Four Cheese Lasagna Recipes

PERFECT FOUR-CHEESE LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large skillet, cook and crumble beef with onion and garlic over medium-high heat until browned, 5-7 minutes; drain. Stir in herbs and tomato sauce. In a bowl, mix eggs, cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese., Spread 1 cup meat sauce into a greased 13x9-in. baking dish; layer with 4 noodles, cottage cheese mixture, an additional 4 noodles and half the remaining meat sauce. Repeat last 2 layers. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and remaining mozzarella cheese., Cover with greased foil; bake until cheese is melted, 50-55 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Freeze option: Cover and freeze unbaked lasagna. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 350°. Bake lasagna as directed until heated through and a thermometer inserted in center reads 165°, increasing time to 1 to 1-1/2 hours.

FOUR-CHEESE LASAGNA

Steps:

• In a skillet, cook beef, onion and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink and onion is tender; drain. In a blender, process the tomatoes until smooth. Stir into beef mixture along with mushrooms, tomato paste and seasonings; simmer 15 minutes. , In a bowl, combine cottage cheese, Parmesan, cheddar, 1/2 cup mozzarella and eggs. Spread 2 cups meat sauce in the bottom of an ungreased 13x9-in. baking dish. Arrange half the noodles over sauce. Spread cheese mixture over noodles. Top with remaining noodles and sauce. , Cover and bake at 350° for 45 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. Return to the oven for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted.

4-CHEESE LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Shred provolone (can use salad shooter).
• Combine all the cheese mixture ingredients and mix well.
• Oil bottom of a 13" x 9" x 2" pan with a thin layer.
• Add 1/3 cup spaghetti sauce (ladle-full) to bottom of the pan.
• Place 3-4 noodles across bottom of the pan.
• Cover with cheese mixture (about 3 tablespoons per noodle) and spread.
• Add 1/3 cup of spaghetti sauce and repeat until top of pan is almost reached.
• Add noodles and then add spaghetti sauce on top.
• Cover with grated parmesan cheese.
• Cover pan with aluminum foil, shiny side down.
• Follow baking direction on back of no-cook lasagna box.

FOUR CHEESE AND SPINACH LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat and salt it generously. Add the lasagna noodles and boil, stirring occasionally, until al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain.
• Meanwhile, heat the olive oil and garlic in a saucepan over medium heat until the garlic begins to brown. Add the spinach, season with salt and pepper and stir until the spinach dries out and the garlic is fragrant, about 3 minutes. Cool.
• Mix the cottage cheese, goat cheese, Parmesan/Pecorino, 2 cups of the mozzarella cheese, lemon zest, nutmeg, cayenne, and cooled spinach in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in the egg.
• Cover the bottom of a 9- by 13-inch casserole with a thin layer of Tomato Sauce. Cover with 3 of the noodles placed side-to-side, but not overlapping. Top with a 1/4 of the cheese mixture and about a half cup of Tomato Sauce. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Repeat to make 2 more layers. Cover lasagna layers with remaining noodles, dollop remaining cheese mixture on top. Drizzle with remaining Tomato Sauce, then scatter the remaining 2 cups mozzarella on top. Bake, uncovered, until the lasagna is hot and bubbly, about 40 to 45 minutes. Let lasagna stand for 10 minutes before serving.
• Put the olive oil and garlic in a saucepan and cook until fragrant, 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and salt. Break up the tomatoes into small chunks with a wooden spoon and bring to a boil over high heat, lower heat to a brisk simmer, and cook until thickened, about 30 to 40 minutes. While sauce cooks, tear basil leaves into small pieces. Remove the sauce from the heat, stir in the basil, and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, to taste.

EASY FOUR CHEESE LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
• In a blender or with an electric mixer, blend tomato sauce and cottage cheese together until smooth. Spoon a little of the sauce mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Place a layer of cooked noodles over the sauce, and sprinkle a portion of the mozzarella, the cheddar and the parmesan over the noodles. Repeat layering of sauce, noodles and cheese; finish with a cheese layer.
• Bake in preheated oven 30 to 45 minutes, until cheese is bubbly and golden.

FOUR CHEESE-CHICKEN LASAGNA

Steps:

• Make the sauce: Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat; add the chicken and cook until browned, turning, 5 minutes. Add the onion, garlic and tomato paste and cook, stirring, until the onion softens, about 5 minutes. Add the wine and cook until mostly evaporated, about 5 minutes. Stir in 3 cups water, the tomatoes, bay leaves, parsley, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer 50 minutes. Break up the chicken with a spoon. Cook until thickened, 20 more minutes. Remove the bay leaves.
• Prepare the lasagna: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook as the label directs. Drain the noodles and drizzle with olive oil; set aside.
• Meanwhile, place the kale in a large microwave-safe bowl; add 1/2 cup water and a pinch of salt. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave until tender, 5 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water; squeeze dry, then return to the bowl. Stir in the eggs, ricotta, half of the parmesan and the parsley. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper. Toss the mozzarella, asiago and the remaining parmesan in a separate bowl.
• Spread 3/4 cup of the sauce in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Top with one-third of the noodles, overlapping them slightly. Cover with half of the kale mixture, then 2 more cups sauce. Sprinkle with one-third of the mozzarella mixture. Repeat the layers (noodles, kale mixture, sauce, mozzarella mixture). Top with a final layer of noodles, the remaining sauce and the remaining mozzarella mixture. Set on a baking sheet.
• Loosely cover with foil and bake 40 minutes, then uncover and bake until golden and bubbly, about 25 more minutes. Let stand 30 minutes before serving.

