YUMMMMMM
Italian, Italian, Italian, it’s all I’m pregnantly, I mean presently, craving at the moment. I want noodles with tomato sauce and CHEESE, cheese, and more cheese. Not just any old crappy cheese either, it’s got to be fresh mozzarella! I stumbled across a few different recipes for skillet lasagna and thought, “lasagna from start to finish, in less than 40 minutes? SIGN ME UP!”. As fast as you can chop an onion and sauté your choice of ground meat, you are almost ready to eat lasagna, it’s that simple and quick.
the usual Italian suspects, are you seeing a trend here?
First things first, sauté the diced onion over medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until soft and translucent. Reduce the heat and add the garlic and cook 1 minute longer, stirring until the garlic is fragrant. Add the red pepper flakes, a 3-fingered pinch of salt and a few cranks of pepper.
don’t forget the red pepper flakes!
Throw the ground turkey into the pan, bring the heat back up to medium, and sauté until cooked through and no longer pink.
cook it through…
While the meat is cooking, pour the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce and water into a medium sized bowl. Mix well with a spoon until water is incorporated and set aside.
mix it up!
Break up the lasagna noodles so they are 1-2″ in width and layer them in the skillet directly over the top of the meat.
pro tip, do not buy the “no bake” lasagna noodles
Next pour your tomato mixture overtop of the broken noodles. Cover the pan and bring your deconstructed masterpiece up to a simmer over medium heat.
simmah down nah!
Let simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring at 5 minute intervals. Make sure all the noodles are still submerged in sauce after each stir. Once the noodles are al denté, remove skillet from heat and top with teaspoonfuls of dolloped cottage cheese and small chunks of fresh mozzarella. I like to buy the ciliegine sized mozzarella (cherry tomato) and cut them in half before throwing them into the mix.
pro tip, squeeze the excess water out of the mozzarella with a towel or paper towel before placing into your lasagna!
Replace the cover off the heat for another 5 minutes to let the mozzarella melt. Give it one last good stir and finally top with fresh torn basil. Serves 6 (unless a pregnant woman is eating).
Skillet Lasagna
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Serves: 6 people
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, zested
- 2 2-fingered pinches of red pepper flakes (about a teaspoon)
- 1 lb ground turkey (or beef, or bison, or soy crumbles, if you are into that sort of thing)
- 8 lasagna noodles, broken into 2″ sizes
- 1 15 oz can of salt-free tomato sauce (if you can find it)
- 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 cup water
- 12 ciliegine (cherry tomato) sized fresh mozzarella balls, halved
- 2/3 cup cottage cheese
- fresh torn basil
- salt and pepper to taste
Method
- Sauté the diced onion over medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until soft and translucent. Reduce the heat and add the garlic and cook 1 minute longer, stirring until the garlic is fragrant.
- Add the red pepper flakes, a 3-fingered pinch of salt and a few cranks of pepper. Add the ground turkey into the pan, bring the heat back up to medium, and sauté until cooked through and no longer pink.
- While meat is cooking, pour the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce and water into a medium sized bowl. Mix well with a spoon until water is incorporated and set aside.
- Break the lasagna noodles so they are 2″ in width and layer them in the skillet directly over the top of the meat, then pour the tomato mixture overtop of the broken noodles. Cover the pan and bring it up to a simmer over medium heat. Let simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring at 5 minute intervals. Make sure all the noodles are still submerged in sauce after each stir.
- Once the noodles are al denté, remove skillet from heat and top with teaspoonfuls of dolloped cottage cheese and small chunks of fresh mozzarella. Replace the cover off the heat for another 5 minutes to let the mozzarella melt. Give it one last good stir and finally top with fresh torn basil.
- Collect accolades and adoration from family and friends.
