic bread in your already hot oven and toss a quick salad together.

Good stuff! When you get the hang of it, you can have a lasagna in the oven in under 30 minutes. I sometimes assemble one in the morning so I can put it in the oven as soon as I get home.

[Chefkey]

The Pasta sheets work great. I would suggest a fresh sauce though to make it that much more special.

Not too hard really, Just fine dice and saute' onion with olive oil until the sugar starts to come out. You can tell when this is happening by the sides of the pieces turning brown and you will see some browning on the pan. Stir constantly at this point throw in minced garlic until it begins to toast but be careful to avoid burning. Then deglaze the pan with red wine and make sure to cook all the alcohol out before adding crushed tomatoes. You can tell when the alcohol is out by waving your hand over the pan towards you and smelling. You will detect alcohol if it is present, it is important to get all the alcohol out or it will impart an undesireable flavor into the sauce. The red wine will sweeten your sauce and fortify it if done properly.

Then add oregano, basil,bay leaf, salt and pepper. Simmer for 1 to 2 hours stirring frequently and there you have it.

[crazyworld]

I love those Barilla no-cook noodles. Saves so much time and you cannot tell the difference at all.

[JustJulia]

Thanks, Chefkey! I've never made my own sauce before, but I'd like to!