Quick, Easy, and (Decently) Healthy Lasagna

My mom has been away on business and my dad can't cook. That means that, if I'm planning on not being home for dinner, I have to cook him something ahead of time so that he doesn't go to bed crying after realizing that there are no more cold cuts.

Yesterday, upon realizing that I was going to be gone all day--from 8 am until 11 pm--I knew that I needed to cook that night. Now, the last thing you want to so after preparing, cooking, and eating one dinner is to start making another, but that's just what I did. After finishing up my potato and leek soup, I set to making the next day's dinner for when my father got the grumbles and my mom stumbled off the plane.

This lasagna is an adaptation from the one of the back of the Barilla box of noodles (super classy, I know), which I made a little healthier. Instead of using marinara sauce, I used Newman's Own garlic and pepper sauce for more flavour, and replaced the ground beef or sausage with ground turkey. In 30 minutes (as I finished the dishes from dinner #1), my lasagna was ready and could go to sleep knowing my father wouldn't starve.

The Recipe:

1 package Barilla lasagna noodles

2 jars Marinara--or whatever suits your fancy--sauce

1 pound meat (turkey, beef, or sausage)

16 oz shredded mozzarella cheese (divided into 10 and 6 oz)

1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

15 oz ricotta cheese

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Cook the noodles as directed on the package in a big pot. Meanwhile, brown and cook the meat. Once cooked, add one can of pasta sauce and let cook gently.

In a large bowl, mix together the eggs (lightly beaten) and cheeses (only 10 oz of mozzarella) so that they are coated.

Line a 13"x9" lasagna or baking pan with tin foil and put a thin layer of sauce on the bottom. On top of the sauce layer, lay down the noodles so that they are slightly overlapping. If they do not reach the entire length of the pan, put a noodle width-wise to cover the gap.

Smooth down half of the cheese mixture and cover that layer with the meat sauce. Then, place down another layer of noodles. Repeat these layers until you run out of ingredients. Finish with a layer of noodles topped with sauce and sprinkled with mozzarella cheese.

Bake in the oven at 375 degrees F for half an hour. Let set for a little while, and either serve, refrigerate, or freeze.