Beef Lasagna-Eat One, Freeze One!

Now that I'm 36 weeks pregnant, no longer working outside the home & feeling the nesting instinct, I've begun stocking my freezer with pre-baby "to big & exhausted to cook" & post-baby meals. I've never really done much in the way of freezing meals, so it's been a learning experience for me. For example, I had no idea the controversy surrounding whether or not to bake lasagna before you freeze it! Oh the discussion boards I found online. In the end, I decided that baking it first would make the most sense for us, since quick and easy meals will be the way to go for a while with a new baby (it's also the recommended method by the USDA...not that it really matters that much to me).

Since I made these lasagnas over the weekend and we already had supper plans, I ended up freezing both lasagnas, but if you go to the trouble to make them, smell them & be tempted to snitch a bit of cheesy, bubbly, pasta goodness-just eat one and freeze the other. :)

Ingredients:

• 2 to 2-1/2lb ground beef (depending on how meaty you like your lasagna. I've also used ground turkey)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 cloves minced garlic, optional
• 2 jars spaghetti sauce (you're favorite, I use Prego Traditional)
• 3 cups water 
• 2-15 oz containers ricotta or small curd cottage cheese(I use part-skim ricotta)
• 4 cups (16 oz) shredded mozzarella or Italian cheese blend, divided
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese 
• 4 eggs 
• 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning (I use Penzey's Pasta Sprinkle)
• 1 tsp salt 
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper 
• 20 pieces lasagna noodles, uncooked (I use whole grain pasta noodles)

Non-food supplies:

• 2-9x13 aluminum foil pans (makes clean up easier...I'm all about that!)
• plastic wrap
• aluminum foil
• 2 gallon freezer bags
• permanent marker

 Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large skillet with tall sides, brown meat with onion and garlic over medium high heat. Drain any grease. Add spaghetti sauce and water and allow to simmer about 10 minutes while you make the cheese mixture. In a large bowl, mix together ricotta, 1/2 the mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, eggs, seasoning, salt and pepper.

Spray foil pans with cooking spray, then pour 1 cup sauce on bottom of each pan. Place 3 UNCOOKED noodles lengthwise over sauce; cover with 1 cup sauce. Spread half of cheese mixture over sauce (I found it easiest to mix it with a fork and use the fork to spread. Repeat layers of 3 noodles, sauce and cheese mixture. Top with 4 noodles and remaining sauce; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. Cover with foil. Bake for about 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake additional 10 minutes or until hot and cheese is bubbly.

Let the lasagna you're going to eat sit for 10 minutes before cutting and eating. Leave the other out to cool while you eat dinner. I then put it in the fridge for about an hour. This helped make sure it was set up well enough for big pieces to be lifted out without falling apart on me!




Cut the lasagna in half, or leave it whole. Cutting it in half, or even in individual servings makes it easier to work with and then you can decide if you need the whole thing or just a bit when you pull it out of the freezer. We only eat half at a time anyway, so it works great. Gently lift out one half and place on a large piece of plastic wrap. Wrap it once then repeat with another layer of plastic wrap. Then finish with a layer of aluminum foil. Sources I read said this should keep it from freezer burn for up to 3 months. I added an extra precaution by sticking it into a freezer bag.












Don't forget to label with directions for reheating:

Remove all wrapping. Microwave until hot, or preheat oven to 350°F. In an oven-safe dish, cover with foil bake thawed lasagna 30-45 minutes until heated through, or 45 min-1hr if frozen.




 Enjoy!