The Orange Strainer: Four Cheese Crock Pot Lasagna

Recipe: Four Cheese Crock Pot Lasagna
Source: The Orange Strainer
Time: 20-30 minutes prep, 2 hours cooking time
Ease: 2
Taste: 6
Leftover Value: 6
Down the Drain or Keep in the Strainer: Keep it in the Strainer!

The first time I made lasagna was preceded by a phone call with my mother. We were shooting the breeze (which means I was probably seeking an answer to some cooking question I was uncertain about), then I told her as we were hanging up that I was making lasagna for dinner. I had been married for only a short time then and could hear over the phone her eyebrows raise as she said, "Are you sure you want to make that tonight? Lasagna can be difficult.."

Little did she know I had this bad boy cheater lasagna recipe tucked up my sleeve.

I call it a cheater lasagna because here is the beauty of it: you do not need to cook the noodles.

I repeat: you do not need to cook the noodles.

Isn't it a glorious thing?

Here's what you'll need:

1 jar (28 oz or more) spaghetti sauce
1 box lasagna noodles, uncooked*
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 cup cheddar cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
15 oz ricotta cheese

*Any type of noodles will work. The ones that are specifically "no boil" noodles do produce the best taste, but I usually just go with whatever is on sale. Because I'm cheap.

There, I said it.

Let's move on.

Of course, you'll also need a housewife's best friend: a crock pot.

Yes, my handle is cracked. That is another story though, and a very unfortunate one.

Whenever I make this recipe I have to do something a little strange. I have to split my cheeses in half. You'll notice that right now both of these bowls look pretty much identical. Both have a cup of mozzarella cheese, a half cup of cheddar, and 1/8 cup of Parmesan cheese.

Here is where the bowls change dramatically. My hubby does not like ricotta cheese. He does not like ricotta cheese in his lasagna. Tell me, how un-Italian, how disgraceful, how mortifying is that?

I know, I am a saint for dealing with such nonsense. You may mourn for me.

Because of my hubby's dislike for the miracle of ricotta cheese, I have to make one cheese mixture with it...

and one without it.

You'll have to come up with the answer to the question: Did I purposefully allow a shadow to be cast in this picture of cheese without ricotta?

The world may never know...

Look at how much more accepting the ricotta cheese mixture is. It says, "I'm more than just a bunch of shredded cheeses. I have some flair to me".

If my poor hubby only knew...

After the cheeses have been all mixed together, the seemingly unnatural part begins. Traditional lasagna is made in a square or rectangular dish. Therefore, the noodles are cooked, then laid out without the stiffness of an uncooked noodle. In a crock pot, you don't have the issue of having to cook the noodles and worry that they stay beautifully in place as piles of cheese and sauce are dispersed. There are, however, different layering issues to deal with.

First, start by coating the bottom of your crock pot with some spaghetti sauce.

Top the sauce with a layer of uncooked lasagna noodles. I usually lay them long ways, but this time I decided to be a little wild and have them go across the short way of the crock pot.

I'm pretty sure it tastes the same either way. Yet I may have to make it again to confirm. Darn...

Note: The noodles do not need to look beautiful. They will never be able to be laid out perfect.

If you live with normal people you won't have to worry about evening out the space between the cheese side including ricotta and the side that is sans ricotta.

Spoon half of the cheese mixture over top of the lasagna noodles. Don't worry about it being perfectly covered as the cheese will melt and spread out during the cooking time.

This is, of course, the one negative of trying to make one lasagna for two different appetites. The ricotta tends to travel a little into the other half, especially once the first serving has been spooned out.

That is clearly a hubby problem though. Not mine.

Pour some sauce on top of the cheese.

Then top with noodles again. Try to remember the way you placed the first set of noodles and place these in a different direction.

No, wait. That's what I always do by accident.

I meant, try to remember the way you placed the first set of noodles and make sure to place these noodles in the same direction.

Cover with the remaining cheese.

Pour sauce over top of the cheese.

Top with more noodles. Again, in the same direction the noodles have been going through the other steps. Don't judge my noodles in this picture. I was having some difficulty breaking them in a perfect and beautiful fashion.

Oh wait, I already warned you that that probably won't happen. Whew...

Pour the remaining sauce on top. It is really important to cover the noodles completely with sauce. If you don't, the noodles that are uncovered by sauce will be extremely hard when the rest of the lasagna is cooked and ready to eat.

Naturally, I took this picture first and then went into my freezer to thaw a small amount of sauce to finish the job off.

At least you see the way not to leave the noodles.

Put the crock pot on high for two hours or low for four hours.