Thursday, April 12, 2012

3-Cheese Lasagna {Egg-free}

My family loves lasagna, especially my husband.  Lasagna recipes pretty much always have egg in it.  This egg-free version includes a lot of the common ingredients without the egg.  What I think helps hold it together is mixing the three different cheeses together and baking it uncovered.  I also think using the part-skim ricotta and part-skim mozzarella cheeses help.  When you omit the egg, you do not want any extra moisture.  If you like this recipe, you may also enjoy Easy Cheesy Manicotti or Baked Spaghetti.

 
 
3-Cheese Lasagna {Egg-free}

½ lb lasagna pasta (gluten-free can be used)
1 lb ground beef
24 oz pasta sauce
15 oz part-skim ricotta cheese
2 c finely shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, separated
½ c grated Parmesan cheese
1 T dried parsley flakes
½ t freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350o.  Spray a 9x13 glass baking dish with cooking spray.  Cook pasta according to the instructions on the box.  While pasta is cooking, brown beef in a skillet.  Once browned, add the pasta sauce and let simmer on low.  In a large bowl, combine ricotta, 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, parsley and pepper.  Set the cheese mixture aside.  Once pasta is cooked, rinse in cool water to stop the pasta from cooking and to help with handling.  

In the baking dish layer as follows:  two large spoonfuls of sauce, three lasagna noodles, half of the cheese mixture, one-third of the remaining sauce, three lasagna noodles, the other half of the cheese mixture, half of the remaining sauce, three lasagna noodles, the last of the sauce and the remaining 1 cup of mozzarella.  Bake UNCOVERED at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.

 

24 comments:

  1. Have you tried this in the crock pot?

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    1. No, I have not tried that. If you do, let me know how it works for you.

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  2. I made this tonight. Not in the crockpot like I normally make lasagna. YUMM. You'd never miss the eggs!

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  3. I know you have suggested using gluten-free pasta but have you ever found egg-free pasta sheets as I've noticed most of the pasta sheet labels indicate that traces of egg may be present.

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    1. We generally only use gluten-free pasta if we are cooking for someone with a gluten allergy. If you are having a hard time finding pasta without any traces of egg, try the organic section. I do not use all organic ingredients due to cost. But as a general rule the organic brands are better about clearly labeling for food allergies and better about preventing cross contamination on shared equipment.

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  4. Going to try this with pre-boiled lasagna noodles... the ones that come in a dry box. Hopefully it turns out well! :)

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    1. Let me know how you like it!

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    2. All of the pre-boiled lasagna noodles I've seen have eggs in them. Let me know the brand if you find one that doesn't.

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    3. Market Basket has a no boil lasagna that does not have egg in it

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    4. Eating Right is a brand of lasagna noodles that does not have egg. It is whole grain, and has semolina and duram wheat in it.

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    5. Kroger brand has eggless noodles.

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  5. Is the 1 T parsley tablespoon or teaspoon? I'm new at cooking so I'm trying to learn to make this recipe.

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    1. When you see upper-case T that stands for tablespoon. When you see lower-case t that stands for teaspoon.

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    2. The brand "Springfield" Lasagna noodles have no egg.

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  6. What if I didn't have ricotta cheese and I was only using mozzarella and Parmesan

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  7. Do you have to use ricotta cheese

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    1. It would affect the taste and texture. I think it would taste more like a baked penne than a lasagna. But I think it would still be good. Give it a try and let me know how it goes.

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  8. I didn't have mozzarella so I used cheddar. Very good! I'm not even allergic to eggs, just didn't have any on hand so thanks for the recipe!

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    1. Glad you liked it! I have a lot of comments where people have used my recipes because they didn't have eggs on hand. Love it! :)

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  9. Can oil be substitute for eggs & if so, how much?

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    1. Oil can be part of a substitute for egg combined with other ingredients like baking powder for baking recipes. That would not work for this recipe.

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  10. I made this for my family twice. Both times, they liked it. The first time, we followed this recipe fairly closely, and it was very cheese-y (as promised) and tasted good. The second time, I browned 1 lb of ground italian sausage along with the 1 lb of ground beef, and another half-jar of pasta sauce. It was fantastic! (If folks don't eat pork products, I imagine you can achieve a similar outcome by adding another 1 lb of ground beef, and mixing "Italian sausage" spices in with the sauce (fennel seeds, etc.).

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    1. So glad you all liked it. Love the suggestions!

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