Goat Cheese and Basil Lasagna

I have become that which I hate. The blogger who posts once a week. Argh!

Don't you just hate it when life gets so busy you feel like a chicken running around with it's head cut off? (Sorry for the imagery, folks. Nobody wants to get that mental image. Oh wait, you did? My bad...) I actually attempted to post the other night, I even had the recipe all wrote out and everything. Then it got way too dark to take pictures...blech. The sun gods are against me. And I'll be damned if I'm going to take a picture with flash. I can barely eke out half decent photos as it is.

But, I did exactly what I needed to do to retain what little sanity I have left. I dropped a class.

For the first time EVAR.

I felt like a huge tool about doing it for exactly five minutes. Then I realized that:
1. The class was an elective that I chose to take for fun in a pretty intense semester.
2. Said class was a fucking joke. I'm sorry, when I have to email the instructor every day because her instructions for an assignment are incomplete or inaccurate - whatev. Screw you lady.
3. I'm a big kid now and I can do what I want.

So, I'm feeling a bit more relaxed. Even took myself a nice candlelit bath tonight.

Even if I did manage to set off the smoke detector...

So, what's on the menu tonight you ask? Goat Cheese and Basil Lasagna. Oh yeah. Come along and enjoy the ride to tasty-ville.



Goat Cheese and Basil Lasagna

Makes 4-6 servings

2 tablespoons butter
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, smashed to bits with the flat of your knife
12 oz. ground beef/turkey (if you use beef make sure it's about 93% lean)
12 oz. whole milk mozzarella, shredded or diced and divided into thirds (dicing's way easier than shredding if you're like me and don't own a food processor)
4 oz. sharp cheddar, shredded or diced
4 oz. goat cheese
16-20 oz. tomato sauce (I cheated and used bottled tonight because I was crazy tired, but if possible use homemade.)
About 20 leaves basil
4 sheets of Barilla No-Boil Lasagna (You can use whatever lasagna noodles you want, I prefer losing the boiling step - oh, and not burning the crap out of my hands trying to maneuver molten sheets of pasta.)

Preheat oven to 375 F

Heat a large skillet over medium heat until hot. Melt the butter. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the smashed garlic and cook for an additional 30 seconds. Crumble the ground beef into the skillet and cook through. In an 8 x 8 baking dish layer 2 sheets of lasagna noodles side by side covering the whole bottom of the dish. Spread evenly 2 oz. of the goat cheese over the pasta. Layer half the basil leaves over the goat cheese.



Top the basil with half the meat mixture, then 1/3 of the mozzarella, and half the cheddar. Spoon the tomato sauce over the cheeses until covered completely. Layer the last two sheets of pasta over the sauce and spread with the last 2 oz. of goat cheese. Layer the remaining basil, meat mixture, cheddar cheese and 1/3 of the mozzarella. Spoon tomato sauce over until covered and top with the remaining mozzarella. Bake for 40 minutes or until cheese is golden brown and a knife inserted into the lasagna penetrates the pasta easily. Allow to rest for at least 10 minutes before serving.