Skillet Lasagna

White House Recipes's Note:

Got this in an email from America's Test Kitchen, from their new book "The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook"

• Total Time: 50 mins
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion , minced
• salt
• 3 garlic cloves , minced
• 1⁄8; teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 lb meatloaf mix (ground beef, and 8 ounces ground pork. for spicier flavour increase the amount of red pepper flakes )
• 8 ounces curly-edged lasagna noodles , broken into 2-inch lengths (10)
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 ounce parmesan cheese , grated (1/2 cup)
• pepper
• 8 ounces whole milk ricotta cheese (about 1 cup)
• ¼ cup minced fresh basil

Directions:

1. Pour the tomatoes with their juice into a quart measuring cup. Add enough water to the tomatoes to measure 4 cups.
2. Heat the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add the meatloaf mix and cook, breaking up the meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
4. Sprinkle the noodle pieces evenly over the meat. Pour the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce over the pasta. Cover and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender, about 20 minutes. (The sauce should look watery after 15 minutes of cooking. If dry, add up to 1/4 cup additional water to loosen the sauce.).
5. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dot heaping tablespoons of the ricotta over the noodles. Cover the skillet and let stand off the heat for 5 minutes.
6. Sprinkle with the basil and serve, passing the extra Parmesan separately.

Reviews

[Chef #410012]

You really can't mess this up, and can tweak it the way you like it. Great for worknight dinner and always taste great. Fresh Basil and adding mozzerella is definitely better, tho. Thank you.

[Crazy2day]

This is a winner!! I love skillet lasagna cuz it's less mess and quicker. Changes: I did use about 1 lb hamburger and 1/3 lb italian sausage cuz that's what I had. Also, used garlic and olive oil diced tomatoes instead of plain. No tomato sauce so 1/4 jar of Ragu w/sauteed garlic and onion. Really, really good. Didn't have the fresh basil. Can't wait to try it w/that! Anything from America's Test Kitchen is worth trying.

[IngridH]

This was pretty good, and a very kid friendly recipe. I love the fact that I can use those bits of broken pasta, and no one cares, or even notices! I used all ground beef this time, but I'd like to try this with the meatloaf mix. I'd add some italian seasoning next time, and season the meat with salt and pepper as it's browning, but other than that, this is great as written.