Kathy Brennan & Caroline Campion's Skillet Lasagna

Ok, but a litte soupy and kind of bland.

Super easy and a hit with the family. I'd double the meat next time to give it more protein, and maybe add some mushrooms when drying the onions, but no changes other than that. This is great weeknight fodder for hungry boys and men!

Easy, delicious dish. I halved the recipe (three servings exactly) and toasted under the broiler before topping with the basil and freshly grated reggiano. Otherwise I made it as written.

I haven’t made this yet, but I had an idea… …this is indeed a lovely recipe.

I thought about going one step further. The recipe calls for using Italian sausage in place of a meat sauce and then making a tomato pasta sauce. Why not go one step further and use a bottled pasta sauce of your choice instead of making a tomato sauce?? You might need to cook the pasta sauce down a little bit to make it a bit thicker. Then all you would need is the Italian sausage, the bottle pasta sauce, the noodles and the various cheeses you would want to use.

We are just a 2 person household and we never want leftovers. I always want to make a tiny portion of lasagna. Using a couple of Italian sausages, bottled pasta sauce, a couple of noodles for a small 2 person serving, a couple of dollops of mascarpone cheese, a few slices of mozzarella and maybe some Parmesan would be sooo easy. I could even broil the top to get it crusty! I am going to try this. It’s a great idea!

I don’t think I will ever bother to make lasagna any other way. This is a delicious recipe

This was a life saver for me, as I had planned lasagna for dinner only to find my oven was broken! I used the stovetop technique while retaining the recipe I originally planned (an eggplant parm lasagna) and was very happy it worked out so well. I'll have to try it again with this recipe as it looks delicious :-)

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

Great idea for jazzing up a camping menu!

Great recipe! What I did to intensify the flavor was to add a can of tomato paste once the onions and garlic were cooked. Added some sugar and cooked the rawness out of the paste.

Also added some fennel to the sausage and hit it with dry Marsala. Also added Marsala to the tomato sauce.

Easy and delicious one pan meal!

I grew up with cottage cheese being used in lasagna, so perhaps that's why I didn't miss the ricotta as much as others did. I went with cream cheese since that's what was in the fridge and I really enjoyed the creamy little pockets it ended up providing. A little hidden treasure!

This was good. Could be great. Here is what I did and what I will do.

1. rather than pushing pasta around through hot sauce and to truly get it distributed, which was not that easy, I merely ladled all but a cup of sauce out of the pan, because why not? It was faster this way. I layered pasta, spooned sauce and layered again. easy.

2. I MISSED the ricotta layer and adding it is easy, so again, why not? Next time i will mix one up: ricotta (NOT mascarpone), mozz, parm, and put it between the two pasta layers. It adds almost no time and since I am layering ,which adds no time, I get fast skillet lasagna that actually is like the real thing.

Why mascarpone or cream cheese (both sweet) and not ricotta?

This was a home run in our house tonight. Super simple. UMAMI. Lasagna is my favorite food and this was the best lasagna I have ever eaten.

I don't know how people successfully got the noodles to the bottom of the pan with all the sauce/meat on top of it. Could you use tomato sauce instead of the whole tomatoes? My 3 year old hates seeing tomatoes. Also, it didn't seem cheesy enough with just the layer of mozzarella on top. And maybe I didn't melt it enough because it was still in big clumps and hard to eat. Any suggestions welcomed!

Lasagna - on a weeknight - in 40 minutes? Yes, please! Just made this last night and was dancing around the kitchen with glee. My tomatoes come in puree instead of juice, so I ended up adding a bit of water to the sauce here and there, and I slid my wooden spoon under the bottom layer of noodles a few times to lift them and ensure there would be zero burning. Delicious and a weeknight staple from here on out. Thank you!

A Sunday night success! Delicious! Had no problems with burning and the sauce had soo much flavor. I cooked the sauce for closer to 25-30 minutes because it was super soupy, but after adding in the pasta, adding the cheese and letting it set after cooking, the consistency was perfection. I did train about a cup and a half of juices early on, so that probably helped too. Very tasty!

