Italian food is just a little bit of a hit around here. Just a little bit. OK a lot a bit. It never fails to elicit much praise and fawning. And I don’t mind saying I enjoy all the praise and fawning! Sometimes all it takes is simple spaghetti alla bolognese to make everyone happy, but often I unwittingly hit a home run with something a little more “off-the-cuff.”

With the recent great rush to the grocery store, some aisles are more picked over than others. As someone who plans her meals and does her shopping weekly, events like these also require a little flexibility and thinking on the fly. Many hours spent watching Chopped certainly has us all prepared for such a time as this. At least it should have.

This past weekend at the market, I wasn’t particularly having trouble finding what I needed. As a matter of fact, I haven’t had trouble at all despite the rush to clear the shelves. Why haven’t I had trouble? I either don’t cook with as much prepackaged ingredients as I thought, or I’m planning meals around items that aren’t going like hot cakes lately. Sometimes however, I see an item and I just go ahead and add it to this week’s menu due to sudden inspiration and/or craving.

This week, I was cutting through one aisle on my way to the produce. It happened to be the pasta aisle (which of course was picked clean) when I came across Explore Cuisine’s Organic Green Lentil Lasagne sheets. I was immediately intrigued. I like lasagna. He likes lasagna. I was sold! Plus the remaining ingredients weren’t highly specialized or require exact measurements. And the best thing about these pasta sheets? They don’t require boiling!! They’re oven-ready. Which is how I prefer to buy my lasagna sheets. I’ve used boiled noodles before, but they’re more difficult and more messy. It’s easier to just lay the sheets down and lay the toppings over them and repeat!

The noodles themselves are gluten free (and pack a good dose of fiber), but they tasted great! They were so good, The Mr even said it was one of the best lasagnas he’s ever had! What a compliment after my disappointment from the pork!

Ingredients:
Half a package of lasagna noodles
16oz jar of pasta sauce of choice
8oz of ricotta
A couple eggs
1tsp of Italian seasoning
1lb of ground Italian sausage (or other ground meat if you prefer)
8oz package of shredded mozzarella

Instructions:
1) In a large pan over medium heat, brown the ground sausage just until it is cooked through and no pink remains. Set aside to cool slightly. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, ricotta, and Italian seasoning to form a smooth sauce. Set aside. Preheat the oven for 350°.
2) In an 8×8 square baking dish, spoon some of the pasta sauce and spread to lightly coat the bottom of the baking dish. Place 2 lasagna sheets side by side on the sauce. Spoon about 1/3 of the ricotta-egg mixture over top the noodles and spread to coat evenly. Evenly sprinkle 1/3 of the mozz, then 1/3 of the meat, then 1/3 of the pasta sauce in layers. Place two more sheets of lasagna noodles on top and repeat the process until all of the the other ingredients are all used up.
3) Bake for 30-35min until hot and bubbly. Allow to cool 5min and enjoy!

What is one of your favorite lasagna recipes?

Currently Reading: Good Housekeeping Magazine, May 2017 issue