Lasagna two ways

The baby boy posted on Facebook that his chick tried to make soup, and then they ordered pizza.  We've all had tries in our kitchen that haven't been the best (unless you haven't then I don't want to hear about it.)

When Dave and I were first married, I made an oh, so delicious dish fishstick casserole.  Yea, really.  It seemed like it had ingredients that all five kids liked, fish sticks, tator tots, cream of something soup, cheese...I made it, served it, and we all ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that night, except Dave.  He chocked down ate two servings so I wouldn't feel bad.  That was 15 years ago and we still talk about the deliciousness of that casserole.

Well, one thing we all could agree on is lasagna.  I don't eat noodles so I make lasagna two ways, one with noodles for Dave and one with zucchini for me.  Everything else is the same, just be sure to salt and let your zucchini release some of it's water, or use a lot less tomato sauce or the zucchini lasagna is very watery.

Lasagna can be made 9million different ways.  This is how I do it and it works for my family.  Add or delete any of the ingredients to suit your family's needs.  I have found that, while my kids won't eat spinach as a side dish, they eat it up in the lasagna!  Win.

Zucchini lasagna, and noodle lasagna.  I make them at the same time.

Lasagna

1-2 medium zucchini, sliced on a mandolin, salted and sit for about 20 min. then rinsed and patted dry

1.5 lbs. burger (I use moose)

1 onion

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 carrots grated

1 pkg. frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

1 cup ricotta cheese

2 cups mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

lasagna noodles, boiled about 4 minutes until soft but not cooked through

4 cups good marinara sauce

Preheat oven to 350˚F.

Brown ground meat in skillet with onion, garlic, an carrot.  Drain any fat.

Spray two loaf pans with cooking spray.  Spread about 1/4 cup of sauce in each pan, top with noodles or zucchini, add a layer of meat, about 2 Tbsp. ricotta, in dabs, a layer of spinach, a layer of mozzarella, a layer of parmesan, and a layer of sauce.  Repeat with noodles or zucchini, meat etc. until ingredients are used.  Top with noodles, sauce, mozzarella, and parmesan.

Bake for 20-30 minutes until lasagna is bubbly and cheese on top is nicely browned.

September 13, 2013   Daylight 13 hrs. 14 min. 52 secs.    Temp H 61/ L 39˚F