An Old Classic a New Way

I'm always intrigued by recipes that do something different than the norm. One that I found recently was a lasagna recipe that took a lot less time to make, and that was baked in the skillet you made the sauce in. So, of course, I had to try it. You should too! It was simple and delicious.

Three-Cheese Skillet Lasagna

Ingredients:

43 ounces canned whole peeled plum tomatoes (from a 28-ounce can and a 15-ounce can)
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 cups part-skim ricotta cheese, room temperature
1 box (12 ounces) no-boil lasagna noodles
1/2 pound fresh mozzarella, shredded
1/4 cup grated pecorino or Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a food processor, pulse tomatoes until coarsely pureed. In a large deep skillet, bring tomatoes, garlic, and oil to a boil. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce to a simmer and cook on medium until thickened, about 12 minutes (you should have 5 cups marinara sauce).

meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix together egg yolk, ricotta, and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper.

Carefully pour sauce into a heatproof bowl, and return 3/4 cup to skillet; spread sauce evenly. Add a single layer of noodles, breaking them up to fit. Top with half the ricotta mixture, spreading evenly. Follow with a second layer of noodles, then 1 1/2 cups marinara. Add a third layer of noodles, then remaining ricotta mixture. Follow with a final noodle layer, then remaining sauce. Sprinkle mozzarella and pecorino (or Parmesan) over top.

Bake lasagna until golden and bubbling, 30-35 minutes. Let stand about 10 minutes before serving.

Recipe Note: Breaking the lasagna noodles into pieces allows you to arrange them easily and snugly in the skillet without large gaps between them.

Source: Martha Stewart recipe. You can find it here.

Notes: This just tasted so good. It had such a fresh taste to it, despite the fact that it used canned tomatoes. In fact, I would probably use one more 15-ounce can of tomatoes. When I simmered it until thickened, I thickened it a little longer than the 12 minutes that the recipe called for because my sauce didn't seem thick enough to me. However, it reduced it down to a little less than 4 cups sauce...so, I guess I reduced it too much. There was still enough sauce to do the job, but I like my Italian dishes super saucy, so next time I'll add more tomatoes.

This froze really well, and reheated really well. The leftovers were fantastic.

Also, I didn't have no-boil lasagna noodles. I simply used a trick I found in another Everyday Food recipe awhile back. Don't boil the noodles. Soak the regular lasagna noodles in hot water while you are making the sauce. The noodles will be pliable, but not completely cooked by the time you are ready to assemble your lasagna. When the noodles bake in the oven, the sauce will finish cooking them and they will be just right--not too soft, and not too hard.