White Lasagna

Yes, you read that title right, white lasagna.  See, I’m not a huge fan of tomato sauce.  Its ok in pizza, but thats about it.  So a while back I went looking for a white lasagna recipe.  Ran across one that was titled “(Major Chain Restaurant)’s 5 Cheese Lasagna”, the recipe called for the addition of chicken, and 2 cheeses I’d never heard of, one of which I wasn’t able to find locally.  So I “fixed” it.

Mind, its STILL not a recipe for anyone on a diet.  But I dumbed it down a bit, made it a bit easier to make, and so I make it a couple times every winter.  I cheat and use the pre-cooked lasagna noodles (the trick to make them taste right is to pre-soak them, before you do anything else for the lasagna set the noodles to soak in a pan of warm water, it makes a HUGE difference), but I DO use fresh cheese as much as possible.  I’ve had a couple people suggest that you could slice up some fresh tomatoes, or zucchini or the like and layer that in with the cheese, and I’m sure it would be wonderful that way too…..but I like it just the way it is.  I usually make a small lasagna pan, and several single serve size Pyrex containers, then once cool, put the lids on the Pyrex containers and freeze them for later.

(and yes, I’m making this for supper tonight!)

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1 Tbls. minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1-32oz pkg ricotta cheese
• lasagna noodles
• Cheese: lots, I usually grab a good sized block of sharp cheddar, a couple large rolls of mozzarella, some fresh provolone, some asiago, a good sized block of Parmesan, and whatever else catches my eye at the grocery store.  You can do this with all pre-shredded cheese, but you’ll miss out, trust me.

 Directions:

• In a 1qt sauce pan heat the milk, pepper, garlic and salt, stirring constantly as mixture comes to a simmer, add the flour and stir till it thickens
• Refrigerate till cool (does not have to be cold, just not hot) 
• If using pre-cooked noodles now is the time to set them to soak, also preheat oven to 350F
• Spread a THIN layer (as in barely there) of the ricotta cheese and a small amount of the milk sauce across the bottom of the pan
• Spread out first layer of noodles and then spread ricotta cheese then layer on a handful of each of the cheese, and a little milk sauce. Repeat pasta, cheese layering till pan is full
• On the top layer of noodles repeat cheese layering and pour the rest of the milk sauce on top
• Cover with tinfoil (and I recommend layering some tinfoil on the bottom shelf of the oven under the pan in case the cheese bubbles over)
• Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour (if making single serves like I do they’ll probably come out about the 45 minute mark, though the time I forgot and left them in the hour they were fine)
• Remove from oven and loosen, but do not remove, the tinfoil
• Let set for at least 20 minutes (or as long as possible, I usually barely make it 10….) before serving to allow cheese the set (or it’ll go gooey all over the bottom when you try to lift out a piece), I usually just sit it on top of the warm oven to set without going cold 
• Enjoy!  (and don’t complain to me when your doctor has a fit over your cholesterol, I DID warn you!) 

Edited cause I almost forgot: the made, but uncooked lasagna will keep overnight in the fridge just fine, infact I’ve made it that way for cooking the next day several times, I have not tried freezing the uncooked lasagna.  Cooked lasagna keeps for several days in the fridge and freezes and reheats just fine.