The Serious Lasagna Shortcut Ina Garten Swears By When Entertaining
Planning a big dinner party? When you've got guests filling up your dining room, you need an equally filling entrée that's sure to please — and feed — a lot of people in one serving. For occasions such as this, lasagna is an excellent choice.
With its layers upon layers of melty cheese, meat sauce, and the all-important sheets of pasta, the Italian dish is a hefty and decadent crowd favorite that will leave everyone satisfied. The best part is that you can easily cook it all up in one pan. While it does take some time to assemble, once you throw it in the oven to bake, you can sit back and call it a day.
But leave it to Ina Garten to make this delicious dish even more convenient. The celebrity chef and Food Network star is no stranger to entertaining, and lasagna is one of her go-to's for feasts with family and friends. While she has a couple of homemade recipes up her sleeve, Garten's secret lasagna hack requires no cooking.
Order lasagna out, but transfer it to your own pan
If you know the Barefoot Contessa, you know her favorite motto is "store-bought is fine." And when it comes to easy entertaining, she definitely has no qualms about applying this philosophy in the kitchen. As she revealed during a cooking segment on the "Today Show" with hosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager, Garten's dependable lasagna shortcut is simply ordering it out. It doesn't get much easier than that.
However, she does add one crucial step before serving: transferring the dish to her own baking pan. Not only does this result in a better presentation on the table, but it also allows you to reheat the lasagna just before putting it on the table, to ensure those pasta edges are crisp and the cheese is perfectly gooey.
If you happen to be asked how you made it, just take another tip from Garten and reply, "I'm so glad you like it" with a wink. Don't worry, your secret is safe with us.