Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Skillet Lasagna and Leafy Green Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette

Last night I made Skillet Lasagna for dinner.  My family loves lasagna so I thought that this would be a good and quick way to make it.  Essentially everything is prepared in the skillet.  There is no baking at all.  The recipe calls for a meatloaf mix for the meat, which is a combination of ground beef, pork, and veal.  I just used 1-lb of ground beef since that is what I normally use in my lasagna.  Once the beef is browned, the noodles are broken into 2-inch pieces and placed on top of the ground beef, then the tomato sauce mixture placed on top of the that and the mixture is simmered for about 20 minutes.  Parmesan cheese is stirred in and tablespoon size dots of ricotta cheese are placed over the mixture.  The final step involved sprinkling with basil and Parmesan. 

While the meal was very quick and easy to prepare I felt that it lacked in flavor.  I personally added more basil, some oregano, a little more salt, and some mozzarella cheese to mine.  That helped a bit, but it still seemed to be lacking something.  My husband described it as tasting like Hamburger Helper.  Yuk! Despite the simplicity of the recipe I will not be making it again.  I would rather take the time to prepare my regular lasagna.

In addition to the Skillet Lasagna, I also made Leafy Green Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette.  Like the lasagna, it was very easy to throw together, taking maybe 3 minutes.  However, the red wine vinaigrette was a flavor that none of us preferred.  Luckily the dressing wasn't so overpowering that we couldn't add another dressing to mask it, and that's what each of us did to save the salad.

Not every recipe is bound to be a success, but you won't know until you try it.  The Skillet Lasagna was not uneatable, it just lacked the flavor of my normal lasagna.

Next on the menu:

Pan-Seared Inexpensive Steaks w/ Tomato Caper Pan Sauce 
Broiled Asparagus

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