Skillet Lasagna
I like lasagna in general and normally make it in a 9″ x 13″ pan. However, sometimes I just don’t want to spend the time to make all those delicious layers. I also hate having to wash all the dishes I end up using.
The best part about making a one pot meal is that you don’t have a ton of dishes to wash afterwards. True, this doesn’t taste exactly like a regular lasagna. On the other hand, it is amazingly delicious. It has all the wonderful flavors of a lasagna, without all the work.
I had some leftover lasagna noodles so the only items I had to buy were the tomatoes and ricotta cheese. I briefly considered not buying the ricotta, since I don’t like lasagnas with “too much” ricotta. As it turns out, this would have been a mistake since the ricotta really made the dish.
I prefer “cooked” basil over “raw” basil. As a result, I added the basil after the ricotta cheese and then put the lid on so that the basil would be cooked. If you prefer fresh basil, sprinkle it over the dish after removing it from the stove.
- 2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- ½ teaspoon salt, plus more, to taste
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 pound Italian Sausage, casing removed*
- 8 ounces lasagna noodles, broken into roughly 2 inch long pieces
- 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- Pepper, to taste
- 8 ounces ricotta cheese
- ¼ cup minced fresh basil
- Placed tomatoes and juice into a large measuring cup, which holds at least 5 cups. Add water to the measuring cup until it holds four cups of tomatoes and liquid. Set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and ½ teaspoon of salt to the Dutch oven. Sauté until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add Italian sausage and cook until meat is no longer pink, breaking up the meat into small pieces as it cooks.
- Place the noodle pieces evenly over the top of the meat. Add the tomatoes and liquid to the Dutch oven. Add tomato sauce and stir to combine, trying to submerge as many of the noodles in the liquid as possible.
- Bring lasagna mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until pasta is tender, about 20 minutes. Periodically stir the pasta so that the various pieces have a chance to be submerged in the liquid. If the sauce looks thick in the last 5 minutes, and the noodles still have a lot of bite, add up to an additional ¼ cup of water to the mixture.
- Remove Dutch oven from heat and top with the Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Place ricotta, about a tablespoon at a time, over different portions of the Dutch oven so that the ricotta is spread over the top of the lasagna. Sprinkle with basil.
- Cover the Dutch oven and let it stand for another 5 minutes.
- Serve hot.
* I usually use this recipe to make Italian Sausage, casing removed
Adapted from food.com
