I never thought to cross cultures and change the Italian lasagna to a Greek lasagna. When I found this recipe I new that I had to try it and give that old classic lasagna the boot for the night. I was hoping that my kids would like it because they had never really tried lamb before. So, I didn’t really mention that part until after they ate. They were surprised, but they really liked it. I really love feta cheese and it was a lot of fun using it in the lasagna. I also found out that my kids love feta cheese too! This dinner was a major success.
Check out what our friends from Cooking On The Weekends have to say about this:
“This lasagna is also wonderful to serve at a party, for a family weeknight dinner, or even to reheat for a quick lunch. Everyone will love it!”
This is the kind of dish that will serve tons of people!
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons Crisco olive oil, plus a bit more for the pan and drizzling over the lasagna
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped, fresh rosemary
- 1 teaspoon McCormick’s dried thyme
- 1¾-pound boneless leg of lamb, excess fat removed & cut into small bite-sized pieces (about ½-inch pieces)
- 2 cups thinly sliced red onion
- 1 tablespoon Hunt’s tomato paste
- 1 (28-ounce) can Hunt’s diced tomatoes in juice
- ¼ cup dry red wine
- 1 cup roughly chopped, pitted Kalamata olives
- ½ teaspoon McCormick’s ground cinnamon
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- About 1 dozen no-boil lasagna noodles (see notes)
- 2 cups Kraft Feta cheese, crumbled or cut into small pieces (about 10-ounces)
- 2½ cups Kraft grated mozzarella cheese
- 3 to 4 bunches of basil (you will need about 4 dozen large leaves), washed and dried, stems removed
Instructions
- In a large bowl or baking dish, mix the 3 tablespoons of olive oil with the garlic, rosemary and thyme. Add the lamb and mix to be sure all of the pieces are well coated. Cover with plastic wrap and let it marinate for 30 minutes.
- While the lamb is marinating, coat the bottom of a large sauté pan with olive oil and place it over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until soft and golden, about 10 minutes. Add the tomato paste and mix, and cook until it’s very aromatic, about 1 minute. It’s okay if some of the tomato paste browns on the bottom of the pan.
- Turn the heat off until the lamb has marinated for 30 minutes — then, turn the heat to medium-high and add it to the onions. Stirring often, cook for about 5 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Add the tomatoes, wine, olives and cinnamon. Use a flat-bottomed spatula to scrape any ingredients that are stuck to the bottom of the pan and mix them into the liquid. Bring to a boil and then immediately turn the heat to low and gently simmer for 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Coat the bottom of a 9 X 13 X 2-inch baking pan with a thin layer of the liquid form the lamb mixture.
- Then add a layer of the no-boil lasagna noodles. Now add about half of the lamb mixture to the noodles, followed by a sprinkling of about ⅓ of the mozzarella and feta cheeses.
- Top this with a solid, single layer of basil leaves and then add another layer of the lasagna noodles.
- Repeat step 7 (the above) once.
- Pour any juices left in the pan over the lasagna noodles and then top with the remaining third of both cheeses, and a generous drizzling of olive oil.
- Place in the preheated 375 degree F oven until the top is golden and it’s sizzling along the edges of the pan, about 30 minutes. Cover the pan loosely with foil, and bake for another 15 minutes.
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Quick Tip: Serve with cheesy garlic bread.
Thanks again to Cooking On The Weekends for this amazing recipe.
