I love making spaghetti for dinner, but I always seem to wind up with more leftover sauce (tons) than noodles (none). The extra sauce often makes its way into the freezer, until space demands I do something with it. I’ve added the sauce to stews and soups and just reheated it for later meals. But last week, when I noticed I had three small containers in the freezer, I decided to fashion a lasagna meal from it.
I had about 3 cups of sauce total in two containers; one that included chicken meatballs and one with kielbasa (two favorites from different nights). The ingredients were a surprise to me, too. I just aimed to clean out the freezer and the mixing of flavors was delicious. If you save extra sauce like I do, try this method to repurpose it.
“Leftovers” lasagna
3 cups sauce, thawed
12-15 lasagna noodles, uncooked
16 ounce container cottage cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
½ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
Don’t bother to cook the noodles. If you layer them with sauce and cook for 45 minutes to an hour, they will cook completely. To the cottage cheese, add the garlic, oregano, parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste; mix thoroughly. In a 9x13x2-in baking pan, spread about ¼ cup of thawed sauce. Add a layer of 3-4 lasagna noodles, breaking to fit the pan if needed. Top with another layer of sauce, a layer of cottage cheese, a layer of mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers, topping the dish with sauce and mozzarella cheese. Cover with foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. Remove foil and cook another 10-15 minutes to brown the top. Lasagna will cut more smoothly if it cools about 15 minutes. Serves 6-12.
Lasagna cooks beautifully in a slow cooker also. Spray the inside of a 6-quart cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Layer the ingredients as above, cover with lid and cook 4 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low. Again, no need to pre-cook the noodles; skip that step in either method and save extra time.
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