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Slow-cooked Lasagna and Italian Biscuits

© Allison Huller McAlister

This week I tried another easy lasagna meal. This one is called Slow-cooked Lasagna because, you guessed it, it's made in the Crockpot. This recipe wasn't nearly as easy to prepare as the Lasagna Casserole that I tried a while back. The casserole version consisted of just throwing everything together, but this Crockpot version still requires you to layer the ingredients. The only step you save in the slow cooker recipe is that you do not have to boil the noodles. You use the oven-ready lasagna noodles that do not require boiling. So, I didn't think this recipe was really worth it-I'd rather have my regular time-consuming oven-baked lasagna. My husband rated this meal as a four, but I thought it was only a three, so this one will have to be rated three and a half stars. I just wasn't that impressed with it. I will say that I liked it better the second time around when I had it reheated in the microwave the next day.

I also tried a biscuit recipe to go along with the lasagna. I'll call this one Italian Biscuits. You basically just make up a spread to put on the top of flattened refrigerated buttermilk biscuits and bake them in the oven. I gave these three stars, but my husband only gave them two, so Italian Biscuits scores a 2 and a half star rating from us.

Perhaps I'll have better luck next week. I haven't hit upon a five-star meal in a while now.

Have a good week and good eating!
Allison

Slow-Cooked Lasagna1/2

Makes 6-8 servings

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (4-oz.) mushrooms, drained
1 can (26-1/2 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1 cup water
1 can (6-oz.) tomato paste
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 pkg. (8-oz.) oven-ready lasagna noodles
16 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
16 oz. small-curd cottage cheese (I used fat-free)
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese (I used fat-free)

Preparation:
In a skillet over medium-high heat, cook beef, onion, garlic and mushrooms until beef is browned. Drain if necessary. Add the spaghetti sauce, water, tomato paste, and oregano; mix well. Spread a fourth of the meat sauce in a 5-qt. slow cooker. Arrange a third of the lasagna noodles over the sauce (break the noodles if necessary). Combine the cheeses, and spoon a third of the mixture over the noodles. (My cheese mixture was crumbly.) Repeat the layers twice; top with remaining meat sauce. Cover and cook on low heat for 5 hours or until noodles are tender.