Lasagna with Garlic Toast

The hubs has been petitioning me to make lasagna for supper for weeks now. I kept putting it off. For some reason when I think of cooking lasagna I have visions of laboriously slaving over the hot stove for eons of time. I have made it only a couple of times in the past 18 months we've been married.

But, when he called me from work this morning, asking yet once again for lasagna for supper I had to give in. After all, it is one of my 2 nights off from work, the least I can do is make him a nice hot meal.

So out came my cookbooks as I searched for the easiest and least time consuming lasagna recipe available. I really didn't have to search far because the first place I looked, Taste of Georgia (a Southern Living Hall of Fame-er), held my answer.

I used the Taste of Georgia recipe as a guide and here is what I came up with:

Lasagna

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef (this was my first time making lasagna with ground beef - I've always used venison)

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 can Italian diced tomatoes (if you like your sauce a little 'saucier' I would add another can of tomatoes)
1 can tomato paste

lasagna noodles (I used 8)

1 1/2 cartons 15oz ricotta cheese (I only had 1 on hand and it wasn't quite enough)

1 bag mozzarella cheese

parmesan cheese (you know, the kind in the green canister you sprinkle on top of your spaghetti)

Cooking Directions:

1. Brown ground beef with garlic salt and drain. Add in tomatoes and tomato paste.

2. Spray a casserole pan with cooking spray to prevent sticking. Layer meat, noodles, ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese and parmesan until ingredients are gone.

3. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Three steps. That's all it took. It was so easy. And tasted pretty yummy too. I didn't have quite enough ricotta cheese so the top layer of noodles were a little crunchy. Besides that, I'd say this one was a hit.

In addition, I made some garlic toast. The hubs and I both love garlic Texas Toast, but we all know how horrible that stuff is for you.

Sooo. I had an idea one night to make my own Texas Toast. And it isn't half bad.

Take sliced sandwich bread (we eat whole wheat, but any kind will work) and cover one side in butter. Sprinkle garlic salt over the butter. Toast in the toaster oven at 375 degrees for 5 minutes and you have home made Texas Toast! with way fewer calories and at a much lower cost.


Got a tried and true lasagna recipe that you love? I would love for you to share it with me in the comments below!