Super Easy Goat Cheese Lasagna

Lasagna.  It's always been a special treat.  Perhaps that is partly because making all of those layers can seem like a lot of work!  (Of course it is also because it is so yummy!)  But lasagna can actually be easy to make!  Basically, lasagna is made up of four parts.  The noodles, a tomato sauce, a cheese sauce, and crumbled or grated cheese for the topping. 

The noodles are easy - you buy them!  You need 9 noodles for a regular sized lasagne, which is generally half of a package of lasagna noodles.  And there is no need to cook them beforehand!  Putting the noodles in uncooked makes things easier by skipping a step, and they cook just fine later in the oven with everything else.

The topping is simple too - just grate or crumble cheese on top.  So the only parts that take work are the tomato sauce and the cheese sauce. 


Tomato Sauce

For this layer, you basically start with store bought or homemade spaghetti sauce.  Then just add whatever you want!  Use plain marinara sauce to keep it very simple, add sauteed vegetables for extra colour and healthiness, or add some cooked ground meat or beans to make it a heartier meal.  Season with salt and pepper, and whatever other spices you fancy.  I make my own canned spaghetti sauce, so I use a quart jar of that as a base, and then add a half pound of cooked ground beef and a cup of dried beans that I soaked overnight and cooked.  This layer can take the most work, but if you make extra you can use it for a spaghetti meal later in the week - making two meals at once!


Cheese Sauce

For this layer I use 150 grams of soft goat cheese and a cup of almond milk.  I whisk them together, and that's it!  Basically, the goal is to have about a cup and a half of soft, slightly liquid cheesiness.  So feel free to experiment with different kinds of cheeses that you like!  Ricotta cheese or cottage cheese are pretty standard.  For milder cheeses you would want more cheese and less milk.


Putting it All Together

Once you have your 4 parts ready to go, you need to layer them in a 9x13 inch casserole dish.  Here is how the layers go:

3 noodles across the bottom of the dish
1/3 of the tomato sauce
1/2 of the cheese sauce
3 noodles
1/3 of the tomato sauce
1/2 of the cheese sauce
3 noodles
1/3 of the tomato sauce
Grated or crumbled cheese topping

Then bake the lasagna in a 350 degree oven for about an hour.  The cheese should be melted and the sauce bubbling!  Let it cool just a little bit, and enjoy!

This week I made a lasagna dinner for 9 people so I made a double batch in a large pan.  Jesse was the only one who couldn't have regular cheese, so I crumbled goat cheese over his portion and grated regular cheddar over the rest of the lasagna.  It was fun to cook for such a large group!

Heading out for the day and want to get supper ready before you go?  You can also cook lasagna in a crock-pot!  Just layer the lasagna right in the crock-pot instead of a casserole dish, and cook it on low for 4-6 hours.  I tried it earlier this summer and it worked really well!