Quick and Easy Lasagna For Two

Hello and welcome! While today’s Easy Lasagna recipe is perfect for two, it will make enough for four – you might have to kiss goodbye any leftovers, though – cue the sad trombone. So make this for you and your sweetheart and enjoy the leftovers the next day! In my opinion, lasagna is the perfect Valentine’s Day dinner. The humble homey-ness of Lasagna is loving and comforting, rich and warm like a tender hug. Let’s get right to it!

I have a few tricks up my sleeve for this Lasagna; one is grated Fontina cheese. Fontina is a super buttery, nutty cheese that melts beautifully and adds a mild tangy flavor, which really goes well with the fresh mozzarella. The other umami-boosting ingredient is fresh pesto. The pungent herbaceous flavor of fresh pesto adds complexity to this Easy Lasagna and it really does give it that little extra specialness.

Meat Sauce

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. We will start with the meat sauce. You can use ground beef; or you can go vegetarian if you want and use mushrooms for meatiness. I like to use sausage because it’s already seasoned. So I feel like I am partway there, in terms of making a quick homemade meat sauce.

I have one pound of sweet Italian sausage. Brown the sausage in a skillet, with a drizzle of olive oil, over medium heat with diced onion. When the sausage is browned and cooked through, add half a jar of tomato sauce. Then add a can of diced tomatoes. Add 1/4 cup of chopped Calabrian peppers. Stir this together and let it simmer over medium/medium-low heat for about 10 minutes. Season with Kosher salt and black pepper to taste.

The crushed Calabrian peppers are not that spicy; they are tangy with just a bit of heat. Once the sauce has simmered for about 10 minutes you can turn off the heat.

Turn your attention next to grating the 1 and 1/4 cups of Fontina cheese. Then, in a small bowl, mix together 7 ounces of ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup of the grated Fontina and 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Season with a few cranks of fresh cracked black pepper and a pinch of Kosher salt. Stir until well combined and set aside.

Assemble the Easy Lasagna

Set up your assembly area with the sauce, the grated cheese, the fresh mozzarella, the ricotta mixture, pesto, lasagna noodles and an 8×8-inch, or 9×9-inch baking dish. I like to use fresh lasagna noodles, or no-cook lasagna noodles.

Spoon and spread enough sauce in the dish to cover the bottom. Lay noodles or a lasagna sheet over the sauce. Then, ladle more sauce over the noodle layer.

Dollop the ricotta mixture on top of the sauce, covering the sauce with the ricotta mix, this will be the only layer of ricotta, so use it all.

Evenly dot the top of the ricotta with pesto. You will only need about 1/4 cup of pesto.

Time for another layer of noodles. Lay another single layer of noodles on top of the pesto and ricotta. You can break or tear noodles to get enough noodle to cover the pest and ricotta layer.

Lay the fresh mozzarella slices on top of the noodle layer.

Then cover the entire top with the remaining cup of grated Fontina.

Cover the baking dish and place the whole dish on a sheet tray for easier handling. Bake the Easy Lasagna for 20 minutes, until the the sauce is bubbling up around the edges and the cheese is melted. Then remove the cover and continue baking for another 15 minutes, until the cheese begins to develop golden brown spotting. If needed, in the last 5 minutes, switch the oven to broil to let the cheese get browned.

Easy Lasagna For Two

When you pull the lasagna from the oven, let it sit for 15 minutes. Sprinkle the top with chopped fresh parsley, or fresh basil. Then, use a serrated knife to slice and a rigid metal spatula to serve.

I love this lasagna! The mixture of Fontina and fresh mozzarella is so sumptuous and rich; gooey melted cheese meeting chewy golden browned top layers of cheese. The hidden layer of pesto mixed with ricotta is a beautifully delicious surprise. Large chunks of sausage in the sauce makes for really nice texture variation.

It might not be the fanciest Valentine’s Day dinner for two, but I will say it’s a damn sexy one! Consider making this Easy Lasagna for your sweetheart this Valentine’s Day. Definitely pin this recipe to Pinterest and have it at the top of your list when you want a great recipe for two – with leftovers you will be dreaming about eating the next day! ❤️ Take care and be well, friends. xo Kelly

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Easy Lasagna For Two

(6 votes, average: 3.67 out of 5)

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Dinner, Main Course – Italian-American

By Kelly Djalali – Serves: 2-4

Prep Time: 30 Minutes (including sauce) – Cooking Time: 35 Minutes – Total Time: ~1 Hour

Lasagna is the perfect Valentine's Day dinner. The humble homey-ness of Lasagna is loving and comforting, rich and warm like a tender hug. With a mix of Fontina and Fresh Mozzarella cheeses, and a layer of Pesto.

Ingredients

• Drizzle of Olive Oil
• 1 lb. Ground Italian Sausage
• 1/2 Onion, diced
• 1/2 Jar Tomato Sauce (about 10 oz.)
• 1 14.5-oz. can Diced Tomatoes
• 1/4 cup Chopped Calabrian Peppers
• Kosher Salt and Black Pepper, to taste
• 7 oz. Ricotta (about 1/2 of a 15-oz. container)
• 1.25 cups Grated Fontina Cheese
• 1/4 cup Grated Parmesan
• 1/4 cup Fresh Pesto
• Fresh Lasagna Noodles or No Cook Dried Lasagna Noodles
• 4-6 oz. Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
• Chopped Fresh Parsley, for garnish

Instructions

1

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

2

Brown the sausage in a skillet, with a drizzle of olive oil, over medium heat with diced onion. When the sausage is browned and cooked through, add half a jar of tomato sauce. Then add a can of diced tomatoes. Add 1/4 cup of chopped Calabrian peppers. Stir this together and let it simmer over medium/medium-low heat for about 10 minutes. Season with Kosher salt and black pepper to taste.

3

In a small bowl, mix together 7 ounces of ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup of the grated Fontina and 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Season with a few cranks of fresh cracked black pepper and a pinch of Kosher salt. Stir until well combined and set aside.

4

In a 8x8 or 9x9-inch baking dish, spoon and spread enough sauce in the dish to cover the bottom. Lay noodles or a lasagna sheet over the sauce. Then, ladle more sauce over the noodle layer.

5

Dollop the ricotta mixture on top of the sauce, covering the sauce with the ricotta mix, this will be the only layer of ricotta, so use it all.

6

Evenly dot the top of the ricotta with pesto.

7

Lay another single layer of noodles on top of the pesto and ricotta.

8

Lay the fresh mozzarella slices on top of the noodle layer.

9

Then cover the entire top with the remaining cup of grated Fontina.

10

Cover the baking dish and place the whole dish on a sheet tray for easier handling. Bake the Easy Lasagna for 20 minutes, until the the sauce is bubbling up around the edges and the cheese is melted. Then remove the cover and continue baking for another 15 minutes, until the cheese begins to develop golden brown spotting. If needed, in the last 5 minutes, switch the oven to broil to let the cheese get browned.

11

When you pull the lasagna from the oven, let it sit for 15 minutes. Sprinkle the top with chopped fresh parsley, or fresh basil.