budget no-boil lasagna (yes, it is possible)

Lasagna is a perfect food.

It is easy, even if time-consuming.  It's full of cheese and pasta and tomatoes and goodness.  The downside is that lasagna is expensive.

Putting together a pan of lasagna for less than 40 dollars is something I've never tried to do, before now.  This was my first attempt to make lasagna into something affordable.

I even stretched it a little to fill an 11 x 15 pan, but you could use the same recipe in a regular size, and just use fewer noodles.

Ingredients:

1 box lasagna noodles (not necessary to precook!)

1 large or 2 small onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, diced
2 Tb Italian seasoning (which I didn't have, so I used basil, oregano, and thyme)
1 lb pork sausage  (or whatever kind of ground meat you prefer)

About 1 qt pasta sauce

10 oz box frozen spinach, thawed and strained to remove as much liquid as possible
2 eggs
15-oz container ricotta
4 oz parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne or a few splashes of hot sauce

12 oz mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 tsp oregano

Notes about these ingredients:  I used pork sausage because it was on sale.  I have found that almost anything (ground turkey, ground beef, ground chicken, most sausages) works for lasagna.  Alternately, omit the meat and add some more veggies to the sauce.

I have a freezer full of tomato sauce that I made cheaply with big cans of tomatoes.  This summer I plan to do some of my own canning, so I will have sauce on hand.  Being flexible with the type of meat you use and making your own sauce can drive the cost down quite a bit.

Steps:

1) Saute the sausage or other meat over medium/medium high heat with the Italian seasoning.  When the meat is no longer pink, drain out most of the grease and add the onion and the garlic and reduce heat a bit to avoid burning the garlic.  Saute until onion and garlic are soft.

2) Add the pasta sauce and simmer while preparing the rest of the ingredients.

3) Preheat the oven to 350.

4) Mix the ricotta, thawed and drained spinach, eggs, and half of the parmesan cheese.  Add salt, garlic powder, pepper, and cayenne.

5) Spread about 1 cup of the sauce mixture in the bottom of the pan, cover with one layer of (uncooked) noodles.  Add another cup of sauce mixture, half of the cheese mixture, and sprinkle one third of the mozzarella cheese.

6) Repeat the pasta, sauce, cheese mix and mozzarella steps.

7) Place the last layer of noodles and spread the remaining mozzarella and parmesan on top.  Sprinkle with oregano and cover with foil.

8)  Bake 45 minutes, then remove foil and bake for 15 minutes more.

Total time: 2 hours
Estimated cost: under $15

Serves: 6-10 (six very hungry people, with no sides)

Tastiness factor: 4.5
Easiness factor: 4