Lasagna is the perfect make ahead meal. You can spend a Sunday afternoon prepping and then on Monday after work you can just throw it in the oven for a hour and viola! – dinner is served! I’ve made 2 different lasagna recipes in the last few months, but I prefer this one.

As with most lasagna recipes, the originally recipe was intended for a 9×13 pan. The last time I made a 9×13 pan of lasagna we had more leftovers than we could handle. I have scaled the original recipe down to an 8×8 and made it a little less “deep dish” because my pan couldn’t handle every layer in the recipe.

Lasagna (makes an 8×8 pan)
Ingredients:

6 cooked lasagna noodles, cut down to 8 inches
1/2 pound hot Italian sausage
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, divided
12 oz can tomato paste
7 oz can tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil leaves
7.5 oz ricotta cheese
1/2 package (9 oz) chopped spinach, thawed and squeeze dried
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg
1 tsp garlic salt
dash ground black pepper
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

In skillet over medium heat, brown the sausage with the onions, garlic and 1/2 the parsley. Drain any fat. Add tomato paste, tomato sauce, water, Italian seasoning, oregano, and basil. Mix well. Cover and let simmer for 5-10 minutes.

In a medium bowl, combine remaining parsley, ricotta, spinach, Parmesan, egg, garlic salt, and pepper. Mix well.

Lightly grease an 8×8 pan with cooking spray. Start by putting down a layer of sauce, then layer 3 noodles, overlapping each other slightly. Next layer half of the cheese/spinach mix, then cover with sauce and half the mozzarella. Repeat; sauce, noodles, cheese/spinach mix, sauce and finally mozzarella.

If you are making it ahead of time you can put it in the fridge at this point. If not, preheat the oven to 350F and bake covered (with aluminum foil) for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Let cool a bit before serving.

Adapted from All Recipes