30 minute lasagna

Leftovers are key to eating well throughout college. I'll purposefully not finish a meal at restaurants simply so that I can take food home with me. If you're like me, your schedule keeps you running pretty ragged, and the last thing you have time for is making lunch.

Plan ahead. While cooking at home make sure you make enough for leftovers; that way when you have 25 minutes between classes, you can just pop some leftovers in the microwave and you're golden.

Nothing quite says leftovers like lasagna- which happens to be one of my favorites anyway. Who has time to bake lasagna though? Traditional lasagna takes hours to bake and setup, but this simple recipe will have to chowing down in about 30 minutes.

Here's what you're going to need:

1/4 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

4 garlic cloves, sliced

1 1/2 pounds of ripe tomatoes, diced (a can of tomato sauce will suffice if out of season, or you're lazy)

4 tablespoons of chopped basil

2 tablespoons of parsley (and a bit extra for garnish, if you're into that)

Kosher salt

freshly cracked pepper (please just go ahead and buy a pepper cracker, it's so much better fresh)

a large egg

2 tablespoons parmesan cheese (again, more for garnish)

6 sheets of no-bake lasagna noodles (no bake is paramount)

1 carrot peeled into ribbons (this is kind of optional)

3 1/2 cups baby spinach (I love spinach and think it is great in lasagna, give it a try)

1 cup ricotta cheese

1/3 pound mozzarella cheese

Heat the EVOO in a skillet over medium-high heat, once it is heated add the garlic and cook until golden, or about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and a table spoon of basil and parsley, half a teaspoon of salt, and pepper to taste. You're going to let that cook until it becomes saucy, which should take about 5 to 6 minutes; then you're going to transfer it to a blender and puree it. Return one cup of the sauce to the skillet and reduce heat to low; reserve the remaining sauce.

You can substitute the freshly diced tomatoes with a can of tomato sauce and just heat it in the skillet and add the herbs, salt, and pepper, and skip the pureeing process.

While you're working on that, go ahead and mix the ricotta, egg, parmesan, the remaining herbs, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and pepper in a bowl.

Alright, now you're going to put two of the lasagna noodles over the sauce in the skillet. Layer about half of the carrot ribbons, drizzle with some EVOO and season with salt and pepper, layer half of the spinach, half of the ricotta mixture, and a few pieces of mozzarella, and two to three tablespoons of the reserved tomato sauce. Repeat the layers, ending with noodles, and top with the remaining sauce and mozzarella.

Cover and let simmer until the lasagna is cooked and the cheese is melted, about 20 to 25 minutes. Let rest about 5 minutes and then garnish with parsley and parmesan cheese.