Fast food at my house means something quickly assembled from purchased prepared ingredients. So the lasagna pictured here was a breeze to make.
I always keep Delverde no-boil lasagna noodles on hand (the package says Ondine No. 106, and even includes 2 8-inch square foil pans). You can find them at the supermarket, and when they are cooked, they are thinner and more tender than starting out with dried noodles you have to boil. I’ll never go back.
If I have homemade marinara sauce handy, of course I use that, but this time I used a 26-ounce jar of Sugo di Pomidoro “San Marzano” from Whole Foods, where I also purchased “farmstead” smoked mozzarella and fresh ricotta (all rather pricey I admit, but I could have purchased cheaper cheeses). I did have a little plain mozarella at home to use up, so mixed the mozzarellas together. The ricotta I mixed with an egg and chopped parsley.
In a square pan, I layered the noodles with sauce and the cheeses, sprinkling on a little grated Parmesan, too. The assembly took maybe 15 minutes while the oven heated, I added a little water in case the noodles absorbed too much of the sauce (I abhor dry lasagna), but I probably didn’t need it, you can see this is pretty soupy.
After baking for 25 minutes, I let it sit for about 5 minutes before cutting into squares and serving. It was deeply satisfying. A bit too much cheese, but at least there was no meat in it. The smoked mozarella added a kick of flavor that I love, but if you don’t care for it, just use regular.
On the side, I had some escarole and white beans I’d cooked up the day before, right out of the most recent Wegman’s Menu magazine.
Mangia!
I read this and your Spam post with interest. It may have been fun to include a few slices of Spam in this recipe. After all, then it still would have been meatless.