Freezer Lasagna

Recipe: Freezer Lasagna
Event: Lunch for preggers Ciera
Verdict: Tasty with plenty of cheese. Could have used more meat sauce; I've tried to adjust below.

My new job has no food for purchase, so I've been bringing my lunch every day. Combine that with the fact that I'm literally eating twice as much food at each meal, and we quickly run out of food mid-week. To make matters worse, I'm usually so exhausted that by 6pm, I have only enough energy to eat. So we've been cooking up a storm every weekend and freezing items for later.

This was from Food.com, which claims it is from America's Test Kitchen. However, as noted, I've changed the recipe because while good, there didn't seem to be enough sauce. We've been making double batches; we eat one that evening and freeze the other.

Sauce Ingredients:
2 T. olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
6 garlic cloves, minced
1.5 lb. ground meat (beef, turkey, or pork, or a mix)
1 t. salt
1 t. black pepper
1/4 c. heavy cream
1 can tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes, drained

Ricotta Filling Ingredients
24 oz. ricotta cheese
2 oz. parmesan, grated
1/2 c. fresh basil, chopped
1 egg, beaten
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. black pepper

Noodles and Cheese Ingredients
1 box of no-boil noodles
1 lb. mozzarella, grated
1 oz. parmesan, grated

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a dutch oven on medium heat; add onions and cook until softened but not brown.
2. Add in garlic, cook about 30 seconds.
3. Add in meat, salt and pepper. Make sure to break apart the meat so it's in small chunks. Cook about 4 minutes. Meat should be barely cooked, but not brown.
4. Add the cream. Bring to a simmer and cook until liquid evaporates but the fat remains.
5. Add the tomato puree and drained tomatoes. (Make sure the tomatoes are diced. If they are larger, chop them first.) Bring to a simmer and cook for a few minutes before turning to low.
6. In a separate bowl, stir together all the ingredients for the ricotta filling.
7. Assemble, as described below.
8. Cover with aluminum foil. Either cook, freeze, or refrigerate. (If freezing or refrigerating, put plastic wrap under the foil.)
9. Remove plastic wrap, but put aluminum foil back on. Cook at 400 degrees for
• 15 minutes if fresh
• 30 minutes if refrigerated
• A lot longer if frozen. You might want to thaw frozen first.
10. Remove aluminum foil, and bake for another 30 minutes. Cheese should be browned.

Assembly layers

There will be 4 layers of sauce, 3 layers of ricotta, and 4 layers of mozz. Divide your ingredients accordingly. Try to put them on evenly. The sauce doesn't really spread once on, so be careful not to let it chunk down. The ricotta usually requires fingers to spread properly. It's ok to overlap the noodles, or break them if needed. The order, from bottom to top, is:

• Sauce
• Noodles
• Ricotta
• Mozz
• Sauce
• Noodles
• Ricotta
• Mozz
• Sauce
• Noodles
• Ricotta
• Mozz
• Sauce
• Noodles
• Mozz
• Parm