Kathy Brennan & Caroline Campion's Skillet Lasagna

I made the sauce a couple of days ahead because I prefer a meat sauce that's had a little time for the favor to mellow. I also ran it under the broiler for a few minutes in the end to give it that baked feel. Very easy & excellent!

Made it for dinner, was delicious! Served it with roasted endives.
Made it with fresh lasagna sheets based on this recipe, but halved it to make about 13-14 oz pasta total: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021028-handmade-lasagna-sheets. Boiled the sheets in heavily salted water for 30-45 secs. I probably cooked the lasagna for 6-7 minutes (checking the noodle texture) and then cooked it with the cheese for 5 minutes as it hadn't fully melted after 2.

Was fantastic. But not a weeknight meal. Took 2 hours. I did add tomato paste as others suggested and stuck under broiler for about 2 minutes. Otherwise followed per recipe. Awesome.

I had an impromptu Sunday gathering tonight and made this for dinner. As my guests socialized around the kitchen island, getting the evening started with a couple of bottles of wine and some nibbles, I made the lasagna. After letting it rest for the recommended 10 minutes we moved into the lowly lit dining room with lasagna, warm crusty bread and butter and a simple green salad with a light homemade vinaigrette. Dessert was a chocolate pecan pie I made earlier in the day. This is the perfect entree for casual entertaining.

A few tips:
1. I used a 3 quart All Clad sauté pan. It worked perfectly
2. I pulsed two 28oz cans of whole tomatoes in the Vitamix vs using a potato masher. Just a few pulses is all it takes for a chunky texture
3. Do not get all crazy with the pasta. The pasta can be “layered” in the pan without having to remove the sauce as others have suggested. This is not a perfectly layered lasagna. It is a rustic interpretation
4. I used a pound of fresh, sliced mozzarella. Why not?
5. After letting the mozzarella settle on the top for a couple of minutes, I placed the lasagna under the broiler for a couple of minutes to melt and lightly brown the mozzarella
6. There is more than enough time to clean as you go, set the table and keep your guests hydrated as this lasagna is being prepared

I’ll make this again.

This was a favourite with the men of my household. “Don’t change a single thing!” My son is a lasagna lover.
Some small alterations: I added wine when I sautéed the onion, used pork sausage, added some tomato purée to the sauce and broiled the top to get that nice browned mozzarella action happening. Don’t forget to serve with fresh bread!

Just made this last night! It was delicious and got rave reviews. It took me about an hour, so that's longer than qualifies as "weekend meal" for me. It was also a bit too rich for me personally, so I'm going to attempt to modify it into a vegetarian version since I still have leftover noodles & cheese. By the way, somebody below suggested using ricotta instead of mascarpone, but I thought the mascarpone was perfect. You want to blend it totally in to the sauce, creating a layer of super lucious sauce.

Never usually comment on recipes but this was great! Gf and I have been eating the leftovers all week. My only concern going in was I didn't have a high sided saute pan. Used my dutch oven, worked great. Can't wait to make this again.

Has anyone adapted this to a 9 x 13 pan? I need to make a large amount (probably two pans worth) for my daughter's birthday dinner and just wondering about conversion. Thanks in advance for any guidance!

This was a hit with my bf and my neighbor! I followed the recipe for the most part but did make a few minor adjustments based on some of the comments I read:

1) When the instructions asked to push pasta into the sauce, I ladled all but one cup of the pasta sauce with sausage into the bowl I used to hold the browned Italian sausage. Then I proceeded to place the first layer of pasta, and then scooped out a bit of the reserved pasta sauce with sausage to cover the first layer, and kept doing this until I ran out of pasta (a total of 4 layers). A couple of people mentioned that it was a lot of pasta but I think that the way the recipe is written that it seem as it should only be a couple of layers. I felt that had I followed the instructions on how to place the pasta I wouldn't have been able to use all of the pasta, so grateful I read about the layering strategy from someone else.
2) I read in another comment that to intensify the flavor that they used tomato paste and added a bit of sugar. Which I thought was a good tip but I ended up no following it because I used San Marzano whole tomatoes in this recipe. In case anyone is wondering why this brand specifically, I became a believer after reading Food52's explanation on it https://food52.com/blog/18948-are-san-marzano-tomatoes-worth-it. It's explained that they grown in Italy, Mount Vesuvius and I quote "The volcanic soil makes them sweeter, less acidic."
3) To deepen the umami in the dish I crushed and smashed 2 anchovies into the sauce.
4) Based on another comment, I placed the skillet under the broiler for a couple of mins to completely melt the mozzarella.

