Mary Connealy made this for our recent writers' retreat. It was wonderful, a crowd pleaser!
Now I didn't use Prego because I had two quarts of sauce and about a dozen big meatballs left from making sauce earlier in the week. A big pot of sauce is about 3 quick (yes, high carb!!!) meals, but every now and again a girl needs pasta! I used my strawberry masher and mashed up the meatballs into the sauce... and then added the cottage cheese. I was short on cottage cheese (only 1.5 containers) so I added a cup of ricotta to the mix.
It was marvelous! And the BIG JOY OF THIS is that you can use regular pasta lasagna noodles (I used Barilla), and they cook all by themselves. No pre-cooking the pasta! It was PERFECT.
We had a crowd for Sunday supper and this got thumbs up from everyone. So here you go, Mary's recipe (and if we're really lucky/fortunate/blessed we might get Connealy to STOP IN!!!!!)
Anyway, back to Connealy!
Lasagna recipe
Now I didn't use Prego because I had two quarts of sauce and about a dozen big meatballs left from making sauce earlier in the week. A big pot of sauce is about 3 quick (yes, high carb!!!) meals, but every now and again a girl needs pasta! I used my strawberry masher and mashed up the meatballs into the sauce... and then added the cottage cheese. I was short on cottage cheese (only 1.5 containers) so I added a cup of ricotta to the mix.
It was marvelous! And the BIG JOY OF THIS is that you can use regular pasta lasagna noodles (I used Barilla), and they cook all by themselves. No pre-cooking the pasta! It was PERFECT.
We had a crowd for Sunday supper and this got thumbs up from everyone. So here you go, Mary's recipe (and if we're really lucky/fortunate/blessed we might get Connealy to STOP IN!!!!!)
Anyway, back to Connealy!
Lasagna recipe
The only real time used here is
frying the hamburger:
10-15 minute assembly
1 hour cooking time
You can
make it and let it sit overnight
In a skillet I brown 1
lb of hamburger
Added one jar of Prego
Spaghetti Sauce
Added one large carton
of cottage cheese
Heat through
Layers
Uncooked lasagna in
bottom of 9 x 13 pan. Not the special NO COOK lasagna, just regular, then top with a layer of hamburger/sauce.
Layer of mozza cheese (note how casually she writes the recipe for me??? Like she's a GENIUS!)
Repeat layers. I do two
layers but doubled this recipe and did three layers for the extremely hungry
looking Seeker group.
Parmesan cheese on
top only, not on other layers.
Bake one hour.
Ruthy now:
Amazing and good! How fun to not have to crazy-slave for hours for a delicious lasagna!
And Mary Connealy's got a wonderful book out right now, a new bestseller "Now and Forever"! And she's going to GIVE ONE AWAY!!!!! So leave a comment below and we'll put your name in Ruthy's cat dish (freshly washed after the kitties ate lasagna, ala "Garfield")
CLICK HERE FOR AMAZON PAGE!
Ruthy now:
Amazing and good! How fun to not have to crazy-slave for hours for a delicious lasagna!
And Mary Connealy's got a wonderful book out right now, a new bestseller "Now and Forever"! And she's going to GIVE ONE AWAY!!!!! So leave a comment below and we'll put your name in Ruthy's cat dish (freshly washed after the kitties ate lasagna, ala "Garfield")
CLICK HERE FOR AMAZON PAGE!
Connealy, thanks so much for sharing with us! Got nothin' but love for ya'!
Ruthy Logan Herne loves to pen stories that resonate with the human heart... with the occasional smack upside the head, as needed! She loves God, her family, chocolate, coffee, cute kids and babies and thinks dogs rock!
Find her on facebook or check out Ruthy's website HERE
Ruthy Logan Herne loves to pen stories that resonate with the human heart... with the occasional smack upside the head, as needed! She loves God, her family, chocolate, coffee, cute kids and babies and thinks dogs rock!
