We all know what kind of America’s Test Kitchen weirdo I am. It’s been well documented.
And the recipe below is no different.

But first, there is news.

Last week I received a wonderful e-mail from the fine folks of ATK letting me know five other bloggers and myself had been selected to review their soon to be released Menu Cookbook! How neato-burrito is that?

The other bloggers and myself will be hosting dinner parties for 8 guests, each fixing up a different dinner party menu. ATK’s Menu Cookbook outlines various different menus based on food themes, from provencal bistro to family style Italian, which I will be preparing. So keep an eye out on the ATK Feed page for all of the deliciousness that gets created and meet some really exceptional foodies while you’re at it. Meet the lineup here.

Now, for the food!

For Christmas Ben’s family got me a copy of the ATK Healthy Family Cookbook and I’ve been hooked ever since. They take all of the classic recipes we all know, putting a much healthier and just as tasty spin on them. Less guilt but just as much flavor as the originals. You can’t lose. 

Earlier this week I made their Meat and Cheese Lasagna. With Ben having class almost every night during the week, there is a limited amount of time we get to spend together and the last thing that I want to do is spend the 2 hours we see each other everyday in front of a stove. This lasagna made the perfect dinner with plenty of leftovers for us to reheat and devour on his busy school nights. 
The only substitution I made to this recipe was using beef instead of the required ground chicken, because let’s face it – I was way to lazy to go the store and battle rush hour traffic. We all know that feeling. 
For your Grocery List be sure to include:
~ 1 cup Non-Fat Shredded Mozarella
~ 16 oz. Non-Fat Ricotta
~ 1/2 cup Shredded Parmesan
~ 1/4 tsp Ground Pepper
~ 1/4 tsp Salt
~ 1 cup chopped Basil
~ 1 pound Ground Chicken or 90/10 Ground Beef
~ 1 medium onion, diced
~ 1 28oz can Diced Tomatoes
~ 1 28oz. can Crushed Tomatoes
~ 2 Tbsp. Minced Garlic
~ 1 pkg. No-Boil Lasagna Noodles

In a large bowl, whisk together the ricotta, 1/2 of your shredded mozzarella, the parmesan cheese, the salt, pepper and 1/2 of the chopped basil. 

Whisk into tasty cheesy oblivion. Oblivion never looked so good.

Once all of these have been mixed together throughly, place in the fridge to meld until the final preparation.

Reserve the other half cup of basil for later.
In a large non-stick skillet, saute the diced onion until they are in the in-between sweated and translucent phase. Once this has happened, toss in your meat and brown throughly. Once it has just turned, drain off the excess grease. This is a healthy lasagna, remember?

Add each can of tomato to the skillet, not forgetting the garlic! Shame on you if you omit the garlic. 

Over medium-high heat, let the mixture start to reduce and thicken. Once it has you’re ready to prep and bake!
After pre-heating your oven to 425, grab a 9×13 dish or 2 9×9 pans if you’d like to make one and freeze one, and spray with non-stick spray. On the bottom layer add 1 cup of meat sauce and spread evenly.
Top with no-boil noodles and then spread the ricotta mixture over the top of each noodle. Then layer more sauce, noodles and ricotta on each subsequent layer. 

Top the last layer with meat sauce and the other half cup of your chopped basil.
Cover and bake for 45 minutes, making sure you place your lasagna on a foil lined baking sheet to prevent over flow. One it has baked, uncover topping with the rest of the mozzarella and continue to bake for 20-25 more minutes. 
Positively delicious straight out of the oven and still wonderful reheated on those chaotic nights.