Really tasty and so quick to put together! I made it in a wide deep cast iron skillet and a couple noodles stuck a bit but no burning. In a home of 2 we now have some delish leftovers for lunch. This is on the make again list!

Thank you Kathy, I'll keep that in mind for next time. It was still delicious though (I left the burned bits) and such an easy and fast recipe!

So annoying, mine completely stuck to the bottom of the pan and burned! What did I do wrong?

can i use cheddar instead of mozzarella?

Would someone from Food52 P L E A S E tell me how I can S T O P receiving comments to my original post ?!?!? I have unchecked your box to "Send me emails about new comments" but that doesn't work....so HELP! Thank you.

Making this now - thoughts on giving it a blast in the oven at the end to brown up the moz?

Delicious!! It made me so happy to eat this! It took two people about an hour to make and it was well worth it! Next time I will try adding some veggies as well.

Awesome recipe! Everyone loved it. I added a couple of handfuls of baby spinach as well. This recipe is a keeper!

I also would like to know more about the dimensions of the pan. What is the recommended diameter and height?

How "high-sided" a saute pan would you recommend? I love this recipe and want to try it, and I will need to buy a 3 quart saute pan (good excuse to get one!) - I want to choose the best dimensions. Many thanks for your response!

I want to try this - looks like lasagne sheets in the recipe? Never seen lasagne noodles - can I use any pasta - penne? Thanks

Can this be made with fresh pasta? And, if so,how? Partially cook first? BIL got me the Phillips pasta maker for Christmas, only one we haven't made yet is the lasagna. Use it 2x average. Love it! And him.

So delicious. We didn't use enough noodles and ended up with a bit too much juice from the tomatoes. Easily rectified next time. Added diced jalapeño to the cream cheese. Will increase quantities and use our 5 qt braiser to serve 8-10. Meantime, leftovers tomorrow! Many thanks.

Just made this and couldn't be happier! My husband loves making lasagna and I hate cleaning up the mess - this recepie saves the day! I added some red wine, more (fresh) oregano, and a lot more mozzarella. Turned out so delicious.

Do you think this recipe could be halved successfully? I'm only cooking for two these days.

Caroline and I are so excited about our Skillet Lasagna being declared a Genius Recipe, and reading these comments is the icing on the cake. Thanks to everyone for trying it. Hope it becomes a keeper in your home, too! --Kathy (half of the KEEPERS duo)

P.S.--Thanks, too, to Kristen, Food52, and especially Jenny Meier for introducing the recipe to Kristen. We are very grateful!

Can I replace the mascarpone with the use-it-or-lose-it ricotta in my fridge or will I get the wrong consistency?

I am a bit confused. What do you mean by "no boil"? Is that fresh pasta? Also, you say to put the sausage aside after your brown. But then all you say is to put the pasta under the sausage. So after you make the sauce, and you put in the pasta, is it then that you sprinkle in the sausage? You really are not clear on that. Please advise. Thank you.

We are vegetarians. Wondering if I can do this and just leave out the sausage? Maybe go with the handful of spinach mentioned or mushrooms or eggplant?

So while I love Italian sausage my husband hates anything fennel/licorice flavored - good sub for the Italian sausage? Would something like a plain breakfast sausage (maybe adding additional spices?) work? I feel like ground beef would be overwhelming.

Made this tonight and it was delicious and easy as promised. My box of lasagna noodles was 8oz so I bought 2. I didn't even use one whole box - I put in two generous layers with a few noodles left over. Seemed to have plenty of noodles to me. I threw a couple big handfuls of baby spinach in the sauce before I added the noodles to give it a bit of green veg. The whole family declared it a success!

Made it last night. Pretty good. But tonight, the leftovers were perfect! Whole family liked it and said to make it again.

Made this for supper tonight. One word = delicious! Thanks for the find.

Has anyone made this yet?

At least they didn't call it Key Lime Pie.

I love a recipe that say "leaving as much oil in the pan as possible."

Good for you Kristen! You found your genius recipe unicorn! I'm pumped about this, can't wait to try it!

Drooling