SLOW COOKER LASAGNA!! EASY SLOW COOKER DINNER IDEA!!

Y'all, I'm going to be honest. I did not think this would turn out as good as it did! This slow cooker lasagna was a whim I was willing to try. Honestly, I don't know that I will ever make a lasagna any other way! TRUTH! This is my classic lasagna recipe. The one I have used for freezer banking for many years. The same one my mom used to make. We had a good bit of Rick's homemade spaghetti sauce leftover and instead of having another pasta dinner as usual, I thought a lasagna sounded good. I love experimenting with different ways to make things we love and this is no exception. Slow cooker lasagna for the win! Seriously good, seriously delicious!

I know that making a lasagna is not rocket science. You just layer noodles, sauce and cheese. Sometimes veggies you bake and you eat. BUT, this way of making a lasagna takes things to a whole new level. This baby has five or six layers or more of noodly, cheesy goodness going on. Top that off with homemade meat sauce chock full of mushrooms and you have a serious winner! This video is a suggestion. A way for you to take your favorite lasagna and cook it in a new and different way!

I used oven ready lasagna noodles, but you don't have to seek those out. Regular will do just fine. The benefit of the oven ready ones is the fact that they are corrugated to allow for better uptake and absorption of the liquid in the recipe. The flat ones will do the same. Don't worry about it if that is all you can find! I used a good quality, whole milk ricotta and mixed it up with eggs, seasonings and a bit of mozzarella and parm. Adding the eggs and the cheese into the ricotta allows for better structure over the cooking time. This will prevent the cheese layer from collapsing giving it more body to hold up. I also used an Italian cheese blend as well as a thicker grated whole milk mozzarella. I prefer the whole milk mozz simply because it melts much nicer. You can use whatever is your preference or whatever is available at the time.

Important tips are to always start by placing a good layer of sauce on the bottom of your vessel, This will help that bottom layer cook properly and the noodles to be done well. Next is to break up the lasagna noodles to suit your needs. Don't be afraid to really fit them in there! They will cook and expand and this will help with the structure of the end result. Next, be sure to spread everything to the edges! This is also a super important tip because you want to be sure the noodles have enough coverage as well as moisture to uptake during the slow cooking process. Next, if you are using leftover sauce like I am, be sure to have an extra jar of your favorite pasta sauce on hand to thin it down a bit. This will also facilitate the cooking of the noodles perfectly. End with your top layer being sauce. Spread it to the edges and cook from there. You will add your last layer of cheese when everything is well cooked and you can check the noodles for doneness.

I layered my lasagna in this order: sauce, noodles, ricotta cheese mixutre but leaving a little for the second to last layer, noodles, parm, mozz, more noodles, sauce, mozz, parm, noodles, a bit more of the ricotta mixture, mozz, parm, noodles, the last bit of the sauce. It looks like a lot, but think about how divinely deep dish your lasagna will be!

This cooked on high for one hour and on low for two additional hours. I then spread the top with a good thick layer of mozzarella and a good sprinkling of parmesan. I put the lid back on it and left it. I did not turn on the slow cooker. In fact, I unplugged it. I allowed this to rest for two hours. You really want to do this so you can slice beautiful servings in the end.

As you can see, this sliced beautifully! It went all the way to the bottom and with the help of a fish spatula and a think spreading spatula I was able to remove the slices without having them fall apart. I was even impressed with that! This was a lot of lasagna, to be sure! I sent some over to my dad and I froze two meals for the family that I had left. A win for me the next time I want lasagna and I can actually have my own on hand!

I hope you give this slow cooker method of making lasagna a try and I hope you love it!

Happy Eating!
#wecook

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