I love Lasagna, and I always use the noodles that you do not have to cook
By suspenseful
@suspenseful (40193)
Canada
April 15, 2008 8:50pm CST
I know some make their noodles from scratch, and some use the noodles that you have to boil. There are some that make the sauce from scratch. I use Hunts Tomato Sauce, low fat cottage cheese, and ground beef, and I add lots of oregano and basil. I used the mozzarella cheese that you get from Safeway, not the kind that is just made. Mine turns out all right. I have not made it with the fresh mozzarella cheese nor have I used the ricotta cheese. I figure if you buy that, you have to make the lasagna the same day.
So how do you make yours?
6 people like this
19 responses
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
17 Apr 08
I use the noodles that you have to boil, I make my sauce with hamburger meat, a can of tomatoes, tomato paste, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, fresh garlic, oregano, celery salt, and when I layer the lasagna, I put mozzeralla cheese over each layer of noodles.
2 people like this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
18 Jun 08
I do both, but I prefer the ones you do not have to boil - basically lazy you know - and I use cottage cheese on the top layer. The recipe is on the Catelli box. I use Hunt's original spaghetti sauce and I add more oregano and fenugreek and basil then it calls for. I also may add a bay leaf, but my husband does not like finding it in his, so usually I leave it out. I do not like celery salt but I do add extra garlic powder.
@wisedragon (2325)
• Philippines
16 Apr 08
I don't think I have encountered the type of noodles that you do not have to cook.
Anyway, my mother makes great lasagna. I love it. Yummy!
2 people like this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
18 Jun 08
I think Catelli makes them. It makes it much easier, and saves you from using the Dutch oven to boil the noodles. The only difference is that you have to use more tomato sauce because you soak the noddles along with the meat. I like the one with the meat sauce and cottage cheese the best. I would love to try ricotta sometime, but it is a bit more expensive.
@flowerchilde (12529)
• United States
16 Apr 08
I've been afraid to use the non boil noodles! It has seemed that it wouldn't work right! But now maybe I'll have to try them! My lasagna is a lot like yours.. this reminds me to put the lasagna ingredients on my grocery list, cause my daughter said she's make it if I bought the stuff.. and that was three weeks ago! what am I thinkin'?! A night off from cooking! I think I'll get her the new noodles, and she can try them out first!
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
1 May 08
You have to add more sauce. So if you use one can of tomato sauce for the boil yourself noodles, you may have to use two cans for the non boil noodles. So actually you are boiling them in the oven and since the oven heat is dryer, you need more. It is easier though and the recipes are on the packages.
1 person likes this
@flowerchilde (12529)
• United States
1 May 08
I haven't had breakfast yet, and now my stomach is really growling! Wish I had some leftover lasagna!
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
2 May 08
That's the same with me when someone talks about cheesecake. I get really hungry then. We do get some good frozen lasagna, not the cheap kind, and that is almost as good as homemade.
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
18 Jun 08
It is quite delicious, but right now with just the two of us, we usually go to the grocers and get a box of frozen lasagna if it is on sale and if we want something different. I do not know how we like this one would taste like. It is the no name kind. We bought no name pizza last month, and you needed a magnifying glass no, sorry, microscope to see the green and red peppers. I suppose they will only have a tsp of cottage cheese in this one.
@minnie_98214 (10557)
• United States
16 Apr 08
I use the boil noodles and make my own sauce with extra spices as I like alot of flavor. Ground beef for sure and some ricotta cheese and lots and lots of mozzarela and parmasean cheese I mean lots I love mine cheesy.
2 people like this
@bluemars (952)
• Australia
16 Apr 08
Reading your thing about pasta has made me in the mood for it. Tomorrow if I have time I think I will need to take out the ingredients for the dish. I bought some cream today so I guess I could use that as the bechmel sauce on top yeah provided I had the cheese on top of it to brown. I don't know but I will give it a go tomorrow. I usually just make a bolognese sauce and add any kind of pasta into a dish and then add the sauce. Then either make that white sauce that goes on top fresh from scratch or just add cream and cheese to seal it off.
I do try to make certain things simple because to be honest with you I don't have that much time on my hands some days and I have to be motivated enough too. I can understand why many people look for easy alternatives. Who wouldn't right. I am glad that they are out there.
