It’s too hot in the summer to heat the oven, but that doesn’t mean you have to forego a delicious hot meal. Your crockpot provides a great alternative for a savory recipe that’s easy enough for the kids to help prepare.
Ingredients
(1) box oven-ready lasagna
(2) 24 ounce jars of red Italian sauce
(1) 15 ounce container of ricotta cheese
(1) pound shredded mozzarella cheese
(2) pounds of fillings such as zucchini, mushrooms, red peppers, sausage, or ground beef (whatever you like)
Cooking spray, olive oil
Directions
Spray crockpot with cooking spray and set on low.
Next, prepare all of your fillings; cook the sausage or ground beef, drain fat, and season with salt and pepper. Cut or dice vegetables into bite sized pieces, sauté in olive oil, and season with salt.
Pour a small amount of sauce in crockpot, and spread evenly to coat bottom of pot.
Now comes the fun part!
Layer ¼ of the pasta, (breaking it up into pieces to fit the pot) and sauce, 1/3 of the meat and vegetable fillings, 1/3 of the ricotta, and ¼ of the mozzarella. Repeat this step 2 more times.
At the end, finish with the last ¼ of pasta, and pour out the rest of the sauce on the top, refrigerate the remaining mozzarella cheese. Cook on low for 4-5 hours, until pasta is soft. Just before serving, top with remaining mozzarella, and cover to melt the cheese.
Serves 8-10 people.