Overall, I am very pleased with the recipe as it took me about an hour and 15 mins to complete it (I took my time so I am sure 40-45 mins is doable if you have your mise in place).

A couple of other observations I wanted to make. The dish's surface naturally wraps as the pasta cooks and the dish settles, you can see this in the photos as well. Before making it I kept wondering how they had accomplished making the photos appear with so much cheese texture haha but it turns out it's the pasta that wraps a bit under the cheese making those ripples on the surface. And if you plan to photograph your end result keep in mind that the minute you place the basil leaves on top that they will wilt and turn black quickly due to the heat from the cheese; so be quick with your photographs!

Made this last night for supper, and what a delicious, delightful surprise. The next time I prepare this dish, I will use fewer lasagna noodles. Even though I used a 4.5 quart skillet, the nine ounces of lasagna looked as if it over whelm the skillet. I removed about half of the noodles and that looked more balanced.

I found this recipe yesterday, and made it for dinner tonight as described. It was AWESOME! My family said it is 'dinner party worthy'! I've never used no-boil noodles before, they have such a nice texture and flavor when soaking up the sauce. I will definitely be adding this to our regular rotation!!!

I made this twice but cut the recipe in half each time. Was easy to cut in half. Used ground pork instead of sausage and added red wine for additional liquid. Was a lovely, delicious surprise. Fully meets my daughter's craving for pasta, while still being able to pass it off as "lasagne." A fun endeavor. Try it!

I wouldn't bother with the lasagna noodles. They took longer to cook and seemed more trouble than they were worth. Next time I'll use bow ties and make sure they're submerged. Great version of lasagna with less cheese!

I made it just as written. Very delicious and satisfying. Definitely quick and easy.

Also suggest mixing the mascarpone BEFORE adding the top noodles.

Your caution about too much liquid led me to over-reduce before adding the pasta. Had to add water because the top was just laying there high and dry.

I used my canned tomatoes, which may have less water than store bought. All their liquid comes from their juices.

Despite that, the dish was great.

Will definitely make it again.

I made this last night and was pleasantly surprised. Things that are supposed to be quick rarely are! It took me closer to an hour than the 40-45 minutes some folks are reporting, but that was still within my time budget for the evening. I did everything as directed (without stressing too much about the noodle placement) but stuck the pan under the broiler at the end. Otherwise I was not convinced the mozz on top would melt before everything on the bottom got burned and stuck to the pan. I will definitely make this again!

On my second go with this recipe, I took it to a car-camp potluck dinner and it was a hit. I was hoping to have leftovers for dinner the next day but nothing survived. I prepared the recipe as written through the sauce-making stage than poured that into a couple of quart jars. In the half hour prep time I had in camp, I heated the sauce, tucked in the pasta proceeded.
Rich and creamy with stretchy strings of mozzarella - it was just right for a chilly evening.
I need to work on my pasta-tucking technique so I'll be making lasagna again soon.

Great recipe. It comes together quickly and is deliciously satisfying. I added a little anchovy paste (1 tbs) and some Parmigiano cheese (1/3 cup) as it is to my taste. Don't stress over getting the noodles submerged, just stuff 'em into the pan with a little sauce in between each so they don't stick together. I am really pleased with this dish. :)

This recipe is a keeper!! My family loved it and keeps asking me to make it again. It was easy to make thank you