simple lasagna

sauce:

1/2 lb ground beef

half an onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

large can of diced tomatoes

8 oz can tomato sauce

handful each of chopped fresh basil & parsley

1 TBSP sugar

salt to taste

ricotta mixture:

1 container ricotta

handful of grated parmesan

about 1 TBSP each chopped fresh basil & parsley

sprinkle of dried oregano

other:

6 no-boil lasagna noodles

2 cups shredded mozzarella

-Heat oven to 350 and get out a 8x8" pan.

-Sauté the onions & garlic in a little bit of olive oil until they soften (but don't fully brown).

-Add ground beef, season with salt, and cook through.

-Add the rest of the sauce ingredients and simmer for about 1/2 hour. Prepare ricotta mixture while you're waiting.

-Lasagna assembly (from bottom to top):

—spread a spoonful of sauce in the bottom of the pan

—2 noodles topped with 1/2 of the ricotta mixture, layer of sauce, and sprinkle of mozzarella

—repeat above

—2 noodles covered with sauce and the rest of the mozzarella

-Cover loosely with foil and bake for 30 minutes. 

-Uncover and bake 15 minutes more.

swiss chard lasagna

 I used this recipe, with a few tweaks:

- added sweet italian sausage (3 links, meat removed from the casing and crumbled into the pan. Cooked the sausage through before adding the garlic & chard to the pan.)

-assembled in 3 layers of 2 noodles each, rather than the recipe's 2 layers of 3 noodles (fits an 8x8 pan perfectly)

-incorporated mozzarella into the inner layers, instead of just on top