Crock pot lasagna...what does my recipe need?

[ChristmasGirl]

I made a crockpot lasagna today, and it was just so dry! I did it on low for about 5.5 hours instead of the 6 it said, but it was still too dry. Do I just need to add some more spagetti sauce next time for more moisture? I'm still getting used to this crockpot, and it seems like my soup got too low the other day too and i had to add extra water in towards the end. Any ideas? thanks!

[kazoo]

what was your recipe? I make a crockpot lasagne and have never had any probs w/ it -- so I would be interested to know what your recipe is. Mine is from Quick Cooking magazine. The ingredients are:

1 lb ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (29 oz.) tomato sauce
1 C. water
1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 pkg (8 oz.) no-cook lasagna noodles
4 C. (16 oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese
1.5 C. (12 oz.) small curd cottage cheese
1/2 C. grated Parmesan cheese

Cook the meat. Mix the water, sauce and spices, then add the meat to it. Mix the cheese together. Layer it in the crock like this:

sauce (top)
---------
cheese
noodles
sauce
---------
cheese
noodles
sauce
---------
cheese
noodles
sauce

Cover and cook on low 4-5 hrs or until noodles are tender.
HTH!

[beccafromlalaland]

is it a new crock pot? My new one's heating element is "too good" I actually have to cut cooking time in half for it until it gets broken in :-)

[ChristmasGirl]

okay, i think my recipe from cdkitchen.com didn't have enough liquid...only 26oz. of spagehetti sauce (no tomato paste or water like your recipe), and it also had me double layer the noodles for some reason, and i didn't like the end result. AND (brilliant feedback :mrgreen) it *is* a new crockpot (only the 3rd time being used) so by the time i got home and checked it at 5.5 hours, it was probably already over-cooked. I will have to try your recipe next time Kazoo! by your recipe, did i read it right that you top it off with sauce? thanks!

[kazoo]

My crock is about 8 yrs old. Re: the noodles, I broke them into squarish pieces... they might have been double layered -- I just divided them evenly so i'm not sure -- but since they were broken into large pieces, maybe that let the moisture get thru better.

Yes, you do save some sauce to put on top. :) It's a good recipe!