How to Make No-Boil Lasagna:
Preheat oven to 375. Brown ground beef.
Spoon a tiny bit of tomato sauce onto the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking pan that has been greased.
Add a layer of uncooked lasagna noodles to pan.
To the pan, add half the cottage cheese, half the Parmesan cheese, and one-third of the shredded mozzarella cheese.
To the pan, add half of the ground beef and one-third of the tomato sauce.
Finish off the noodles by adding the last of the shredded mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, and noodles.
Cover lasagna with foil and place dish on baking tray.
Bake for 1 hour.
No-Boil Lasagna Using Regular Noodles
I’m sure this tip is well known, but once I discovered it, making lasagna was never the same. It’s true that regular noodles can be used to make lasagna without having to be boiled beforehand. It’s pretty amazing.
I’ve only ever made traditional lasagna once, and I immediately concluded it was too difficult for me to do again. I just didn’t think it was worth it to fiddle with boiling a big pot of water and burn my fingers on hot lasagna noodles.
My entire perspective was altered when I discovered that you could still make delicious lasagna without boiling the noodles. This method makes cooking lasagna a snap. Try it. I know you’ll feel the same.
I should point out that I only used homemade tomato sauce for this recipe, which has a tendency to be a little runnier than tomato sauce from the store. Although I don’t think it matters much, if you think it might, you can add 1/4 cup of water to your sauce to give the noodles a little extra liquid to absorb while they cook.
Others have informed me that you can assemble and bake lasagna without boiling the noodles beforehand. They say that you can simply spread them out on the pan uncooked and assemble them as normal because the oven’s heat and the sauce’s liquid will cook the noodles to the perfect consistency. How real is this? I’ve heard of others using homemade mac to accomplish the same thing. Please take note that I’m referring to regular lasagna noodles, not no-boil ones.
I seem to recall that you had to use more liquid than usual and make sure the noodles were both above and below a moist layer. Additionally, you cooked everything for a fairly long time to allow everything to absorb (I want to say 350F for 1. 5 to 2 hours, though I usually just cooked it until a knife easily entered, at which point I placed it under the broiler to get it bubbly.)
I recently spoke with a North Georgian restauranteur and award-winning chef. I have know him for more than 20 years. He claims that instead of using “no boil” noodles, he has always prepared lasagna with dry noodles. His lasagna is incredible; I’ve seen it served to groups that included a number of excellent chefs, and they were all very complimentary about it. So, I would trust him and his method. Additionally, according to him, it slices and holds its shape better when portioned for a big gathering.
Although the outcome is somewhat different, I agree that it does work with noodles right out of the box. I’ve been making lasagna with boxed noodles for years. However, before assembling the lasagna, boiling them or even just immersing them in hot water for five minutes alters the texture of the noodles. It plumps it up. Unboiled noodles, while tender, are not as plump. Just gives it a slightly different texture. I also heard a chef on TV say something like this about lasagna noodles.
My mother-in-law is from the old country, Sicilia. She showed me how to layer the noodles with ingredients after submerging them in boiling water for two minutes. Small amount of water added to the sauce. Chopped fresh spinach is another excellent addition to add color. Black olives are good too. Take it from the horses mouthe mother knows best.
