Lasagna (super easy and homemade)

One of my favorite kinds of foods is PASTA - so in  honor of my birthday month, the rest of my recipes will all be posted my favorite pasta recipes...starting with a favorite in our house...

My aunt gave me her lasagna recipe when my husband and I were either dating or newly engaged - we liked to make dinner together a lot then (back in college).

I took the recipe, edited it a little - took out some calories/fat :) and used canned sauce to make it even easier than it already is. So, here is the super easiest lasagna recipe ever (at least I think so) - and it's really good.

And these are all the dishes I have after prep time...

Do I have you convinced to try it? Let's get started!

You'll need:
2 jars (26 oz) spaghetti sauce
1 container (15 oz) ricotta cheese - part skim is fine
1 egg
Lasagna noodles (any kind - uncooked)
8 oz cheddar
16 oz mozzarella

Prep the 9x13 dish with a thin layer of spaghetti sauce.
Mix the egg and ricotta until smooth.

Now you layer (3 layers):
1.  Lasagna noodles (they do NOT need to be cooked and they do not need to be "oven ready" either)
Fill the space with them - break them if needed.

2. Layer with 1/3 of ricotta/egg mixture (guess 1/3, don't bother to measure).

3. Layer with about 1/2 can of sauce.

4. Layer with cheeses - 1/3 of the 8 oz cheddar (that's about 2/3 cup) - and 1/4 of the 16 oz mozzarella (that's about 1 cup)

Repeat this again (2 more times) for a total of 3 layers.
The only change is when you get to the top, you'll put the entire remaining 1/2 bag of mozzarella (about 2 cups) so that the top is more cheesy and completely covered.

(Other options to add:
You can cook some beef, sausage, etc and mix it in with the spaghetti sauce layer. you can throw in some pepperonis into the spaghetti sauce layer.
You can add parmesan cheese to the cheese layer.
You can add any spices, seasonings (like parsley) into any layer you like.)

Bake uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.

Notes -
Sometimes the edges get dark - you can cover either at the beginning or the end if you want yours lighter. or if your oven tends to cook faster and possibly burn the edges.

Another note on cheese quality:
Great value cheese (the pre-shredded kind at least) is terrible for melting - I do have one (not very photographic picture of a previous lasagna made with sam's cheese) that shows how nice and beautifully smooth it is.

The rest pictured are from last week - I was sick and didn't do my own shopping and got great value cheese.
:(
 Hence, the little lines of cheese. It still tastes ok - just not as smooth and not as pretty.

Sam's bakers and chefs is my favorite for pre-shredded mozzarella.

Add a salad (and some bread of course) and you're complete!  (at least in this house)

See how nice the cheese melts when it's my favorite brand? :)