Find her on facebook or check out Ruthy's website HERE
Mary, my whole family loved this! They couldn't believe it would turn out so well, and we had company and they raved over it. I wouldn't have believed it would be so good, either... Silly me! So glad to have you at the Yankee Belle!
ReplyDeleteI figured out a long time ago that cooking those blasted huge lasagna noodles was the reason I never made lasagna. It is hard to handle the huge hot noodles, hard to deal with a huge pot of boiling water. That's what takes all the time.
ReplyDeleteps, of COURSE Ruthy made it nicer, homemade sauce and ricotta cheese, but the BEAUTY of this recipe is the whole theme of simple/fast. Jar of sauce. Carton of cottage cheese.
ReplyDeleteI believe Ruthy making it better really flies in the face of the whole heart and soul of my recipe!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mary.... Mary... Mary... I had the sauce. I HAD THE SAUCE. It was leftover, darling, how foolish would I be to go buy Prego when I had the sauce!!!! Then you would be able to make fun of me, but clearly that's not stopping you!!!
DeleteStill, you should have PRETENDED to use the jar. You've misled so many.
DeleteAlso, this is my standard meal to take to someone who needs a meal for whatever reason.
ReplyDeleteThe lasagna in a disposable aluminum pan.
I split a loaf of French bread, lay the two sides next to each other in another disposable aluminum pan. (they usually come in a 2 pack).
I butter/garlic powder/Parmesan cheese the bread and it goes in the over when the lasagna has been in there 45 minutes. 15 minutes later they are both done and perfect.
Add a bag of salad and a bottle of dressing and show up at their door with the uncooked lasagna (so they can refrigerate or freeze it. Include cooking instructions.
This is the perfect thing for illness, funerals, new babies... I'm stocking up on ingredients and aluminum pans this week!
DeleteIt's been a long time since I've made lasagna, will have to try this out! Mu husband likes to make baked spaghetti, so I think that's the last pasta I had.
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy Mary's books, they put a smile on my face=)
pattymh2000(at)yahoo(dot)com
Patty, me too! I don't tell her, for fear she'll the The Big Head, but I love 'em!
DeleteHi Patty! Don't let anyone tell you to add water. It's sort of logical because of the uncooked pasta but you'll just end up with watery sauce in the bottom of your pan.
DeleteAnd thank you for the kind words about my books.
DeleteYou know I have one FREE right now on Kindle/Nook (all ebook formats,,,,are there other ebook formats???)
Swept Away, free right now, go grab a copy.
And if you don't have a reader you can download an app? To your mac or PC and the book will download there.
Looks good & much easier than my usual recipe. Makes me wish I didn't need to avoid most carbs. I would love to win a copy of Mary's newest. Love her books. They always make me laugh!
ReplyDeletePam, me too about the carbs... (chews broccoli slaw slowly and thoughtfully).... But I totally made an exception for this. First because it was Connealy, and you know how sensitive these cow people are...
DeleteAnd second because it was soooooooo good. And easy. And it made me popular.
I am a needy soul.
Pam, I made it with whole wheat noodles to at least get the fiber benefit. :)
DeletePam, I'm with you on the carbs. I do NOT eat this often. Also I usually cut the recipe in half, use an loaf pan instead of the big 9 x 13 pans I used when the kids were little. (I don't use disposable pans at home) Then I freeze the unused half of the sauce/meat/cottage cheese mixture in the empty cottage cheese container and can make another small lasagna easily.
DeleteWhat a revelation! I stopped making lasagna because I hated precooking and handling the noodles, too! Will add cottage cheese to my shopping list and try this soon. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThat's why I don't make it, Anita. I've bought Stouffer's for years. But I think now I'm going to make it homemade.
DeleteAnita Mae, I know, right??? Those stupid, steaming hot noodles, and especially getting out that huge POT, ruin everything!
