The word lasagna typically brings to mind the beloved pasta dish from
Italy. However, the word actually has its roots in the Greek language
and eventually meant ‘cooking pot’; which is exactly what this recipe is
about – slow cooker lasagna.
Lasagna is a pasta dish which consists of layers of noodles, cheese,
sauce and usually some kind of meat. It may also be varied by adding
layers of spinach or even artichoke. If that appeals to you, you can add
one of those to the ingredients.
This recipe calls for ground beef and ground Italian sausage. You can
alter to be only ground beef (doubled up) or only ground Italian
sausage. It will be much spicier with only the sausage. For the
spaghetti sauce, a ragu style will do very well.
If you are looking for something with less fat and fewer calories, you
can substitute low fat cottage cheese for the ricotta cheese – however,
that is quite a sacrifice. If you are on a low carbohydrate diet, you
can substitute thinly sliced zucchini squash for the lasagna noodles and
use a low carb pasta sauce.
What you need:
450g of fresh ground beef (1 pound)
450g of fresh ground Italian sausage
16 uncooked lasagna noodles
olive oil
10 ml of Italian seasoning (2 teaspoons)
2 x 750 g jars of your favorite spaghetti sauce (about 28 U.S.
ounces each)
2/3 cup of water
1 x 220 g of canned mushrooms (8 ounces)
850 g of ricotta cheese (2 - 15 ounce packages)
1L mozzarella cheese, shredded (4 cups)
Parmesan cheese
crushed red peppers
What you do:
Pour a little olive oil in a slow cooker and spread it around the
bottom to lubricate the pot. Cover it and preheat it to low heat.
In a large frying pan, brown the ground Italian sausage and the ground
beef. Make sure they get crumble up a bit while cooking. Drain of the
grease when the meats are done cooking.
While the meat is browning, break the lasagna noodles into large pieces
that will fit in the bottom of the slow cooker. Remember, you want large
pieces – as wide as the cooker if you can. Spread ¼ of the noodles out
evenly over the bottom of the cooker.
Add the Italian seasoning to the meat and stir well. Spread ¼ of the
meat over the noodles in the cooker. Place even layers of ¼ each of the
sauce, water, mushrooms, ricotta cheese and mozzarella cheese over the
meat. Repeat this until you have 4 layers.
NOTE: Typical lasagna wouldn’t likely have this many layers, but
it will work fine in a slow cooker.
Place the cover on the slow cooker and cook the lasagna for at least
6 hours on low. Before serving, check to see that the lasagna noodles
are tender. If not, you can raise the heat to high and cook them for
another hour or until they are tender.
Serve the lasagna with parmesan cheese and crushed red peppers on the
side for toppings. Compliment the dish with a fresh garden salad. Mama
mia, that’s a-good.
Experts recommend you do not put frozen foods in the crockpot. All foods
should be defrosted before cooking so the food temperature can reach 140
degrees as soon as possible. However, since none of my family members are in
a high-risk group, I often cook frozen foods in the crockpot. The informed
choice is up to you.
