I made a healthy lasagna tonight and it was (surprisingly) pretty tasty. I was thinking, why don't I double the batch for this and freeze one for later. Only, how do you do that? What container do you use for pre made meals? Like, is there a freezer safe casserole dish with plastic lid? One that is affordable? And can you bake it from frozen? Is there some trick to this madness?
Thanks in advance...I know, I'm pretty clueless!
E
Mamabear, this is the recipe we used. Next time I'll up the amount of spinach to 2 bunches, or at least 1.5. Also, the recipe calls for 1/2 cup of mozzarella twice. I don't know why, so I used 3/4 cup mozzarella.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-vegetarian-spinach-lasa...
I grew up with a bolognese and béchamel lasagna that was absolutely divine...but it takes 8 hrs on the stove and clogs your arteries just by looking at it. So, that's my comparison. I guess the one we made tonight isn't the healthiest in the world, but everyone loved it and the kids both had seconds. They usually they don't like cooked spinach - so I twas pleased that they enjoyed the lasagna so much. :-)
I Buy those disposable foil pans, assemble the dish up to the point just before you bake it. Then I double wrap in foil and freeze it!
I line a pan with cling wrap, freeze it, and then pop the lasagna out. I then wrap it up tight in cling wrap and foil or I use my food saver.
Ideally it should be thawed, but you can cook from frozen, your outside edged will just get a little overcooked.
I use glass baking dishes - then cover with saran wrap. (Although I have some that have a tight fitting plastic lid that also work well.)
For me the biggest trick is that heating from frozen does not work well. You need to thaw it, then bake it. Thawing it in the refrigerator for 24 hours or so, prior to baking works OK - although I always seem to forget that step!
(Skipping the thawing step means that the edges are done nicely, but the center is cold/raw still!)
To me it is a matter of preference. Usually I just freeze the whole thing uncooked in the pan. Oh, pyrex. So then after I cook it I portion out the rest by tucking plastic between the slices and then cover and refreeze. That way I just pop out the portions I need when I need them.
When I say slide in plastic I use a spatula cram them down in good so it ends up being two sheets of plastic around each slice. If you know you are going to grab X number of slices then only surround those slices in a grouping.
I like to make a double bath and freeze the extra for lots of our meals. I recently read there can be less freezer burn when you put saran wrap against the food and then seal it in a freezer bag or tin foil. I usually freeze most items in single portion size so that I can reheat them when frozen for lunch. (I use my large muffin tin for portion sizes)
I froze our spaghetti dinner and just put it in the oven frozen. I covered it with tin for most the baking time, so that the outside wouldn't get burnt. I cooked it for around 375 for almost an hour.
I've read up on freezing foods. What I learned and have done is to make the lasagna in the dish you'd ordinarily use when cooking it. Freeze it in the dish. Once it's frozen, take it out of the dish, wrap it in plastic wrap and either put it in a plastic bag or wrap it in aluminum foil. If you line the dish first with plastic wrap or aluminum foil the food will come out easily.
Yes, do thaw it before baking it as Valerie F. suggested. You do want to bake it before it reaches room temperature so you'll need to bake it longer than if it were freshly made.
Air is the enemy. Whatever storage device you use, the less air trapped between the food and the packaging, the short it's shelf life. This is why vacuum systems are so popular for freezing. For soft items like baked goods and pastas, 2 systems are recommended. 1) Package loosely, then freeze. Once frozen solid, seal completely sucking out all air. 2) Put into a rigid container, then put container into the plastic sleeve. Vacuum seal.
Care to share your recipe?
I buy the disposable pans as well - I make 4 lasagnas or so at a time and I just don't have that many casserole pans for them to all be missing in the freezer when I need one!!!
I wrap the pan with plastic wrap then cover the top tightly with foil - keeps the air out well. Yes, you can bake from frozen but it takes a long time! I take mine out of the freezer and let thaw on the counter for a few hours or in the fridge all day - then remove plastic wrap!!! put the foil back on and bake at 350 for 30 min or so, remove foil and bake another 15-20 until done and hot in the middle. Good Luck! We do this every fall (before Thanksgiving) and have lasagnas to last thru winter and we use one big one for Christmas day with in-laws. Kids like it when I put pepperoni in them!
i just pop meal-sized portions in tupperware and shove 'em in the freezer. or if i'm out of tupperware i wrap in saran wrap and then a freezer bag, but that wouldn't work well for lasagna.
just be sure to thaw completely before you reheat!
:) khairete
S.
I use regular tupperware for up to 2-3 months in the freezer.
Specialty freezer containers for longer storage.
Freeze bags (not ziplock, I'm talking about the home sealing system) when appropriate for the food.
Freeze bags - (ziplock) I only use when freezing for up to 2-3 months
