lasagna help!

[Jena]

hi,

i'm a difficult child today for sure across the board........

making my first lasgna and well the pasta all got stuck together and i waste 4 boxes of lasagna shells. i put salt in, and a bit of oil so wouldn't stick and well it still stuck than i burnt myself with hot water...

how does one cook the noodles and drain them without breaking them or having them stick?

i know it can't possibly be one lasagna shell at a time??!!

HELP

please

 

[Hound dog]

Eagerly awaiting the answer as I've always wanted to make my own lasana but have always been too chicken to try it. lol

You do realize that since you burnt yourself the meal will be delicious, right? My meals seem to taste better if I burn myself in the process.

 

[Shari]

use a HUGE pot, and make sure your water is boiiling WELL before you put the noodles in. add the noodles 1 at a time so the water doesn't stop boiling. depending on your pot size, you may have to cook your noodles a few at a time, but i just use tongs and pull them out as they get done instead of draining the whole pot.

 

[nvts]

Hi! Lasagna isn't really too tough. First Jena - 4 boxes? Um...one box will easily do a 9x13 pan. Are we feeding an army young lady?

1. get your big pot of water boiling. Salt the water and put some olive oil or vegetable oil in.
2. take the noodles 1 by 1 and lower them into the pot. Here's the trick: don't put them into the pot right on top of each other, sort of like putting them in one noodle north - south and then the next noodle east - west, so they sort of crisscross one another.
3. curly edged lasagne doesn't stick together as much as flat edged.
4. as the noodles start to soften, gently stir them around.

That's pretty much it. It's not too complicated and believe me, you shouldn't be intimidated by it.

One secret that I have is that I flavor the ricotta cheese with parsly some minced onion and garlic powder. I also throw in some mozzarella and an egg in the ricotta so that it stays firm (um, wonder if we're cheese freaks in this house?).

Sorry about the burn - run it under cold water and be careful!

Beth

 

[Jena]

lol omg!! 4 boxes was overkill?? i didnt' know i was like umm ok 4 boxes should do........ i'm weak laughing right now in my kitchen covered with burns, and flour

one by one huh..? so me throwing the 4 boxes in at a time wasn't the right move?? LMAO

ok and i begin again......

thanks!!

 

[Shari]

one by one huh..? so me throwing the 4 boxes in at a time wasn't the right move?? LMAO

And therein, perhaps, is the problem... lol
good luck

 

[Jena]

Lol...........

 

[susiestar]

I NEVER EVER cook the noodles. NEVER. Put a layer of sauce in the bottom of the lasagna pan and put the noodles on it. Then cheese, meat, whatever, another layer of sauce, etc... Just make sure there is a layer of sauce under each noodle layer and over the top. You can use canned spaghetti sauce if you want. Cook it for 45 min or so, until hot and the cheese on top of the last layer of sauce is all melty.

It has worked every single time for over 10 years.

Hope this helps!

 

[Shari]

to piggy back susie, i don't cook them til they are done. not like mac n cheese noodle done, anyway. i let the baking process finish, but i'm gonna have to try not cooking them at all...

 

[HaoZi]

I don't cook mine, either. I add a little water to sauce in the bottom and make sure it's well-covered to hold in the moisture. Also (being this is your first time) put one of those BIG cookie sheets with the upturned edges under the pan. One pan of lasagna can make a HUGE mess in the oven.

 

[Hound dog]

After xmas one of you ladies is gonna give me a lasana recipe...................hopefully that doesn't involve actually cooking the noodles. lol

 

[HaoZi]

I'm not above using eggroll wraps instead of noodles.

 

[Jena]

lol!! wait it gets better. the ones' i used were non cook one's i had no clue what i bought and didnt' have my glasses on. so here i am i cooked a meat sauce since 8 this morning and i threw them all in the pot and they were non cook. we ran to store to buy more and try again...... and difficult child i took her to the 99 cent store to buy all her gifts. wow so cute she was so excited about each item saying i can't believe how cheap this is it must be a mistake it's my lucky day. so adorable.

 

[Hound dog]

LOL Fun times! You'll look back on this and laugh for years. As for difficult child...........she's made a great discovery!!! My kids loved doing that every year, my grandkids love it just as much!

 

[susiestar]

I have found that the "no cook" noodles are priced significantly higher than the others and give the exact same result. I just buy whatever is cheap. I used canned sauce, brown some ground beef, mix cottage cheese, mozzarella, eggs, and spices, and then layer them like this: sauce, noodles, cheese/meat mixture, sauce, noodles, cheese/meat, sauce until I have a full pan and a layer of sauce on the top. Then I put grated mozzarella on top and bake. Hope that helps.

 

[Lothlorien]

Omygoodness, you guys are cracking me up. Boiling no-cook noodles?

Follow Beth's instructions for regular noodles. I've tried the no-cook ones....not as good.. Beth's got it right. I cook them about 8 minutes. They'll cook the rest of the way in the sauce. One of these days, I'll type up my sauce recipe and post it for you.

 

[KTMom91]

I don't cook mine, either. Sounds like Susie and I have the same recipe. I keep mine covered for the first 45 minutes or so, then uncover for the last 15.

 

[Jena]

2 funny i'm ready to pass out right now lol. i got sauce down pat i make great sauce actually and modest too! that i got started at 8 this morning, yet now i'm on second set of yes noodles and ran out of ricotta cheese lol.

can anyone say dysfunctional?? yup that's me. difficult child left with her dad for xmas eve. hopefully jerky will keep her hydrated and we wont' spend xmas in e.r. and i ran out to do my shopping that i couldnt' do all week long. husband just text oh you wanna watch movie wow a free difficult child night...... i'm like movie?? umm i'm in bed inbetween waiting on noodles...... i swear that man is a difficult child. 17 hour day and he comes home ready to paint a house. it's sooo wild. he comes home and i put him to work bring dogs out, anything else i can think of to wear him down.

you guys are the best..... by the way thanks!!!!

 

[barneysmom]

Agree with not cooking the noodles (not at all). I add a little extra water to the sauce and cover tightly as others already mentioned (I use aluminum foil). I remove the cover about 5-10 minutes at the end to brown a bit, as mozzarella cheese is the final layer in my recipe

Enjoy your lasagne!

Jo

 

[Bunny]

I'm a little late to the party, but another trick that I do when I cook lasagne noodles is that when I drain them in the colander I pull them out one by one and lay them on a baking tray. When the tray is full, I put a layer of aluminum foil over the noodles and then lay another layer of noodles on the foil. This way, they are drained and don't stick together.

I hope you got the lasagne to work.

Pam