Slow Cooker Lasagne

 Bill recently posted a picture of the slow cooker lasagne I make sometimes and someone asked if I could do a post about how to make it, so here it is! It only takes a few minutes to put together and then you can leave it to cook and fill your home with the mouth-watering smell!

Lasagna noodles/lasagne sheets--for the past few decades, I have not cooked these before assembling the lasagne in the oven and there is especially no need to do so in the slow cooker, which creates moisture as it cooks the food. They will cook just fine in the crock. This saves time, energy, and makes assembly faster and easier. In the US, they used to have 'no-boil' lasagna noodles, but they came in a smaller box and were more expensive than the regular ones--no need to buy no boil noodles--regular noodles are what I use.

Sauce--you can make your own or use a prepared sauce. I make a quick, simple sauce using some passata and tomato puree to get the consistency I want and then add granulated garlic, dried oregano, and dried basil. I make a pot full and freeze any leftovers. Note that in the US, the tomato products are called by different names so there I used to use tomato puree and tomato paste and the herbs. If you prefer ready-made sauce, by all means, use that.

Cheeses--I use mozzarella and either cottage cheese or ricotta depending on what I can get. I have used homemade ricotta and that is extra yummy! In a pinch, when plain mozzarella has not been available, I've used a mozzarella/cheddar blend, which is what is shown in the photo.

That's all the ingredients I use, but if you want to use meat, brown it in a pan before adding it to the crock. I don't add veggies to the lasagne, but you could--perhaps it would be a good idea to sweat them a bit in the pan to get some of the moisture out.

The amounts will depend on how big your slow cooker is and how much you want. I always make a lot so we can have leftovers.

To assemble, simply ladle some sauce in the bottom of the slow cooker crock and spread to coat the bottom. Add a layer of lasagne sheets (you'll have to break them to make them fit). Add more sauce, spreading to cover the noodles. Spread a layer of cottage/ricotta cheese across the sauce. Sprinkle a layer of mozzarella over the cottage/ricotta (or lay slices down if you're using those). Then repeat from the noodle layer. Don't fill the crock all the way to the top because the noodles will expand as they cook, so you want to leave and inch or two at the top. For the final layer, add noodles, cover them with sauce, and add one more layer of mozzarella.

If using meat and/or veg, simply add layers of those in between the cheese layers.

Place the lid on the slow cooker, turn it on high and let it cook for 4 hours, then turn it off and let it sit for 20-25 minutes before cutting. 

I've started using my slow cooker for things I never thought of in the past and I'm not sure why it took me so long to do this! In addition to the lasagne, I make Thanksgiving stuffing in it (it is perfect for that because of the moist heat that cooks the food), and I bake bread in it. I'm sure there are more uses for this appliance that I have yet to discover. It's the small cooking appliance I use the most. 

Bon appetit!

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