Recipe

Not Pretty But Tasty Slow Cooker Lasagna-ci Recipe


Not Pretty But Tasty Slow Cooker Lasagna-ci Recipe
Add Step-by-Step Photos

Adapted from my long time lasagna recipe to suit my brother's love of it, but not of "cooking". Now, it's the ONLY way we make lasagna! It's not a pretty dish, but it's so tasty, and so easy and it makes your house smell wonderful all day. Serve wit... More

Keni


Frankie's results

Add Photos

 Does this look good? Yeah! / Nope
Fans
Ingredients
  • 2lb Italian Sausage
  • About 50oz favorite red pasta sauce(homemade or bottled---just get around that much, depending on sizes of jars available, etc :)
  • 1 box lasagna noodles(not "no boil")
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • About 4 cups shredded mozzarella
  • 6oz Parmesan cheese, shredded(not in the green can;)
  • 15oz Ricotta
  • 1 large container cottage cheese
  • 1T dry Italian seasonings(fresh is fine, of course, just double it, at least)
  • salt and pepper

Directions
  1. In large pan, brown sausage in small amount of olive oil, if needed. Add garlic and onion about halfway through browning process. Don't over cook the meat, cook til just done.
  2. Remove meat from heat and drain excess grease, then and add pasta sauce and salt and pepper to meat mixture and stir to combine. Simmer while preparing cheese mixture.
  3. Combine ricotta and cottage cheeses, Italian seasoning, and all but 1 cup each of mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.
  4. Spray slow cooker with no stick spray and put small amount of meat/sauce mixture on bottom of pot.
  5. Break noodles to fit and add double layer of noodles over bottom sauce layer, then another layer of the meat sauce, then spread a layer of the soft cheese mixture, then a layer of noodles, breaking to fit, and making sure to cover as much of the mixture as possible.
  6. Then, continue with another layer of meat sauce, then soft cheese, then noodles, meat sauce, soft cheese, ending with this, then adding the shredded cheese to the top.
  7. Cook on low for about 6 hours. Top will be bubbly and noodles will be tender(you can test by finding one of the uppermost noodles...if it's soft, the rest will be, so you're done ;)
  8. Let rest at least 20 minutes or so(maybe while you're assembling a salad and/or making garlic bread, because this is not easy to cut into, and if it's not cooled a lil, it's even more difficult :)
  9. ---please note---the serving in the photo is with my own pasta sauce(with fresh mushrooms) and fresh herbs...the recipe can be tweaked to suit your tastes, but this was intended to be an easy starting point recipe, and one that a beginner can impress company with, even with using dried herbs and jarred sauce :)
  10. **Warning, this is NOT a pretty dish...it's soooooooo tasty, and the flavors are incredibly melded and rich, but it's not gonna come out of the pot in the pretty layers of traditional lasagna. Also, we've made this only in an oblong slow cooker. I know the concept will work in a round one, but I'm not sure how the serving will go. Also, this will FILL a large slow cooker and feed a small army...so, please use it when presentation is less important than an easy, delicious meal for a crowd. :)

Recent Gawkers
Not quite what you're looking for? See more Pasta And Rice / Pasta
Comments


Bravo..Great dish..Taste first, garnish later...Marky


Good one! Added to all the crock-pot groups I belong to. - Nat


This looks fantastic to me! I love the Italian sausage factor and the no boiling of noodles and the crockpot! I'd like to use all ricotta. I think that would work, right? I'm going to save this. Thank you!


Hey Frankie! All ricotta will be fine...it's more a texture thing, than a taste thing. I usually used straight ricotta(and not as much, percentage wise) for that element if I make "traditional" lasagna, but I think the slow cooker version needs a bit more substance, so I increase that "layer" by a bit. But, there should be no problem with using ricotta. The Italian sausage really isn't negotiable, and the noodles don't need pre boiled...I promise! ;)


Thanks, keni. I'm printing this out. I have this weekend's menu planned but it is in the line up for next weekend. I may try cutting this in half because it is just me. :) Thanks so much.


This one's a keeper! Thanks.


Hey, keni. I bought the stuff for this last night. I am making it this weekend and cutting the recipe in half. I'll let you know how it turns out and will remember to take a picture. :)


This was really delicious! I successfully cut the recipe in half - just used one 15 oz container of ricotta - no cottage cheese. I am glad I did reduce the recipe as I don't think the whole batch would have fit into my round crockpot. I was minus one layer. Mine was finished in 4.5 hours - maybe because my cooker is round. I let it sit for 20 minutes, but it probably could have sat for 30. It was good and hot! Delicious and I love the Italian sausage ingredient. A keeper. Thank you!


It is beautiful. Love this!


Just realized that for some reason, I'd never commented on this recipe. For anyone doubting this, it works... perfectly. :) I've made it many times, and it turns out "stick-to-your-ribs" delicious every time. This is the kind of dish where the whole family lays around grunting when the dust settles, since it's impossible to stop eating until you're physically unable to continue. I had a 2nd generation Italian friend, and the first time he had this he told me it was better than his mother's lasagna, immediately followed by a shocked expression and "Don't you dare tell her I ever said that!". :) Just put aside all preconceived notions of what lasagna's supposed to LOOK like, and experience what lasagna's supposed to TASTE like.


Add a Comment
You must be logged in to comment on a recipe. Login
Alterations
No alterations yet


Suggest an Alteration
You must be logged in to suggest a recipe alteration. Login
Viewing Not Pretty But Tasty Slow Cooker Lasagna-ci Recipe

Tool Box

url
Print Recipe
Email it
Send Recipe to Cell Phone
Login to Add a Note [?]
Login to Save this [?]
Subscribe to keni [?]
Flag as Interesting/Unique [?]
Add to Comparison Queue [?]

Flavors

Login to Add Flavor Tags [?]

Ratings & Honors

5

You need to be logged in to rate a recipe.

Groups

You need to be logged in to add a recipe to a group

Related Menus