Crockpot Lasagna

I deliberated whether I should save this recipe for the "Crockpot Recipes" Them we will have coming up - or share it with the Italian recipe one. Because it is BOTH. :-) It is on our Shabbat menu this week that we will take a friend house for fellowship. It is so very easy, I do not do oven lasagna any more. It uses uncooked lasagna noodles which eliminates that whole step in the traditional method. I usually use organic wheat noodles too. (Don't fall for the scam that you need to buy special noodles to do this (whether it be in the oven or the crock!) - the trick is just adding more sauce. You an convert any recipe to so this just add 1-2C more sauce to your mix! It has nothing to do with the "kind" of noodle. I also find that richer flavor cooked into the noodles when you use uncooked noodles. Because the crock is usually oval or round (unlike a rectangular or square pan) you need to get a little creative by snapping your noodles to fill in the gaps when you layer it. No biggy - way worth it! (Besides their are always broken ones in the box that USED to drive me crazy...not any more!) :-) Notice the picture above. Do you see how the crock is only about as deep as a typical casserole dish? You can do that for a single family serving. But if you are feeding a crowd or you want leftovers, you can layer it right up to the brim. That is how I do mine. This also makes it a really nice thing to share take and share for Shabbat meetings, because it feeds a crowd and who doesn't love lasagna?

If you have never done this before. You much try it! My husband is in heaven since I discovered this, because I dreaded making lasagna before, so I rarely did (but he loves it). Now, I make it much more often!

1 pound of ground beef, browned
4-5C Sauce
24 oz of cottage cheese (or ricotta)
1 egg
uncooked lasagna noodles
2C + Mozzarella cheese

1. Mix together meat and sauce and put 1/3 of it in the bottom of the pot.
2. Put a single layer dry noodles to cover
3. Combine cottage cheese and egg, mix well. This is your next layer.
4. Top with Mozzarella. Repeat.

(I like to end the last layer with sauce topped with mozzarella.)

This recipe serves 6. However, I always double the above recipe for a full crock and double the layers.

Cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 6-8 hours. (I find it can be done sooner, if you have a newer crock pot, they seem to cook a little hotter.)

Variations:

• I also like to put chopped, cooked (and squeezed dry) spinach in soft cheese mixture.
• By the way, you can use this same method with a creamy white veggie lasagna too.
• I love to use my Italian Sausage Seasoning Mix in my ground beef for my lasagna.
• You can do this in the oven in a 3-4 qrt casserole dish at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes to an hour and half.