Oh my goodness.  It's been a crazy last few weeks.  There's nothing incredibly out of the ordinary going on, but the last few weeks have felt busier, more hectic.  I realized it's been a while since my last recipe share with you.  Slow cooker meals are needed now more than ever, right?  A few years back, Drew and I decided to try to become champions of the slow cooker.  We're still (very slowly) working on it, and this recipe will definitely be in our rotation for the future.  It's delicious and just gets better as it sits for a few days.



The upside to this lasagna recipe is that the slow cooker stretches out the baking process, allowing you to run errands or whatever while it cooks.  One downside is that the directions call for you to cook it only about 4-6 hours, and it was definitely done in that time.  I brought my slow cooker to work to be able to monitor it and it made the entire building hungry that afternoon.  Another upside is that the lasagna stayed nice and moist.

Slow Cooker Lasagna
adapted from Allrecipes user KIMIRN
feeds 6-8

1 pound lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 (29 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1/4 to 1/2 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (12 ounce) package lasagna noodles
12 ounces ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
12 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

In a large skillet over medium heat cook the ground beef, onion, and garlic until brown. Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, salt, and oregano and stir until well incorporated. Cook until heated through.

In a large bowl mix together the cottage cheese, grated Parmesan cheese, and shredded mozzarella cheese.

Spoon a layer of the meat mixture onto the bottom of the slow cooker. Add a double layer of the uncooked lasagna noodles. Break to fit noodles into slow cooker. Top noodles with a portion of the cheese mixture. Repeat the layering of sauce, noodles, and cheese until all the ingredients are used.
Cover, and cook on LOW setting for 4 to 6 hours.

Notes

• One thing I do love about Allrecipes is the user reviews.  Reading those with the recipe help see potential pitfalls or slight modifications.  A common one with this recipe was complaints of the lasagna being too dry.  I added extra water to the sauce to make sure the noodles (which I did not cook ahead of time and they were not labeled as "no cook") cooked and didn't take too much moisture.  The noodles were a bit soft, but the lasagna was pretty perfect in terms of moisture.