Lasagna and Dressed Arugula Salad

 This morning on the treadmill I asked chatGPT what "wifey-type dinner" I should make, and in return I got Lasagna. I then asked for a recipe and it obliged. This is what it shot out for me: 

This is more or less a rough suggestion as to what I should use and the temp I intend to cook the lasagna at. Side note I did this in an 8x8 pan, not a 9x13. This low-key isn't that expensive of a meal. I spent like $30 on ingredients (had onions, garlic, and parm already) and it gave me 4-5 decent-sized portions bringing the individual cost down to $6.00-$7.50/ Person. It really helps that this recipe doesn't care if you use name-brand foods... cannot say the same for all recipes. 

Ingredients: 

1 lb package of Italian Sausage: store-brand

1 small/med onion- chopped relatively small

A whopping baby-spoon of jar-lic (use like a clove or 3 of garlic)

28 oz can of crushed tomatoes: store-brand

6 oz can of tomato paste- I used Hunts but store-brand ok

A hefty shake of the following seasonings:

        Aglio Olio (Trader Joe's spicy Italian blend)

        Parsley

        Oregano

        Fresh ground black pepper

        Fresh ground pink Himalayan sea salt (anything but iodized bleh)

Like 8 lasagna noodles broken in half: store-brand ok

1 block (maybe more idk) Mozzarella (MUST be block cheese don't use the pre-shredded crap- it has shit on it to make it not melt right): Kraft but store-brand ok

15 oz  ricotta: store-brand ok

1/3 cup of pre-grated Parmesan and extra for the top (this is my exception to the pretreated crap- my logic is that parm doesn't melt normally anyway) feel free to fresh grate yours, it is probably better, but kiss my ass: store-brand ok

Basil 

Lasagna Instructions:

preheat oven to 375 degrees

Sauce-

Brown Italian sausage

Add onion when browned 

Add garlic when onions take on some color or become more translucent- depends on the kind of pan you're using.

Add crushed tomatoes and tomato paste

Add all seasonings listed to sauce.

Cook 10ish mins

~let cool~

Ricotta mixture-

full container of ricotta mixed with parmesan and black pepper 

Cook your noodles sometime while the sauces are being mixed and made.

Once cooled (ideally but ngl made mine while still warm) assemble in 8x8 pan in layers.

Starting with enough sauce to cover the bottom of the pan and then noodles, then ricotta, then cheese, so on and so forth until you have 3ish layers.

cover pan with foil (pro tip try coating foil in cooking spray on side that touches food- I don't have any cooking spray so my cheese stuck to the foil)  and cook for 25ish mins and then another 5-10 uncovered at a higher heat to barely brown the cheese. 

I made frozen garlic bread with it that needed the temp to be 425 degrees. So that is what temp I raised it to- just keep a close eye on it

What else did I make?

Arugula salad dressing:

olive oil- a solid glug or two

lemon zest and juice- some zest and 1/4 lemon

roast onion balsamic- 1/2 glugs

salt- to taste I did quite a bit

Final Product:

LISTENING TO: 

Livvydoo Daily Mix 1

Thank you for reading my first recipe xoxo! 

Comment what I should make next (do it or else <3 )

-Livvydoo 3/29/24