Slow-Cooker Lasagna

I forgot to take an "after" picture, but this
is what it looked like in the crockpot "before"

I have been inspired recently to use my crockpot more for cooking.  With summer and warmer temperatures coming, I need to utilize my crockpots more for meals so that I won't have to use the oven and heat the house.

I love the concept of a crockpot, aka: "slow cooker".  You put the food in and forget about it, and voila...Dinner! 

My problem:  slowing down enough in the morning to actually put the ingredients in the pot and plug it in so it can start cooking!  I usually think of a crockpot recipe around 3:00, much too late to actually have dinner ready.

So, this week I actually made an effort to try a slow cooker recipe. I had an open box of lasagna noodles so I did a quick google search for a lasagna recipe.  I found this recipe at allrecipes.com, and I didn't follow it exactly.  I noted which ingredients I left out this time, mostly due to the fact that I didn't have them on hand and did not want to go to the store.  In general, when I make lasagna for my family, I do not include meat.  We are not big fans of meat in our pasta sauce, so I have always made vegetarian lasagna.  The original recipe below does include meat, but note that I did not use it. 

The Recipe:

1 pound lean ground beef (I left this out and added diced green pepper instead)

1 onion, chopped

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 (29 oz) can tomato sauce (I used a 15 oz can plus a can of diced tomatoes)

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste (I didn't have this so left it out)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 (12 ounce) package lasagna noodles

12 ounces cottage cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

16 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

1. In a large skillet over medium heat cook the ground beef, onion, and garlic until brown. Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, salt, and oregano and stir until well incorporated. Cook until heated through.  (I skipped the meat part and just combined the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, onion, garlic, green pepper, salt and oregano in a bowl)
2. In a large bowl mix together the cottage cheese, grated Parmesan cheese, and shredded mozzarella cheese.
3. Spoon a layer of the meat mixture onto the bottom of the slow cooker. Add a double layer of the uncooked lasagna noodles. Break to fit noodles into slow cooker. Top noodles with a portion of the cheese mixture. Repeat the layering of sauce, noodles, and cheese until all the ingredients are used.
4. Cover, and cook on LOW setting for 4 to 6 hours.

The Verdict:
It wasn't great.  The whole bottom layer was stuck to the bottom, a real pain to clean by the way.  And it just didn't look pretty when it came out of the pot. 

NOTE:  In it's defense, I did not spray the inside of my crockpot with canola oil or some other non-stick cooking spray.  I read this tip on a few other recipe sites and wish I had thought of it sooner. 

Both of my kids took one bite and pushed their plates away.  They were not impressed.  I thought it tasted fine, but it just wasn't pretty and therefore didn't look appetizing.  Maybe I'll try it again, maybe not.  I'll post an edit if I try it again and it turns out better. 

For now, I think I'll stick to my mom's lasagna recipe that I have been making in my 9x11 baking dish for the past 20 years.  It has never failed me!  I will hunt for another slow cooker recipe to try soon.