Adorable Little Lasagnas

{they were almost too cute to eat}
I got these new little dishes, and now I'm obsessed with making all my meals in these! Not only are these dishes darling, they are perfect for portion control. Winner winner chicken dinner! I was short on time tonight, and I didn't have much to make a whole lot of anything. So I whipped out my new dishes, and lasagna popped into my head... I know, I'm such a genius.

ingredients:
3 lasagna noodles (yeah 3!) uncooked
1 cup grated mozzarella
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped tomatoes
3/4 cup spaghetti sauce
Parmesan cheese for garnish


Directions: Boil 4 cups water, then add lasagna noodles. Boil until noodles are cooked through, wiggly and firm enough that they don't tear. Drain and put into a bowl of cold water. Cut each noodle into thirds. Add a spoonful of sauce to the bottom of each little dish (250 mL).

Place one noodle in each dish and then layer with onions, tomatoes, sauce and cheese- saving the most cheese for the tops. Then garnish with grated Parmesan cheese.

Cover losely with foil, and bake for about 20 minutes at 350F, removing foil the last 10 minutes of baking. Remove from oven and let sit for about 5-7 minutes. And, you're done! 

Chicken Spinach Lasagna

{rating: 9.5}
I have to say, I was more than skeptical for this lasagna because I decided to use the 'oven ready' noodles thinking it might cut the time down. It cut the prep time in half, but made up in the bake time. I'm not writing oven ready noodles off entirely, but I think I prefer the regular ones, then again, it did save the me the expensive of washing an extra pot. "...both are favorites!"

Ingredients:
One half a bag (10 oz.) baby spinach, cooked and well drained
9 oven ready uncooked lasagna noodles
1 cup cottage cheese (low fat, if that's your thing)
1 egg
2 cooked and chopped chicken breast
2 cups grated Mozzarella
1 cup grated Parmesan
3 cups of your favorite pasta sauce
1 cup water
Italian seasoning
Parsley flakes

Directions:
Start by mixing the pasta sauce with the cup of water in a medium pot, bring to a boil. While you're waiting (by the way, don't forget to stir on occasion) mix the cottage cheese with spinach, chicken, and (eww...) the egg- I almost lost it when the egg was added to the mix... but that's just me, and the Parmesan and Italian seasoning, just a dash. Once your sauce has reached a boil, spoon a few spoonfuls on to the bottom of the 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer with uncooked noodles, then the chicken mixture. Add another layer of noodles, a few more spoonfuls of sauce, then chicken mixture. Repeat until all the noodles and chicken mixture are used up. For the top layer, add remaining sauce and top with Mozzarella cheese. Garish with Parsley flakes. Cover with foil and bake for 40-45 minutes at 375F. Remove foil and continue baking for 15 minutes. Remove from oven (turn off oven... heehee!) and let sit for about 10 minutes so it's not so soupy. Enjoy!

...mmm, bubbly.
 

Stuffed Shells

{hi, my name is Kelsey and I am addicted to Italian food}
If you love Italian food, like me, you will love this! It's so easy and inexpensive! I'm seriously considering taking this to Italy and sharing it with the locals.

Ingredients:
16-18 Jumbo pasta shells
2 cups of your favorite pasta sauce (or homemade if you want)
1 (10 oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed (I used about a half bag of fresh spinach)
1 cup cottage cheese (you can use low-fat if you'd like)
1 cup Mozzarella, grated
1/2 grated onion (I felt it was a bit onion-y, so maybe half that unless onion-y is your thing)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
1 teaspoon Garlic Salt

Directions:
Prepare pasta as per directions, while pasta is cooking, cook spinach. My bag of spinach didn't have any directions, so I had to look that up (in a sauce pan, melt a couple tablespoons of butter on medium heat, then add your spinach and cover. Takes about 5 or so minutes). Drain spinach thoroughly in a strainer and press spinach with a spoon to get all the liquid out. In a medium bowl combine spinach with cottage cheese, mozzarella, onion, and seasonings. When pasta is cooked, drain well. Return to pot and fill it cold water, drain again. Preheat oven to 375F, and spoon cheese mixture into shells. Place shells in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Pour pasta sauce over shells. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes.
Original recipe adapted from The Essential Mormon Cookbook.

Cheese lovers pasta roll-ups

{a new way of looking at pasta}
I no longer hate Ricotta cheese

Ingredients:
1 egg, beaten
1 container Ricotta cheese
2 cups Kraft 4 Cheese Italiano
4 green onions, chopped (I wouldn't recommend this if you use a pre-made pasta sauce, too many flavors for me)
1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce (even an alfredo sauce would go nicely!)
6 lasagna noodles, cooked
1/2 cup Kraft Parmesan Cheese


Directions:
Mix first 5 ingredients until well blended. Spread 1/2 cup pasta sauce onto bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Spread each noodle with 3 tablespoons of cheese mixture. Roll up and place seam side down in dish. Top with remaining sauce and Parmesan. Cover with foil and bake 40-50 minutes or until heated through. Oven at 350 F.
 

Arrabbiata Sauce

{authentic Italian}
Care of Lenora Mazzocchi

 Ingredients:
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
3 cloves minced garlic
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped basil
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 tablespoon black pepper
2 (14.5 oz) cans crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons Parsley

Directions:
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Fry garlic and onion for 5 minutes. Stir in sugar, basil, pepper flakes, tomato paste, lemon juice, Italian Seasoning, black pepper, and tomatoes. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes stirring occasionally. Stir in parsley, and serve over your favorite pasta.

Garnish as desired!

Lasagna

{Meat, or no meat- it is the same}
Everyone knows what a lasagna is, so let's just cut to the chase!

Ingredients:
1 jar (27 oz, or 700 mL) of your favorite pasta sauce (or make it from scratch)
9 lasagna noodles, uncooked
4 cups of shredded Mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup of cottage cheese (the regular size container should do, unless you like more then, by all means...) 
Salt and Italian Seasoning to taste
1 lb. of lean ground beef, browned and drained 
1 egg

Directions:
In a large pot, boil 6 cups of water, add a little salt to help it boil quicker (and to help flavor your noodles). Once to a boil, add lasagna noodles and cook until soft and wiggly (you don't want to over cook them, they have a tendency to tear). In a large bowl, add some cool water. Drain noodles and place them in the bowl of cool water. This shocks them and keeps them from continuing to cook, it also cools them down so they are easier to handle. Set aside. Mix your pasta sauce and ground beef together in a sauce pan over medium heat. Stir occasionally until simmering and warm. In a small bowl, mix  cottage cheese and egg together.
Don't forget to preheat your oven to 350 F. In a 9x13 greased baking dish, spoon a small amount of sauce on bottom of pan. Next, place 3 noodles down. Then spoon a thin layer of cottage cheese and egg mixture on top of noddles. Add a thin layer of Mozzarella. Then top with another thin layer of sauce. Repeat until all the noddles are used up. Be sure to save as much Mozzarella as you can for the top. Take remaining Mozzarella and spread over the top. Sprinkle with some Italian seasoning. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes, remove foil and continue cooking until bubbly! 
*You can opt out the ground beef if you don't want to use meat*