Stinger Lickin’ Good: Long-lasting lasagna
“Stinger Lickin’ Good” is a weekly food column that showcases budget-friendly recipes for college students. Enough to feed a crowd, these recipes are easy to make and can satisfy those with three roommates or none (we won’t judge). (Graphic made in Canva by Dominique Williams)
December 6, 2022
I’ve made lasagna a lot in my 30 years of life. I’ve made mistakes, ruined the dish plenty of times from simple slips and have ultimately come to a recipe I feel comfortable enough to share today.
The actual constructing of the lasagna is as simple as can be. You’re layering, just as you would a parfait, nachos —- you know, all the best foods.
While easy to do, the longest parts of this recipe are making the sauce and the garlic confit for the bread.
I’m typically a make-from-scratch gal, but I also understand the college budget and the desire to shop for as little ingredients as possible.
I found a huge bottle of pre-made pasta sauce for $3.99 at Grocery Outlet and while I don’t usually use bottled sauce, like I did when I first started cooking as a teenager, I do know how to doctor it to make it taste more original.
I’m also not one to pass up a deal and, if you don’t already know, Grocery Outlet is the best place to find those.
My biggest problem with bottled sauce, aside from lacking real flavor, is it tends to be too sweet. Balsamic vinegar is the optional ingredient in doctoring the sauce, but it really helps to cut the sweetness.
I use a secret ingredient in my recipe just to add another layer of complexity and richness, and also because too much tomato sauce gives my heartburn. Read on to find out what it is!
How to make lasagna with premade sauce, like a boss
1. Before starting anything, make your garlic confit. This can take up to two hours, so it’s important that you start it first. Fill a small pot with cloves from two heads of garlic. Add salt to taste, at least 1 teaspoon. Fill with enough olive oil to cover the cloves.
Technically this is all you need for confit, but you can also add herbs. I added a few sprigs of thyme and sage. Cook on low heat until cloves turn brown — at least an hour, but up to two. The important thing is that you don’t let the oil boil; you’re infusing flavors, not cooking the garlic.
2. Chop and cook onions and garlic in a pan over medium heat. Garlic only takes around 30 seconds to release its flavor and becomes sour if cooked too long, so I cook the onions on their own for about three minutes and toss the garlic in at the end.
3. Pour the equivalent of two jars of pasta sauce into the pan. Season with Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, onion powder and balsamic vinegar. I use both fresh onion and garlic along with their powder forms because they have different flavors. Heat until it starts to bubble then set to low to simmer.
4. Add Italian sausage and ground beef to a separate pan with Italian seasoning, salt and pepper and cook until brown; add to sauce pan. When making a sauce from scratch, you brown your meat with the vegetables and pour the sauce over it all but since we’re altering a pre-made sauce, we’re going to brown the meat in a separate pan and add it to the sauce after.
5. Simmer the sauce for at least 30 minutes and in the meantime, place your noodles in a baking dish. Fill with enough hot water to submerge the noodles. Let these also sit for 30 minutes. This is my favorite way to cook lasagna noodles because I find that they break when cooking them in a pot and taking them out.
6. If you don’t want to make a confit, another great way to cook garlic for garlic bread is to roast it. Roasting garlic involves cutting off the top part of the cloves, drizzling olive oil over them and sprinkling salt. Wrap it in foil and put it in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. When it’s done, squeeze the cloves out into 3 tablespoons of melted butter.
7. Make your ricotta filling by mixing ricotta, sour cream, eggs, parmesan, fresh or dry basil and nutmeg.
8. Spray a baking pan with cooking spray. Spread a thin layer of meat sauce on the bottom.
9. Set down a layer of noodles. Depending on the size of your pan, use four or five.
10. Spread ricotta mixture over noodle layer and top with mozzarella cheese.
11. Top with another layer of noodles. Here’s where my secret ingredient comes in: a layer of alfredo sauce. You can make it or you can keep it easier on yourself and use a jar.
12. Add another layer of noodles, then top those with another layer of meat sauce and mozzarella.
13. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 30 minutes. After cooking, I like to broil the lasagna for a minute or two to crisp the cheese. I also like to sprinkle some parsley over the top for color. Let it rest for at least 15 minutes.
14. While your lasagna rests, make your garlic bread. If you made a confit, remove the cloves of garlic from the oil and smash them. Reserve the oil to use in another recipe.
15. Spread the mashed garlic — or your roasted garlic butter, whichever you made — over French bread that has been sliced in half. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.
This recipe is so much easier than the main steps make it look like. You will not be disappointed!
Same time, same place next week?
