Busy Day Dinner - Crockpot Lasagna

We knew that yesterday was going to be a busy day. We were hoping to meet with a travel writer who was coming through town as well as working on some travel plans for ourselves. What do you make for dinner when you aren't sure when you will get home? Pull out the old crockpot and make crockpot lasagna. It takes a little prep work either the night before or in the morning but, then you are done. Add a bag salad and some crusty bread and voila, dinner. (It's delicious to boot and not a lot of resulting dishes).

Crockpot Lasagna - serves 8
1 pound ground Italian sausage (or mixture of ground beef and ground Italian sausage)
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 jars (27 ounces each) of your favorite pasta sauce
2 Tablespoons fresh basil, chopped (or 2 teaspoons dried)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (12 ounces), divided
1 container (16 ounces) ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
12 uncooked lasagna noodles

Cook sausage and onion in a skillet until sausage is no longer pink, drain well. Stir in pasta sauce, basil, oregano and salt. Set aside or put in a container and refrigerate overnight.
In a bowl, combine 2 cups of the mozzarella, ricotta cheese and the Parmesan.
Put 1/4 of the sauce mixture into a 5 quart crockpot, break up 4 lasagna noodles and evenly cover sauce, top with 1/2 of the cheese mixture.
Put another 1/4 of the sauce mixture, then, 4 more broken noodles, another 1/4 of the sauce mixture, then top with rest of the cheese mixture.
Top with the last 4 broken noodles, and last 1/4 of the sauce mixture (the sauce is what cooks the noodles).
Cover and cook on low heat for approximately 7 hours (or until noodles are tender).
Top with remaining cup of shredded Mozzarella. Cover and let cook for 10 more minutes until cheese is melted.

The Big Cheese was able to meet with the travel writer, who thoroughly enjoyed our shop. Gotta love that!