Unlayered Lasagna Pasta Bake
Looking for an easy and delicious lasagna recipe without the hassle of layering noodles? This unlayered lasagna is the perfect solution. With a few simple steps you can have a delicious and comforting meal on your table in no time!
Looking for an easy and delicious lasagna recipe without the hassle of layering noodles? This unlayered lasagna is the perfect solution. With a few simple steps you can have a delicious and comforting meal on your table in no time!
- salt to taste
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 small onion diced
- 1 lb pasta sprial
- 48 oz marinara sauce (it's the double sized jar)
- 1 lb ground beef extra lean
- 1 whole green pepper diced
- 1 15oz jar ricotta cheese part skim
- 2 tbsp dry red wine
- 2 cup mozzarella grated
- Carbohydrate 39.3248749404076 g
- Cholesterol 91.0109194922695 mg
- Fat 20.1606205623503 g
- Fiber 3.40135863346559 g
- Protein 22.2048357225872 g
- Saturated Fat 9.42619378295742 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (257g)
- Sodium 1043.99509388113 mg
- Sugar 35.9235163069421 g
- Trans Fat 2.21230115585657 g
- Calories 433 calories
Step-by-step
- Grease a 10 x 15 glass pan.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Prepare pasta according to directions.
- Brown beef (drain, rinse, add back to the pan), add onion, green pepper, garlic powder, and red wine cook for another few minutes.
- In the glass dish mix up the pasta, meat, tomato sauce, and herbs (basil, oregano, whatever else suits your tastes).
- In the same skillet the beef was browned in, over medium heat stir the ricotta, milk, butter (and salt to taste). Once that's nice and melted together and is saucy (add more or less milk depending on how saucy you'd like it) pour in the glass pan along with everything else.
- Add a 1/4 cup of mozzarella and stir everything together (again).
- Sprinkle the rest of the mozzarella on top.
- Put the pan in the oven and cook, uncovered, for about 25 to 30 minutes (cheese should be melty). You can bake for longer until the top is brown and bubbly, but I didn't want to wait that long!
- Enjoy!
Traditional lasagna relies on rigid architectural geometry, stacking alternating sheets of semolina between layers of meat ragu and béchamel inside a deep rectangular ceramic vessel. This unlayered alternative dismantles that structural hierarchy completely by dispersing the elements throughout a 10x15-inch glass baking dish. When adapting this mass-production format for smaller households, reduce the pasta and marinara sauce by half while maintaining the same ratio of dairy to preserve adequate moisture during the uncovered 30-minute baking cycle at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Adapting the Pan Size and Proportions
Scaling quantities downward requires careful attention to thermal dynamics, because a smaller vessel concentrates heat more aggressively than a large glass casserole. If you halve the 12-serving yield to serve six people, switch to an 8x8-inch baking pan and reduce the volume of extra lean ground beef accordingly so the surface cheese does not burn before the interior reaches a uniform temperature.Managing Substitutions and Moisture
Swapping the ricotta cheese for cottage cheese introduces excess whey, which demands a preliminary draining step in a fine-mesh sieve for 15 minutes to prevent a watery sauce. Similarly, replacing the 48 ounces of marinara with raw crushed tomatoes requires an extra teaspoon of salt and an extended simmer to drive off surplus water before mixing the components together in the pan.