FOUR-CHEESE LASAGNA (ACTUALLY 5!)

Steps:

• Place Gruyère and 1/2 cup Parmesan in large heatproof bowl. Combine ricotta, egg, black pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley in medium bowl. Set both bowls aside.
• Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat until foaming; add shallot and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until beginning to soften, about 2 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, until thoroughly combined, about 1 1/2 minutes; mixture should not brown. Gradually whisk in milk and broth; increase heat to medium-high and bring to full boil, whisking frequently. Add salt, bay leaf and cayenne, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until sauce thickens and coats the back of a spoon, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally with heatproof rubber spatula or wooden spoon and making sure to scrape bottom and corners of saucepan (you should have about 4 cups).
• Remove saucepan from heat and discard bay leaf. Gradually whisk 1/4 cup sauce into ricotta mixture. Pour remaining sauce over Gruyère mixture and stir until smooth; set aside while softening noodles.
• Adjust oven rack to upper middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Place noodles in 13 by 9-inch baking dish and cover with very hot tap water; soak 10 minutes, agitating noodles occasionally to prevent sticking. Remove noodles from water, place in single layer on kitchen towel, and pat dry. Wipe out baking dish and spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray.
• Distribute 1/2 cup sauce in bottom of baking dish. Place 3 noodles in single layer on top of sauce. Spread 1/2 cup ricotta mixture evenly over noodles and sprinkle evenly with 1/2 cup fontina. Drizzle 1/2 cup sauce evenly over cheese. Repeat layering of noodles, ricotta, fontina, Gorgonzola, and sauce 3 more times. Place final 3 noodles on top and cover completely with remaining sauce, spreading with rubber spatula and allowing to spill over noodles. Sprinkle evenly with remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan.
• Spray large sheet foil with nonstick cooking spray and cover lasagna; bake until edges are just bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking time. Remove foil and turn oven to broil. Broil until surface is spotty brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Cool 15 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining 2 teaspoons parsley; cut into pieces and serve.

SECRET INGREDIENT FOUR CHEESE LASAGNA

Steps:

• In 10-inch nonstick skillet, cook beef over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until brown; drain.
• Stir in hot water, milk, sauce mix and uncooked pasta. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat. Cover; simmer about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender. Remove from heat; uncover.
• In food processor, place carrots. Cover; process until smooth. Stir processed carrots into pasta mixture. Sprinkle with parsley.

FOUR CHEESE LASAGNA RECIPE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
• Add pasta and cook for 6-8 minutes (you want them to be slightly undercooked); drain.
• In a blender or with an electric mixer, blend tomato sauce and cottage cheese together until smooth.
• Spoon a little of the sauce mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan or dish.
• Place a layer of cooked noodles over the sauce, and sprinkle a portion of the mozzarella, the cheddar and the Parmesan cheese over the noodles.
• Repeat layering of sauce, noodles and cheese; finish with a cheese layer.
• Top pan with foil and place in the freezer.
• When ready to eat, thaw in the fridge overnight.
• Remove from the fridge 30 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and golden.

VEGETARIAN FOUR CHEESE LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place pumpkin on a baking sheet and roast in oven until browned and tender, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, grill eggplant on a charcoal grill or fry in a skillet, turning once, until charred and tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Halve tomatoes and place on baking sheet in oven for last 15 minutes of pumpkin time; cook until tender and wrinkly.
• In a medium bowl, stir together ricotta, feta, pesto, eggs, salt and pepper until well mixed. Fold roasted pumpkin into ricotta mixture.
• Spoon half of the tomato sauce into a 9x13 baking dish. Lay two pasta sheets over the sauce. Arrange a single layer of eggplant slices over pasta and top with half the ricotta mixture. Cover with two more pasta sheets. Arrange the roasted tomatoes evenly over the sheets and spoon the remaining half the ricotta mixture over the tomatoes. Sprinkle with half the mozzarella. Top with remaining two sheets of pasta. Pour remaining tomato sauce over all and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan.
• Bake in preheated oven 30 to 40 minutes, until golden and bubbly.

SLOW-COOKER FOUR CHEESE LASAGNA

Steps:

• Brown meat in large skillet; drain. Return meat to skillet. Stir in ricotta.
• Combine pasta sauce and water. Spread about 1/2 cup onto bottom of slow cooker sprayed with cooking spray. Top with 1/4 of the meat mixture and 2 noodles, broken to fit; cover with layers of 1/4 each of the remaining sauce mixture, Parmesan and mozzarella. Repeat layers of meat mixture, noodles, pasta sauce and cheeses 3 times; cover with lid.
• Cook on LOW 4 to 4-1/2 hours (or on HIGH 2 to 2-1/2 hours).

FOUR-CHEESE LASAGNA

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Brown meat with onions in large skillet. Meanwhile, mix Neufchatel, cottage cheese, 1-1/2 cups mozzarella, 1/4 cup Parmesan and egg until blended.
• Drain meat; return to skillet. Stir in pasta sauce, tomatoes and oregano; simmer 5 min. Remove from heat. Spoon 1 cup meat sauce onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish; top with layers of 3 lasagna noodles, 1 cup cheese mixture and 1 cup meat sauce. Repeat layers twice. Top with remaining noodles, meat sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan; cover.
• Bake 50 min. or until heated through, uncovering after 40 min. Let stand 10 min. before cutting to serve.