2 people like this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
16 Apr 08
i am a great pasta lover. I think there must be some Italian in me and I love the bolognese sauce. I will have to search the internet for more lasagna recipes. There is a little cheese shop near us where you can get all sorts of cheeses or I can go to Superstore. The only thing with the oven ready lasagna you do not have to boil, you have to use more sauce on it.
1 person likes this
@lucy02 (5015)
• United States
18 Jun 08
I have only made lasagna a couple of times. I thought at first it was too hard to make so I have only been making it recently. I use ricotta cheese and boil the noodles. I use canned tomato sauce and Italian spices (basil, oregano, garlic) and mozzarella cheese. It turned out pretty good. My husband liked it.
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
18 Jun 08
It really is so easy. All you have to do is to layer each one. I thought that when I first started when we first got married, that it would be too complicated, but when I discovered that I loved ordering the lasagna from restaurants, I figured, "Why can I not make it myself?" and from then it was a cinch. I start with the boil yourself noodles, but found that I really did not like layering wet noodles in the pan, I would rather use dry noodles. So as soon as I found the no boil noodles I always made it that way.
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
18 Jun 08
You can get the no boil lasagna noodles, from Catelli or Barilla. I find it much easier and also it saves me washing another pan. It is also easier to spread them, but you may have to use two cans rather than one can of tomato sauce, and I use the Hunts kind, the original. I have not made lasagna for a long time because now there is just the two of us. We bought some frozen lasagna yesterday for Sunday meal and I hope it is up to my exacting standards. I am sort of fussy.
@slickcut (8141)
• United States
16 Apr 08
I made Lasagna 2 nights ago and i really love it...I do not make my noodles,i just use the regular Lasagna noodles nad i don;t cook them..I line my cassarole dish with the raw Lasagna noodles, and i put the cooked hamburger meat,and i use prego or spagetti sauce and cheese and layer it all and top it with the grated cheese ,i usually add about a i half cup of water and oregano and basil and bake it for about one and half hours..The noodles cook while the Lasagna is cooking,and it is really good..I got that recipe from someone here on mylot,i always cooked my noodles but you really don't have too....it will cook all together
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
17 Apr 08
I made lasagna noodles when we lived in our old house back in Saskatoon. It turned out all right. I was thinking of getting a noodle maker attachment for our Kitchen aid like they show on Iron Chef America, but it seems that they updated the Kitchenaid from Optinum to Artisan, and I do not think the Artisan noodle makers fit and my Kitchenaid is so good, I cannot see getting a new one. I do have one of those noodle makers you screw on the table, but I do not have that much room, and I do not want to use the dining room table to screw it on to.
@carmelanirel (20942)
• United States
17 Apr 08
It has been a while since I made lasagna, but next time I make it, it might be made this way:
Matzo Lasagna
2 each small to medium sized zuc and squach, chopped and sauted in olive oil with an onion or two and a Tbs each of dried Oregano and Basil. Some Black Pepper and Salt as well.
1 lb Ricotta Cheese
Parmesean Cheese
2 lbs Mozarella, shredded
6 Matzos, soaked in water, like Manischewitz better than the other brand.
2 Jars Marinara, found Bertolli's Marinara sauce to be very good.
Start with a covering of marinara in the bottom of the pan, larger than 13x9 because this makes a lot!! Lay 2 matzos side by side in the marinara sauce. Spread some ricotta to cover matzos, add some veggies, cover in cheeses. Then more marinara and then repeat with two more matzos and so on. Cover top in marinara and mozarella cheese.
Bake in preheated oven, 350 degrees for about 35-40 minutes or until top is melted and starting to brown a little. Should be puffy and bubbly.
This is a copy I got from a friend, so I haven't tried it yet, but with Passover just around the corner, I might make it this year..
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
18 Jun 08
This is an unusual lasgana. Must be a vegetarian one, and I have not tried making with Matzos. But I go to Superstore and they have a large foreign section so it is possible I could get all the ingredients there and it might be a bit better for me because I cannot eat that much wheat. However, my husband might not like it. He does not like trying new things.
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
18 Jun 08
You should love the no boil kind. You put everything in one pan. The only thing is that you have to cook the ground beef first and after that is just a cinch, just layering it one on top of the other. Then you can also buy it at your store, but you have to be careful, some of it is not as tasty.
