Lasagna

I always do this! It is so much easier. I've been doing it for about 20 years, sure saved a lot of time and mess when I discovered it. You might need to make your sauce a bit runnier, I just add a 1/2 cup of water to my sauce.

I was going to say the same as Casey. Add a little more water to your sauce. I make my own sauce so when I'm cooking it, I don't cook it down as much. Uncooked noodles makes for a firmer lasagna.

I've used "oven ready lasagne noodles". Can you use the regular kind of lasagne noodles? Is there a difference other than selling you yet another product?

Barilla's "Oven-Ready Lasagne" states specifically that it doesn't need to be boiled before assembling the lasagna.

You do not need "oven ready" or "no boil" noodles. Just buy a good quality noodle. Some of the very cheap ones aren't the best. I only use the regular old lasagna noodles. Creamettes is the big brand around here and that's what I normally use. Been doing it this way for at least 20 years. I do it with spaghetti for the one-pot spaghetti, and macaroni too in some casseroles. Be sure they're covered with sauce in the pan and cover the pan to keep moisture in to cook them. The only caveat is to have enough moisture in there to steam/cook the noodles that's why you want to have it covered while cooking. You can always take the foil or cover off the last 5-10 min to melt extra cheese or brown it or evaporate off any excess moisture. Extra sauce and a little water or broth helps to thin it and spread the moisture around too.

A quick tip: If you have issues with noodles fitting the pan and like working with flexible noodles, just soak the uncooked noodles in some warm water a couple minutes. They'll be pliable and you can cut/tear them easily to fit them in the pan as needed. I don't do this but have thought about it since they don't seem to break where I want them to break very often.

I don't like the no-boil or oven ready noodles. They have a strange texture I just don't like. I prefer the regular noodles. I really prefer noodles without the rippled edges but they're hard to find.

I'm getting hungry for lasagna now!

I use the lasagna noodles from Dollar Tree....made it in the crock pot or oven with extra water and pre-cooked....either way works as stated above....same product. "BUT"......"hint" if your want the noodles not to taste of the casserole....more of a separate flavor...then cook them in clear tap water before assembling. Also if you do the crock pot lasagna...I've over cooked it all and it was mushy...my fault...but it's possible to make that mistake.

I have a crock-pot lasagna cooking now (from a recipe that was posted on our old Kitchen Table forum). I use regular lasagne noodles, not the no-boil -- I tried the 'ridged' lasagna noodles, but like Cynic, I just didn't like the texture when I tasted the lasagne, so I stick to regular noodles now, sometimes whole-wheat ones. I never add additional water -- once a jar of pasta sauce and 8 oz of tomato sauce are added to the ground beef, there's enough liquid in the crock pot when you start layering the components. Plus the steam generated by the heat adds a bit more moisture.

3 hours to go before it's ready! (And if you're coming over, bring dessert!)

There are some caveats. There are basically four kinds of commercial lasagna:

"Fresh" which are flat sheets with eggs in them, from the refrigerator case, only semi-dry. These do not need boiling and, in fact, suffer from it.

What I'll called "old fashioned", which is a dry, thick noodle, with large ruffles on both sides. If you use these without boiling they may soak up a lot of fat, making the cheese dry. Adding the water helps, since the water is available for soaking up faster than the fat renders. What's great about this kind of pasta, however, is how pliable it is when wet. If you want to line the sides of the pan, for instance, or do a weave pattern, soak them in hot water for 10-15 minutes before you assemble. This gets them wet enough to be pliable without turning them to mush, a stuck together ball, or wet enough to release water into the pie rather than soaking up excess, leading to spillover.

There's the super high quality Italian kind, which are usually shorter strips, have a much denser texture, and a tiny ruffle edge. These are very dry and stiff, and don't soften with soaking. You'll be a lasagna if you put them in dry, but the texture is way to al dente. They really benefit a lot from being boiled. They usually come in shorter lengths which are easier to fit in a pot. I really don't care for them in any case.

Then there's "no boil" pasta. The ones I've tried (several brands) are pretty similar. Small, flat sheets, which a kind of open texture sort of like those flattened sponges that puff up when you get them wet. They work okay, but not better than regular pasta without boiling. I don't care for the texture when finished, but it's in comparison to tip top quality pasta. As run of the mill boxed pasta, they're fine. They have the advantage of not having a ruffle if you don't like interlocking the sheets.