Whenever I cook and don't know how to make something I type "EASY" before the dish and I peruse the recipes to see how truly "easy" they are to make.  Since I had a box of lasagna pasta floating around in the pantry, I thought I would give it a go again.  The first time I made lasagna, it turned out great but I was wiped out!  I cooked the noodles before hand and made a huge mess in the kitchen.  Now that we live in a teeny apartment there is no room to spread out all the cooked pasta, so I wanted to try something simpler.
I found the recipe HERE at All Recipes.

PREP TIME : 15 min  ( As you know I like recipes that involve throwing stuff in a bowl and mixing)
COOK TIME :  about 1 hour  ( the best part about this recipe is that you don't have to pre-cook the noodles!)

Ingredients

  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 1 (32 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
  • 32 ounces cottage cheese
  • 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 teaspoons dried parsley
  • salt to taste
  • ground black pepper to taste
  • 9 lasagna noodles
  • 1/2 cup water

Directions from All Recipes website

  1. In a large skillet over medium heat brown the ground beef. Drain the grease. Add spaghetti sauce and simmer for 5 minutes.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together the cottage cheese, 2 cups of the mozzarella cheese, eggs, half of the grated Parmesan cheese, dried parsley, salt and ground black pepper.
  3. To assemble, in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish evenly spread 3/4 cup of the sauce mixture. Cover with 3 uncooked lasagna noodles, 1 3/4 cup of the cheese mixture, and 1/4 cup sauce. Repeat layers twice. Top with 3 noodles, remaining sauce, remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Add 1/2 cup water to the edges of the pan. Cover with aluminum foil.
  4. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F(175 degrees C) oven for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. 
 The other good thing about this recipe is that it does not involve ricotta cheese.  My husband is not a fan so the cottage cheese is a nice substitution.  Honestly, the hardest part is realizing how easy and quick this is to make.  I also like that there are tons of left overs for us, which gets me off the hook for lunches during the week.
What is your easy breezy meal that you like to cook?