It's love week. What I mean to say is Valentine's Day is Friday and everywhere I look I see red, pink, and hearts galore.
One of the ways I like to show my love is to cook and bake.
(Cue my husband reading this email and asking why I haven't baked him any peanut butter cookies lately.)
One of the meals I make just because I want to make him happy is lasagna. Nope, it's not healthy. I use regular lasagna noodles, jarred marinara, and lots of ricotta and mozzarella. Oh yeah, and Italian sausage...but at least the ground beef I use is grass fed on a local farm.
Want my cheater recipe that my husband claims is the best lasagna he's every had? (Isn't he sweet?)
Oh, and if you're looking for other recipes I asked my community in Detox by Design Insiders to share their favorite "special occasion" recipes.
Megan's Lasagna
1 package of lasagna noodles
2 jars of marinara sauce
1 package of Italian sausage (I like the spicy variety)
1 lbs. of ground beef
1 small container of ricotta
1 package of shredded mozzarella
1 egg
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Remove sausage from casings and brown together with beef in a deep stockpot on the stove. Once cooked through, add the marinara sauce.
3. While beef mixture is cooking, combine ricotta, mozzarella (saving about 1/2 cup of mozzarella for the top of the lasagna) , and egg.
4. In a 9x13 oven safe pan, add some of the sauce mixture to the bottom or the pan. Using a butter knife, spread the cheese mixture on lasagna noodles and lay noodles in the bottom of the pan creating a single layer. Add sauce to cover the first layer of noodles. Continue process until the pan is full of noodles and sauce, top with the extra mozzarella, and tightly cover with foil.
5. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the edges are bubbling. Remove foil and let the cheese on top get brown and melted, about 10 minutes.
There you have it. I'm no Martha Stewart but I make a mean cheater lasagna.
Happy Valentine's Day friends!
