Back in April I shared with you my Almost Famous Turkey and Spinach Lasagna Recipe which continues to be a favorite around here.  Except for Mike.   He isnt exactly “lactose intolerant” but that much cheese isnt good for him.  Normally I make just another “regular” lasagna, but this time I wanted to change it up and make something I knew he would like – PIZZA.

I looked online for a few recipes, but really didnt see anything that just sounded fantastic.  Part of this whole “learning to cook after 30” has been simply throwing things together anyway, so I basically took all if his favorite pizza toppings, and added noodles.

He LOVED it.

Pizza Lasagna

Ingredients:

• 1 box lasagna noodles
• 2 jars of pizza sauce
• 16 ounces mozzarella cheese
• 1 container ricotta cheese
• 1 pound ground beef
• your favorite pizza toppings:  pepperoni, onion, bell pepper, black olives, etc
• Oregano
• Garlic

Brown meat almost completely and drain.  Add in “crunchy” toppings – bell peppers, onions, etc and let cook a few more minutes until toppings start to get soft.  Drain.   Mix in pizza sauce and stir well.  Add oregano and garlic to taste.

Put a small layer of pizza sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 pan to keep noodles from sticking.  Then layer noodles, meat mixture, ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, olives and other desired toppings until dish is full.  (I was able to get two layers of everything into mine)  Top with remaining mozzarella cheese and toppings.  You can even get creative if you want to.

Note: spelling things in olives is a hell of a lot harder than it looks.

Cover with foil and bake at 350* for 30 minutes or until sides are bubbly. Remove foil and cook another 5-10 minutes to brown cheese and toppings.  Let stand about 15 minutes before cutting into.

This lasagna took literally HALF the time as my other one, and Mike and the girls all went back for seconds.  It is absolutely something we will have again and again!

Happy cooking!