Slow Cooker Lasagna

Ingredients

For Lasagna Meat Sauce:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
4 cloves garlic minced
1 lb ground beef
2 tsp kosher salt divided use
½ tsp crushed chili flakes
1 6-oz can tomato paste
1 28-oz can whole or diced tomatoes

For Ricotta Filling:
1 lb ricotta
1 oz Parmesan cheese grated
1 ½ tbsp minced fresh parsley plus more for topping
To Assemble Lasagna
10 uncooked regular lasagna noodles (not “no boil” or fresh)
8 oz grated mozzarella cheese

Directions

Heat oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and 1/4 tsp of the salt and cook until soft, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and cook a minute more.

Add ground beef and sprinkle with 1 tsp more salt plus the chili flakes. Cook, stirring frequently, until no longer pink.

Ricotta Filling:
While beef cooks, stir together ricotta, Parmesan and parsley in a large bowl. Set aside.

Meat Sauce:
Add the tomato paste to the cooked beef mixture and cook until it turns a shade darker and the oil shimmers on top (this toasting step creates a ton of rich flavor!). Stir in whole/diced tomatoes and 1/4 tsp more salt. Turn off heat.
Assemble lasagna in the slow cooker

Add one cupful of the sauce to Crockpot Slow Cooker. Top with 2 lasagna noodles (you will have to break them to fit) and another layer of sauce. Add a layer of ricotta filling, a handful of mozzarella, and repeat until you run out of ingredients. The top layer should be sauce with a generous handful of mozzarella.

Set the slow cooker to cook for 3 1/2 hours on low. Top with more parsley and serve.