Slow Cooker Lasagna

This is a fantastic recipe in a rectangular slow cooker.   When you get back from your busy day, you walk in the house and smell an Italian kitchen!  Serve this with a good, crusty Italian loaf of bread and plenty of grated cheese.  (This picture is for demonstration purposes and does not show the lasagna cooked in a slow cooker.)

1 lb. of lasagna noodles (non-bake version)

2 cups of ricotta cheese

1/2 cup of breadcrumbs (Italian flavored)

Six eggs

1 cup of parmigiano reggiano

2 lbs. of cooked Italian sausage

20 ounces of thawed chopped spinach

salt, pepper and nutmeg

4 cups of spaghetti sauce

1/2 cup of freshly grated mozzarella

8 slices of provolone

Prep time for this recipe is a little longer than ten minutes.  The night before, put the frozen spinach packages in a pie plate to defrost overnight.  (I leave these on my marble counter but it works in the fridge.)   Before assembling this recipe, cook the Italian sausage for five minutes in your microwave.  You can either slice the sausages or use sausage meat.  Either way works.  Set the slow cooker on the counter while you prepare everything so you can just drop ingredients in as you go.

In a large bowl, mix ricotta, breadcrumbs, eggs, parmigiano reggiano and sprinkle in a little salt, pepper and freshly ground nutmeg.   

In the bottom of the slow cooker, spread about one cup of sauce.  Layer with noodles.  Cover with cheese mixture.  Add a little sauce.  Add another layer of noodles, the cheese mixture and the sausage.  Cover with more spaghetti sauce and another layer of noodles (save last cup of sauce for top).  Cover the final layer with sauce, mozzarella and provolone.  Lowest setting on slow cooker.  The slow cooking process will gently caress the hard noodles turning them into a delicious lasagna dish.