DeleteThis stuff is amazing!! I ate it 3 times leftover (yes, it makes a huge amount when doubled). I also made it for my mom and dad to freeze individual servings for them to eat after I left. They've been enjoying it for the last few weeks.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, when I made it with whole wheat noodles, it turned out a little dry. So I think it would be good to add some extra water to the sauce if you use them. Also! I made a single recipe (not double) and baked it for an hour. I wonder if that could have been what dried it out?? Or maybe it was just the noodles. Mary, what do you think? How long do you bake for a single recipe?
ReplyDeleteMissy, baby gurl, you're the innovator not me. I usually make small batches.
DeleteIf you've never had that happen, then I bet it was because the whole wheat noodles soaked up more of the liquid.
DeleteWhole wheat noodles?????
DeleteSigh
I know Ruthy. I wonder if all this 'healthy' stuff will be declared deadly in a few years.
DeleteRats who ate wheat pasta had a %2.342 higher chance of developing Arthritis and a %1.46 higher chance of dying from gout.
I want one😁. I don't cook my noodles either...
ReplyDeleteDaNella! Good for you! Let's make life simple.
DeleteI once took this to a neighbor who'd had a death in the family and the woman of the house wasn't home but the husband and one son were there. They were starving and grabbed the pan and two forks and headed for the field. Ate it in the pick up. It hadn't been baked. The noodles were utterly uncooked. Later we were talking about it and I realized what he'd done and I said, "That's supposed to bake for an hour. You ate raw noodles."
ReplyDeleteHis response. "I thought they were a little tough but it didn't stop us, we ate the whole thing." LOL Now I tape a printed out sheet of paper on the pan of lasagna with instructions.
But I was glad I fed him and his son, too.
DeleteHilarious!!! Only guys.
DeleteI bet they softened sitting overnight. That's hysterical.
DeleteI think I'd made it and taken it straight over, so it was warm from the fried hamburger/sauce/cottage cheese mixture, that's why he thought it was cooked. :(
DeleteHmmm. I have some canned ground beef in my pantry - - that would make this EVEN SIMPLER!!!!
ReplyDeleteTonight's supper: done!
Canned ground beef? I've never heard of that, Jan!
DeleteYou must like it. It would be so fast and handy to have around! I'm going to look for this. Maybe on AMAZON! :)
Jan did not just say that. Did she????
DeleteOkay -- I love lasagna, but being vegetarian I'd substitute all kinds of veggies for the hamburger meat which would make it so much more work. BUT -- you've given me an idea. I'm going to keep this recipe on hand so that when I want to deliver a meal to someone I can make it and deliver dinner with confidence. I'm always so nervous about making a vegetarian meal for a family in need -- especially if they have children 'cause vegetarian is sometimes strange. :-)
ReplyDeleteSo IMPORTANT question: How do you brown hamburger meat? Seriously.
Oh -- and don't enter me in the draw. I've ordered Now & Forever already. So many great Seeker books coming out all in a flurry. Loving it!
DeleteKAV YOU SWEET THING! THANK YOU FOR BUYING MY BOOK! You brown hamburger by (well I at least) put a thin layer of water in the pan, it keeps it from sticking. Then I crush the hamburger up, chop it up, use a spatula, or like me, use your hands, then turn the stove on medium (I always use high, but then I always burn everything, but that's mainly because my mind wanders off to 1880 until the house fills with smoke) When it's fully brown it's done. No great secret!
Deletebtw once the hamburger gets hot, using your hands is a bad idea. Keep stirring it with a spatula or turn it real low and put a lid on it until it's all browned.
DeleteThanks, Mary. And there will be no bare handling of hamburger meat in my house LOL. I'm going to have to be brave just venturing into the meat section of the grocery store. But I'm excited to have a simple meat recipe I can use when the occasion calls for it. Very excited in fact.
DeleteKav, I love your heart of gold!!!!
DeleteSo, Kav, then you're saying you've never beheaded, gutted and cut up a chicken? Is that what I'm hearing???
DeleteSounds like a great book and great recipe.
ReplyDeleteHi Brenda. I'm a better writer than cook, so good luck with the lasagna but give my books a try, definitely. :)
ReplyDelete