Lasagna Skillet

This is my first blog post. I've been thinking about starting a blog for awhile, and I've had several people suggest it to me for a place to host my recipes and tutorials. I've always had an excuse- too busy, too whatever, but I really am all out of excuses now. My husband is overseas (Air Force, hooah!), I'm in Florida staying with my mom for the summer, and I'm cooking. And now, blogging. Why not? So here goes...!

Last night was Sunday dinner and my brother was begging for lasagna. I also love lasagna, but it's so time consuming. And who wants to cook the food, put it all together, and then cook it again? It's maddening, really. I recently came across several Pinterest posts for a "lasagna skillet", a quicker, easier dish that comes together in a skillet rather than a pan. I was all in. This is the recipe I used as inspiration: http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/2011/05/skillet-lasagna-1173-recipe-196-serving.html but i ofcourse had to make my own little tweaks and changes. I apologize for not taking enough pictures, I will do better next time- it's my FIRST blog post remember?

Ingredients:
Olive Oil to Coat pan
1 Tbsp. Garlic Powder
1 lb. Ground Beef
1/2 c. white wine (Optional, I really just used to deglaze the pan)
3 oz. Tomato Paste
24 oz. Your choice Marinara Sauce
1/2 Tbsp. Italian Seasoning
1/2 C. Water
8 oz. Lasagna Noodles (broken up into pieces)
15 oz. Ricotta Cheese
1/4 C. Parmesan Cheese
1/4 C. Good quality mozzarella cheese

Step 1: Coat a large skillet with olive oil and heat on medium- high heat. Add ground beef and season with garlic powder, break up the beef and cook until browned.

Step 2: Drain beef and deglaze empty skillet with the wine, add beef back to the pan. Add the tomato paste, stir and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add marinara sauce, italian seasoning, and 1/2 c water. Bring to a light boil and reduce heat to a simmer.

Step 3: While meat sauce is simmering cook lasagna noodles until al dente, 7-10 minutes, and drain in a colander.

Step 4: Stir the drained pasta into the meat sauce.

Step 5: Combine the ricotta and parmesan cheeses in a seperate bowl and add in dollops on top of the meat- pasta skillet. Top with slices of mozzarella cheese and cover. Cook until all the cheeses have melted, mine took about 15 minutes, and serve!

I also topped mine with a bit of fresh basil we had and that was a really good addition if you have some!

What I really loved the most about this recipe was just the ease of it. It came together really quickly and while I waited for the cheese to melt I popped some garlic bread in the oven and chatted with the family. A great Sunday night meal for everyone to sit down and talk about the upcoming week and the past weekend. What's your favorite Sunday night meal?