Pesto Lasagna

Working with what you have.

Often times, rather than have a set menu for the week, I buy the usual suspects at the grocery store and each night, I open the refrigerator door and take a peek in to see what I can rustle up for dinner.

On Sunday after our party, I had leftover pesto, ricotta, parmesan, mozzerella, and sauce. I also knew that I had several types of lasagna noodles in the pasta drawer that moved in with the dawn of DG. So what does this spell? Lasagna! Which is something I haven't made in about 10 years. It was the last meal I ate before I got the flu it's taken me 10 years to get over it. But I digress.

I did not do anything real fancy, and actually just followed the instructions on the side box of no cook noodles. Oh crap, does this fall under Sandra Lee's semi-homeade?

15oz ricotta
2 eggs
1/2C pesto (3C basil, 3cl garlic, 1/4C pine nuts, 1/2C olive oil, 3/4C grated parmesan, 1/2tsp salt) oooh, a recipe within a recipe
1/4C Parmesan
3C Mozzarella
1 jar sauce
1 box no cook noodles

Mix the ricotta, eggs, 1 1/2C mozzarella, and pesto. I only had 7oz of ricotta which I had premixed with garlic, basil and oregano for the pizza I made. Since I didn't have the full 15oz, I substituted some non-fat cottage cheese which worked just fine.

Spray a 13 x 9 baking pan and pour 1C sauce in the bottom. Add the first layer of 4 noodles. Then add 1/3 of the ricotta mixture and another cup of sauce. Repeat 4 times until the last layer is noodles. Top with the remaining parmesan and mozarella. Bake for 50-60 minutes at 375.

I cut this up into 12 servings and froze half of it for later this winter when the fridge is completely empty except for limp celery and condiments.