Wednesday, August 19, 2015

What We are Eating - Crock Pot Lasagna

So, I have no photo because, well, taking a photo of Lasagna in the crockpot isn't pretty HA!  But it IS tasty! 

I've been wanting to try this for awhile for multiple reasons such as I'm always looking for something to take to a potluck and I'm also looking for Sunday After Church Meals that are ready when we get home and I love my crock pot in the summer!  I did some reading on some different sights and decided to try it out and this is what I learned.

1) It works.  The lasagna was done in about 4 1/2 hours cooked on high. 
2) I followed a recipe I found on a recipe blog but as I was making it I thought, why didn't I use my tried and true Lasagna recipe and just follow the concept. 
3) Spray your crock pot with Pam Spray well to ensure easy cleanup (or use crockpot bags but I tend to only use those when camping)
4) The recipe I used said there was no need to cook the noodles before hand and yes, that is true because the noodles were soft but, next time, I would precook them.  I've found that putting the noodles in uncooked makes them slightly gummy. 

So the concept - Place a layer of your sauce/meat mixture on the bottom of the crockpot, followed by noodles, a layer of whatever cheese mixture you use (ricotta, cottage cheese, etc), and I put on a layer of Mozzarella cheese (I use cheese slices, not shredded cheese) and repeat the layers (meat, noodles, cheese mixture, Mozzarella, noodles and then one last layer of Meat Sauce).  Just before serving add one last Layer of Mozzarella cheese and let it melt. 

The Lasagna is a little "loser" when cooked in the crock put but the leftovers the following day were just like oven baked lasagna.