Recipe: Super Easy Lasagna

So my mom makes amazing lasagna...this is NOT her recipe.  My mom's lasagna requires homemade spaghetti sauce which takes forever and a day to make and requires a kitchen larger than a closet so I have never made it since living in NYC.  Also her recipe uses the lasagna noodles that you have boil and cook ahead of time.  Girl has no patience for that...so this other recipe is perfect for me.  Jar tomato sauce, no-boil noodles, whip it together in less than 10 minutes and throw it in the oven to bake while you mop the floor.  Perfect.  Sorry mom, you are probably cringing. 

I first made this dish with one of the former teenagers in the youth group.  She would come over to my place on occasion and want to cook because I had pots and pans.  She found this recipe online and I have been making it ever since because it is so easy.  Also perfect to throw together and freeze to give to someone in need of a meal for whatever reason.

The stuff
- 1 package of frozen chopped spinach (the kind that comes in a square box)
- 1 container of Ricotta cheese
- 2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- 1 jar of pasta sauce (any variety)
- 4-6 of the no-boil lasagna noodles (see photo below)
- 1/4 cup of water

Get cookin'
- Preheat oven to 400 F
- Defrost and drain the spinach (I usually just run the box under warm water until it thaws)
- Combine the ricotta cheese, spinich, and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese
- In your casserole dish pour 1 cup of the sauce in the bottom and spread it out evenly
- Place 2-3 of the dry noodles on top of the sauce
- Add half of cheese/spinach on top of the noodles and spread it out evenly
- Repeat layers (sauce, noodles, cheese mixture), the top layer should be plain pasta sauce
- Pour 1/4 cup of water around the edges of the dish (this water is what cooks the noodles.  I usually put the water into the pasta sauce jar and shake it around to get all the sauce off and then the water is mixed in the layers.  Seems to work fine) 
- Cover and bake for 45 minutes
- Uncover and add 1 cup of mozzarella on top and bake for an additional 10 minutes until the cheese is melted and brown
- Let cool and set for 10 minutes before cutting