Slow Cooker Lasagna

We are a family that sits down to dinner almost every night, so using my day at home to cook is not really a stretch for me. What is a stretch, though, is adding new recipes to our meal rotation. I have a tendency to cook the same, simple meals over and over, while continuing to add cookbooks to my collection and pin countless links to my "Recipes to Try" Pinterest board. So here's my challenge to myself: prepare one new dish each week and share the recipe and results here.

Confession: I love my slow cooker, but lasagna in the crock pot has never made sense to me. Why on earth would you need a slow cooker when it's a dish so easily prepared in the oven? So this week I decided to try this Italian favorite, prepared in a new and (not-so) exciting way.
 Pros: 

• The preparation took exactly the same time as traditional, oven-baked lasagna. Same process, same ingredients, different pan.
• Using the Crock Pot meant I didn't have to be home to put the lasagna in the oven. Not an issue on Home Day but definitely important on a normal day.
• My sauce is delicious (which I already knew!) and the extra veggies add some extra nutrition.

Cons:

• The noodles seemed softer than normal, but not bad at all. I generally cook my noodles before making oven-baked lasagna, so maybe this happens every time you use uncooked noodles? Mine was done after 4 hours on low, the Crock Pot I used runs a bit hot.
• The presentation is okay, but it's hard to beat a glorious 9 x 13 pan of lasagna, all bubbly and browned on top.

The Verdict: I will definitely make this again if I need a slow cooker meal, but otherwise I'll probably stick to the oven!

Slow Cooker Lasagna
Recipe Adapted from Betty Crocker

• 1 lb. ground pork sausage (I buy local and recommend that you look into locally-sourced, organic, humanely grown meats...but that's another post!)
• 1 medium onion - chopped
• 1 red bell pepper - chopped (could use green pepper)
• 1 stalk celery - chopped
• 1 medium zucchini - coarsely grated
• 1 carrot - peeled and coarsely grated
• 1 jar spaghetti sauce (I usually make my own, but this time used Francesco Rinaldi Tomato & Basil)
• 1/4 c. Italian Seasoning - divided
• 1 c. water
• 15 oz. part-skim Ricotta cheese
• 2 c. shredded Mozzarella cheese - divided
• 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 T. red pepper flakes (optional)
• 9 lasagna noodles - uncooked

1. Cook sausage and vegetables in a skillet or large saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sausage is no longer pink and the onion, celery & pepper are softened; drain. Stir in spaghetti sauce, water and half of the Italian Seasoning.
 2. Mix the ricotta, parmesan and 1 1/2 cups of the mozzarella cheese with the egg. Add the remaining Italian Seasoning and red pepper flakes to the cheese mixture.
3.  Spoon one-fourth of the sausage mixture into your slow cooker (Note: I used my 4-Quart Round); top with 3 noodles, broken into pieces to fit. Spread with half of the cheese mixture and one-fourth of the sausage mixture. Top with 3 noodles, remaining cheese mixture and one-fourth of the sausage mixture. Top with remaining 3 noodles and remaining sausage mixture.
4. Cover and cook on Low heat setting 4 to 6 hours or until noodles are tender and excess liquid is absorbed. 
5. Sprinkle top of lasagna with remaining 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Cover and let stand about 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. 

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