@chrislotz (8137)
• Canada
27 Jun 08
I have never made lasagna but my daughter made it last week. I watched how she made it, since I really didn't know how, and it is very easy to make. Only thing is she put the noodles in it raw, not cooked, and when it was all cooked the needles were a little hard. It was cooked long enough, over 2 hours, so I think it was the noodles she was using. They were cheap dollar store noodles. Also you say something about noodles that have to be boiled, are you saying they should be boiled before they are put into the lasagna? Is that what she did wrong? Put them in raw?
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
27 Jun 08
I use the Catelli Express noodles and the directions are on the box, you have to use more sauce and put more water in it. You may be able to get the Barilla noodles at Superstore. We used to shop at Safeway, and have not checked the lasagna noodles because there is now just two of us. Anyway here is a link to a recipe form Barilla. http://www.recipezaar.com/80435 which is more or less like the kind I make, only I do not use ricotta cheese as it is more expensive.
The noodles that you put in are raw, but I suspect they have been partially cooked and then dried and package. If your daughter was using cheap noodles, that might be it. She has to look for the sign that says "No boil lasagna noodles" and then use more sauce. So if you are boiling noodles on the stove and layering them, you will use one can of sauce, but if you are layering the Catelli Express or Barilla no-boil noodles, you will use two cans of sauce, and if you make your own sauce, be sure to thin it.
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
17 Apr 08
I love lasagna too but always dreaded allthe work as I had the kind you had to boil. Is the kind youdo not have to cook readily available in any grocery store? I have not seen it but would love to use it. Ialso use tomato sauce and lofat mozzarella and tons of oregano and thyme and basil . so nexttime i am in the grocery store I will look for the kind you do not have to boil.
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
18 Jun 08
I use the Catelli kind. It is the kind we get up here in Canada. There is also one made by Barilla. The recipe is usually on the package, and if not you can find one on the Internet, like for instance, http://www.specialflavors.com/collection/rice_grains_pasta/lasagna.htm
or this one http://www.recipesource.com/main-dishes/pasta/no-boil-lasagna1.html
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
16 Apr 08
I always use lot of mozzarella and ricotta. Why do you think it has to be used the same day?
As for the noodles, I learned a neat trick a couple years ago.
You don't have to boil the regular noodles either! Just make your sauce a little thinner (meaning a little more watery than you'd normally like it) and make sure there's plenty of it, and cover the pan with aluminum foil when baking.
When you take it out of the oven, let it set for at least 10 minutes before cutting to serve. The noodles will cook plenty in the sauce, and it won't be near as messy when cutting if you let it set for a bit first.
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
1 May 08
I am talking about the fresh ricotta, the kind they talk about on the cooking shows. I guess it is because it is warmer where they live, and they have to use it up. Once the lasagna is made, we keep it a couple of days, but that is because it is so good it does not last as long.
@blackbriar (9076)
• United States
16 Apr 08
My lasagna is made the old-fashion way, boil the noodles and I only use homemade sauce using tomatoes from my garden. I include green peppers, onions, mushrooms, italian sausage AND ground beef or venision along with low-fat ricotta cheese and mozzarella with fresh-grated pamison/romano cheese sprinkled on top.
1 person likes this
@whittby (3072)
• United States
16 Apr 08
I make mine from scratch with my own sauce when I have the time. The guys at home now like Ragu just as well, so I don't know what I'll do next time I make it for them. I use low fat stuff if I'm having diet twinges. It doesn't seem to change the taste too much and I feel less guilty loading up. I also like lasagna best the second day after it sits in the fridge overnight and I heat it up.
1 person likes this
@terri0824 (4991)
• United States
16 Apr 08
I haven't made lasagna in years. But I have made what I call lasagna rolls which I haven't made in a while either. But I boil the lasagna noodles and then spread ground beef coated with spaghetti sauce on them and then roll them up. I then top it with the remaining spaghetti sauce and top with cheese.
1 person likes this
@cryllie (49)
• United States
16 Apr 08
I don't pay extra for the no-boil noodles because I use a trick my friend Dixie taught me; she just adds about half a cup of water to her sauce, then after putting the dish together she covers it with plastic wrap and refrigerates overnight, then bakes as usual the next day. Your noodles asbsorb the water overnight and turn out just fine, and you save the extra pennies on the noodles. This can also be frozen-I always make up two dishes of lasagna, freeze one and bake one. It's really, really nice to know I have a great, hearty, homemade meal ready to pop into the oven or to share.