Super Easy Lasagna

This takes less than 15 minutes to put together (maybe slightly more if you use sausage because you have to cook it first) and tastes amazing.

Shopping List
1 box lasagna noodles (any kind you want. I like the regular ones with the squiggles on the sides of each noodle)
2 jars or large cans of tomato sauce (so much of the flavor comes from this ingredient that you might want to splurge and get good tomato sauce. My favorites for this dish are Bertolli's marinara or tomato and basil or Newman's Own marinara or tomato and basil, none of which are horribly expensive. If you want to go with canned, my favorite is Hunt's)
2 bags Italian blend shredded cheese (or mozzarella if you prefer. The blend just adds more flavor)
1 lb ground Italian sausage (optional. I usually get mild Italian sausage for this recipe, but either sweet or hot will work as well. Don't get sausage-shaped sausages as it makes more work for you in this recipe. If you happen to have sausage-shapes sausages and want to use them, cut open the outside of each one and squish out the middle, then throw the outside away. If you don't like sausage, you could also just use hamburger. Or sliced zucchini for a vegetarian option)
Parmesan cheese (you'll need about a cup)
1 stick butter
Pam (non-stick spray)
Aluminum foil
Garlic Bread or Italian bread (for serving with it)
You will also need a 9x13 casserole dish or pan, so get one if you don't have one.

Start about an hour and a half before you want to eat

If you are using sausage (or hamburger), brown it first. You brown sausage by putting it in a frying pan over medium heat. As it cooks, break it up and move it around the pan, making sure to scrape the meat off the bottom of the pan so it doesn't burn. I find a fork to be the easiest thing to do this with. You don't have to stir it constantly, but you do need to do so about every 2-3 minutes. Once you can't see any more pink, the sausage is cooked. I find the easiest way to drain it is to put two paper towels on a plate, then just empty the sausage (and grease) onto the paper towels. Then when I'm ready to use the sausage, I scoop it off, leaving the grease in the paper towels, which I can just throw away.

Spray your casserole dish with pam. Put about 1/3 of a jar of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of your casserole dish and spread it around so the whole surface is sort of covered. Lay enough lasagna noodles (uncooked) out to cover the bottom of the pan. Usually I find that I need to lay out about 4 in straight lines (like this llll), then I need to break part of one off so it will fit and lay it across the top going the other way. It's ok if they overlap a little. Pour most of the rest of the jar of tomato sauce across the top and spread it around so the noodles are covered (try not to move the noodles, or if you do, move them back). Sprinkle about 2/3 bag of shredded cheese over the sauce.

Put another layer of noodles over the cheese. If I've put one across the top of the last layer, I try to alternate so the extra noodle is across the bottom of this layer, but it will taste fine either way :) Put the rest of the first jar of sauce and about 1/2 of the second jar of sauce over this layer of noodles. Spread it around pretty evenly. Put your sausage (or hamburger, zucchini, whatever) on top of the sauce (just skip this if you don't want to add anything). Top with the rest of the first bag of cheese and 1/3 of the second bag.

Put another layer of noodles on top. Cover with the remaining sauce. Top with the rest of the shredded cheese. Try and make sure it's pretty even and covers the whole top. Gently pour 1 cup water over the lasagna (I find it easiest to pour it along the sides so it doesn't wash off the sauce). This extra water will help compensate for not having cooked the noodles first. Sprinkle parmesan cheese over the whole top.

Take your stick of butter and slice it into about 12 slices. Arrange them pretty evenly over the top of the lasagna (the reason we do this is to help prevent the cheese from burning. It also makes the cheese brown more evenly. Plus, I'm with Paula Deen; everything's better with butter!). Cover with tin foil.

Turn your oven on to 350*. Put the lasagna in the oven in about the middle. Set your timer for 45 mins.

When the timer goes off, take the tin foil off the lasagna (leaving the lasagna in the oven and the oven at 350*) and set the timer for 15 mins.

When the timer goes off, take the lasagna out of the oven and let it sit for about 5 mins before serving. Salad and garlic bread are perfect sides for this dish :)