<p>I made a monster lasagna a few weeks ago for an event that ended up being postponed. I stuck it in the freezer and forgot about it. Now we are getting together tonight and I have not taken it out. Can I stick it in the oven frozen? There is no way it will thaw by this evening and it will not go in my microwave.</p>
<p>You can absolutely cook it straight from the freezer(think Stouffers :)) Just make sure you keep it covered with foil for most of the cooking time so it doesn’t dry out. Also, if it’s really huge, plan on it taking a very long time to cook–possibly 2 hours at 350, depending on thickness.</p>
<p>Yep, it should cook fine as poster above said. Still though, I would take it out NOW and let it START to defrost…</p>
<p>If you used the recipe on the box, there might be instructions about how to cook it if you freeze it.</p>
<p>Just checked, and it says to cook the frozen lasagna for 2 hours until hot and bubbly. And just a reminder, if you used plastic wrap under the foil (to help prevent the lasagna from drying out), remove the plastic wrap and replace the foil before cooking.</p>
<p>Oh, and I would not start defrosting it before reheating it, because if it’s still partially frozen, it’s likely to cook unevenly, with the outside getting overcooked before the inside gets warm.</p>
<p>Oooooh, LIMOMOF2 is good.</p>
<p>The one thing I find is I need to add extra sauce after freezing. I do it about half way through baking.</p>
<p>Oh, I feel a recipe coming on. How about sharing some of our best lasagne recipes?</p>
<p>I do a veggie lasagna that’s not vegetarian because I use ground beef, but instead of noodles, I use layers of eggplant, zucchini, carrot, and occasionally sweet potato. With this no boil lasagne noodles, it’s really good to make when you get home and can’t think of anything else (either with or without the veggies). I can take a package of frozen ground beef and cook it up with onions, mushrooms, garlic, fresh basil and other herbs/spices with a couple of cans of good canned tomatoes. While that’s cooking, I thinly slice and precook the veggies in the microwave. Then I put a layer of noodles on the bottom (and on top) and alternate the sauce with the veggie layers and add lots of cheese. Only needs to cook in the oven for about 1/2 hour to heat through and melt the cheese because everything else is pre-cooked. Obviously, the longer it sits before cooking the more the flavors blend, so it’s really good as leftovers.</p>
<p>Anyone else?</p>
<p>BTW, thanks for this thread! I needed a quick dinner idea to prepare for people eating at varying times tonight - now I think I’ll pick up a frozen lasagna to bake and everyone can heat it up when they are ready!!!</p>
<p>I use a combination of lasagna noodles, eggplant and summer squash (when available) instead of using ALL noodles. And I use low fat cottage cheese instead of ricotta. Otherwise, mine is a “traditional recipe”…:)</p>
<p>I like to put chopped carrot in any “Italian” tomato sauce I make, but I put a little extra in the lasagna sauce, plus one package of chopped spinach, well drained.
I then will use less meat in the lasagna, so I can use real ricotta.
Only the noodles go in “undoctored” - the ricotta gets a dose of parmesan, parsley and a tiny bit of oregano.
I don’t like the lasagna either too greasy or too watery, so I try to balance veggies with full fat cheese.</p>
<p>DH who looks to experiment with all things Italian, made lasagna once by an Italian recipe - most of use would barely recognize it. It was very dry, very little sauce and relatively little cheese, and had meatballs, salami and Italian sausage in it! Way too much meat for me.</p>
<p>^^ Like my BIL who would eat “4 meat” omelettes: omelette with bacon, sausage, ham and (who can remember, what fourth meat is there for breakfast?!?) - hamburger?</p>
<p>Yuk.</p>
<p>I’d take the full fat cheese and good sauce over meat ANYDAY…!</p>
<p>We had those real Italian lasagnes when we lived in Germany. I much prefer the American version! Unfortunately I rarely get to cook lasagna as Mathson hates noodles and dh avoids most carbs. </p>
<p>The Sunset vegetarian book has a nice lasagna which has ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan. It has eggplant, mushrooms, canned tomatoes and a grated carrot. I once took that recipe and substituted sausage for the red wine. It was even better, but obviously no longer vegetarian!</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice! The amount of info available here always amazes me. The lasagna in question is the one from the Confessions of a Pioneer Woman blog. It weighs a ton. I’ve never made it before but I hope it’s good.</p>
<p>Thanks to you OP, I have a homemade lasagna in the oven right now!!! Smells great!</p>
<p>It appears to be heated but there is a puddle of liquid in the middle!!?? It was dry when I put it in the freezer. I’ve removed the foil and hope it evaporates.</p>
<p>A quick “lasagna” recipe we use from Real Simple is:</p>
<p>Layer of sauce on bottom of pan. Then layer large round ravioli to cover pan. Cover with thawed and squeezed frozen chopped spinach. Top with mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Repeat with ravioli, sauce, and cheese. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes with foil, then another 10 or 15 without until bubbly. Fast and delicious!</p>
<p>^^ I just saw that recipe in this month’s issue and was wondering if it was any good. Now I’m going to try it. Thanks!</p>
<p>By the way, here’s the link to Real Simple’s Top 50 recipes - [Top</a> 50 Recipes | Food : RealSimple.com](<a href=“http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple/content/0,21770,1866380,00.html]Top”>http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple/content/0,21770,1866380,00.html)</p>