Lasagna is a great food to make with friends in an assembly line. If there are three of you, one can make homemade sauce ahead of time, one can bring the cheeses and noodles, and the third can bring the spinach and meat. Lay pans out on countertops, dining room tables, anywhere there is space, and split up layering duties. Three of us made 10 lasagnas this way in about 2 hours, then invited our husbands and kids to share one in an impromptu dinner party. We froze the others, keeping some for later use and giving others to friends.
Recipe source:
Cooking With Friends Kitchen
Ingredients
4 cups Slow Simmered Tomato Sauce (see “sauces” section on this site) or other marinara sauce
1 lb. ground beef or crumbled sausage (skip this if you want a vegetarian version)
1 tablespoon olive oil for pasta water
1 package lasagna noodles
4 cups Ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
One small bag fresh spinach (or one frozen box, very well drained)
Directions
Make the Slow Simmered Tomato Sauce (see “sauces”). If making a non-vegetarian lasagna, brown the meat in a large skillet over medium high heat, drain out the fat, and add meat to sauce.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a roaring boil. Add oil and lasagna noodles and cook until al dente. Drain, cool and set aside.
In one bowl, combine the cheeses (setting aside 3/4 cup mozzarella for topping), parsley, eggs, salt and pepper in a large bowl.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a lasagna or roasting pan, spread a thin amount of tomato sauce on bottom. Layer ingredients as follows: noodles, cheese mixture, spinach, tomato/meat sauce. Repeat. Top with reserved mozzarella. Bake for about an hour, or until bubbling inside and browning on top.
Serves
Makes one large lasagna, serves about 8