Fauxagna

It is no secret that Keith and I really like Lasagna. It is easy, fun to make, and there are plenty of leftovers. Now that I have a pasta press, it seems silly to me to purchase dry lasagna noodles (I still have to write up my post on my first lasagna from scratch.) Instead, I decided to make a faux lasagna with layers of pasta.

I love caramelized onions, and putting some into baked pasta dishes gives them a wonderful sweet twist. In the pictures above, I am caramelizing two whole onions because I wanted to save some for another dish I would make later this week. I wish that I had used a little less butter, not because of taste but because of health and there was plenty of liquid.

Keith loves garlic bread, and sometimes I'll make it from scratch. Today, I decided to just make some fresh bread to dip in the leftover tomato sauce.

The Francesco Rinaldi Chunky Garden tomato sauce is my favorite. I have no idea why I love it so much, but it really holds up well with a lot of cheese, so it is perfect for baked pasta dishes.

I cooked the pasta for 8 minutes, not the 10-12 recommended on the package because I knew it would cook more in the oven. I layered sauce, noodles and the cheeses. I used whole milk ricotta cheese (yes, I am bad), shredded mozzarella, and some spices.

The caramelized onions were sprinkled on top under the final layer of mozzarella. I only cooked it at 350 for 10-15 minutes since I just wanted to warm things up and let the cheeses melt.

I think the fauxagna was a complete success. Keith had 3 helpings!

Matzana vs Lasagna

There are one differences between lasagna and matzagna: Noodles vs Matzah.

I observe Passover, but Keith doesn't... at least not intentionally. If I'm the one cooking, then I'm making kosher for Passover food, so he hasn't had much choice. Until now. This year, I decided to create a lasagna for him to get through these 8 days without leavened bread, and Matzagna for me. Side by side, same recipe, just different starch.


Ingredients for Simple, Easy Lasagna AND Matzagna. If you're only going to make one, then you can half the cheese and sauce!

• Lasagna: no cook noodles (one box)
• Matzagna: ## Pieces of Matzah
  
• part skim ricotta cheese 15 oz
  
• part skim mozzarella - 24 oz
  
• 1 standard sized jar of tomato sauce (42 oz)
  

Assembling the Layers (The steps are the same for both) (in a 9x13 pan)

• Sauce
  
• Noodles/Matzah
  
• ricotta+mozzarella
• sauce
• (repeat noodles/matzah through sauce until top layer)
  
• On top, place noodles (or Matzah), sauce and then mozzarella.
• Mix a little bit of water into the extra sauce jar and pour around the edges

Cook at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes. Allow it to cool before serving.

Can you tell the difference?

And the verdict? Keith likes the lasagna better, but says that the Matzana is only a hair behind!

Building the layers: Side by side

The same pan, ready to begin!


First some sauce on the bottom


Followed by a layer of matzah/noodles


I add ricotta cheese directly on top of the noodles


Mozzarella goes on top of the ricotta, and then you add sauce.


Add noodles and repeat!

Easy Lasagna

At our New Years trip, I was exhausted so I decided to prepare simple, fast and easy lasagna for our friends (there were 20 of us staying in a cabin.) Normally I would make the sauce myself, add some other veggies to the layers, but this time I used just cheese, store bought tomato sauce, no cook noodles... and it came out AMAZING! This is now such a fast and easy dish to create that Lasagna is no longer a big ordeal.

Plus, making a lasagna for two people means that you have plenty of leftovers!

Ingredients for Simple, Easy Lasagna (amounts will vary depending on your pan size. Unfortunately I did not keep track of the volumes that I used...)

• no cook noodles (one box)
  
• whole milk ricotta cheese
  
• part skim mozzarella
  
• 1 standard sized jar of tomato sauce

Creating the Layers (in a 9x13 pan)

• sauce
• noodles
• ricotta+mozzsarella
• sauce
• (repeat noodles through sauce until top layer) noodles - sauce - mozzarella.

I cooked the lasagna at 350 degrees F until the sauce was bubbling around the edges (30-50 minutes depending on your pan size.)

This lasagna was so delicious. I cannot wait to make it again!