This post comes courtesy of Kris Balloun, a member of the Williams-Sonoma content team.
When you’re hosting a hungry crowd, nothing beats lasagna. It’s hearty and filling, and you can assemble the ingredients in advance, long before your guests arrive. And to round out the meal, simply toss a green salad and warm up a loaf of crusty bread.
What makes a great lasagna? In my mind, it pairs a rich tomato-based meat sauce with tender noodles and lots of gooey melted cheese. As the ingredients bake, they meld into a delicious whole — comfort food at its best.
The Williams-Sonoma website offers a host of options for lasagna in terms of ingredients and cooking methods. Here are five recipes to consider for your next gathering; many are customer favorites.
 Skip the meatInspired by the farmers’ market, our Garden Lasagna combines fresh spinach, cremini mushrooms and roasted red bell peppers to create a satisfying vegetarian dish. No wonder home cooks love it.
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 Stick to one skillet Except for boiling the noodles, this Skillet Lasagna is made entirely in a single fry pan. Brown the Italian sausage and prepare a white sauce on the stovetop, then layer the ingredients in the same pan and bake in the oven.
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 Slow cook your lasagnaWho would have thought — make lasagna in a slow cooker! Our top-rated recipe for Slow-Cooker Lasagnaoffers the ultimate in convenience: your lasagna bubbles away while you tend to other tasks.
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 Take some shortcutsIn a hurry? You can whip up this Sausage Lasagnain no time. To streamline prep work, the recipe calls for no-boil lasagna noodles, store-bought tomato sauce and a handful of other ingredients.
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 Think beyond noodlesOther starches like polenta make a great foundation for lasagna. Our meatless Polenta Lasagna with Butternut Squash and Spinach yields a colorful, flavor-packed dish that’s perfect for autumn entertaining.
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Bonus recipe: When preparing a classic lasagna, you invariably wind up with some extra ingredients. Our Lasagna Frittata transforms leftover noodles and cheeses into a delicious egg dish.
About the author: Kris was raised in Kansas on JELL-O and frozen fish sticks. She rebelled at a young age by learning to cook, whipping up a batch of fluffy scrambled eggs that impressed her family. These days, she’s an avid home cook who loves to host dinner parties for friends. Her favorite techniques are grilling in the summer and braising in the winter. Now she’s landed her dream job — editing all of the recipes for Williams-Sonoma.
2 comments
I have an allergy to milk…so do two of my grandchildren.So I use goat cheese’s in place of ricotta.It’s great.
Another option that I often make, are Lasagna roll ups. I take a lasagna noodle, place a big scoop of the cheese (and meat/vegetable, etc) mixture and then roll the noodle up from one end. Once the pan is filled with roll-ups, I cover the tops with mozzarella cheese and sauce. It’s great for large crowds because you already have individual servings, no cutting necessary!