Lasagna: Built By Kids, For Kids
The cool thing about making lasagna is that it’s a bit of a cross between a food project and a craft project for kids. You get to cook, yes, but you also get to assemble, stack, arrange, and cut. Making lasagna is a lot of fun for kids.
Recently, my 5-year-old got her first go at making lasagna, and she was really excited about making it from scratch.
We did a very basic lasagna, but I’m sure we will play with it in the future. It will also be fun to make this summer with some fresh-made tomato sauce and some local cheese.
Basic Kid-Made Lasagna Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 box of lasagna noodles
- 1 container of ricotta cheese
- 2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 eggs
- Handful of fresh basil
- 29 ounces of tomato sauce (canned or fresh)
- Half pound of ground beef or Italian sausage (optional)
- Olive oil cooking spray
Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 375 Fahrenheit.
- If you will use meat, the adult should brown it in a skillet.
- Mix together ricotta and eggs in mixing bowl, and set aside.
- Chop fresh basil, and stir into tomato sauce. Add browned meat to sauce.
- Spray lasagna dish with cooking spray.
- Place about a third of the tomato sauce mix in the bottom of your lasagna dish.
- Place lasagna noodles on top.
- Spread ricotta mix on top, spread a third of sauce, and sprinkle half shredded cheese.
- Place lasagna noodles on top.
- Spread ricotta mix on top, and spread a third of sauce.
- Cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 50 minutes. Remove foil, sprinkle with remaining cheese, and bake for 10 more minutes uncovered.
The other great thing about lasagna is that you can let your kid help you come up with a creative twist, such as interesting veggies as ingredients, different sauces to try, different cheeses to add, or even coming up with color themes such as white lasagna with chicken and white sauce.
An even bigger bonus? Have a lasagna-making day in which you and the kids make several to freeze, and one to cook that night. That way, you’ll always have that lasagna to pop into the oven on a night you don’t feel like cooking.
