Bacon Lasagna

A hoy-hoy and welcome back! I know, I have been on a roll lately!! Today we are delving back into cooking! This next recipe I am going to share with you I found 20 some years ago in the Taste of Home magazine and I have been making it ever since! I recently had two good friends over; one that has had it before and one that has not even heard of it! When she was telling my friend Claudia about how I was making some kind of lasagna, with maybe bacon? Claudia was like, “YES! She’s making the bacon lasagna?! It is so good!” Cause, well, it is. Good. And so simple to make. And wonderful to take to people who just got home from the hospital or had a baby… whatever the occasion because you can make it ahead and put in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake! I am definitely making my Midwestern Peeps proud! And, on the side, I am going to show you how make a stupid awesome but easy roast garlic bread! I know, it is a jam packed blog for you! Hold on to your oh-shit bar, its going to be a wild ride! 

Story Time!! 

Before we jump into the recipes, I do have a funny story about the first time I made this lasagna. As I mentioned earlier, I got this recipe from a most beloved magazine my mom used to get and wanted to try it out on my newish boyfriend (yes, The Husband) and our friends. We were house sitting, so I would also be making this new recipe in a kitchen I had never cooked in before too. Oh to be young and daring, LOL. Anyhoo, I’m putting the lasagna together, chopping and cooking and also getting the garlic bread ready too. I was on a roll! I move to put the lasagna in the oven when I saw it, staring at me like a neglected child or dog: the bleeping bacon. I had forgotten to cook and put the bacon into the bleeping bacon lasagna. At 21, I panicked, cut up the uncooked bacon and shoved said uncooked bacon into the lasagna: causing an absolute mess of the lasagna. However, the bleeping bacon was in the bleeping lasagna. I put it in the oven and prayed to the lasagna gods that all would work out. I had people to impress you know!! 

In high school I had started to cook and, dang tootin’, I ended being a pretty damn good one too. So, people would get excited when I invited them over, even if it was to just to a guinea pig for me and a new recipe: like that night. Back to my dubious bacon lasagna. Our friends came over, the table was set, and we all sat down to homemade garlic bread, salad, and the star of the show: the Bacon Lasagna. I did admit my mistake to the amusement of everyone; then, I cut into and served the lasagna. Was the bacon still flabby? Yes. Was it greasy as all get-out because of the raw bacon that cooked along with the lasagna? Yes. Did everyone love it and almost polish off the whole thing? Also yes. LOL. The Husband and our friends still talk about the first and greasiest bacon lasagna version with reverence and longing. 

Ingredient Note: You can use the old fashioned lasagna noodles where you have to boil them and then use them. I, however, use the Barilla ready to bake lasagna. You literally pull them out of the box and use them, no pre-boiling needed! They are great and I have been using them since I started making this dish! Now! On to the recipe!! 

Bacon Lasagna

1 pound ground beef

1 pound bacon

1 large onion

1 can diced tomatoes 

1 can tomato sauce

1 TB sugar

4 cups Colby Jack cheese

Lasagna Noodles (I use the ready to bake)

1. Take your pound of bacon and cut it into pieces. Place those in your skillet and cook until crispy; take out and place on paper towel lined plate – leave bacon grease in the pan
2. Dice your onion and place that into your skillet with the bacon grease, cook until fragrant
3. Add your ground beef to the onions. Cook together until the ground beef is cooked through, no pink showing. Drain.
4. Add your can of diced tomatoes and tomato sauce in with the ground beef and onions, cook for a couple of minutes; add your sugar. Allow to cook on low for 10-15 minutes.
5. Add the bacon!! Take off of the heat
6. Take about a cup of meat mixture and add to the bottom of your casserole dish, spread out along the bottom. Add lasagna noodles.
7. Add about one to one and a half cups of meat mixture to the top of the lasagna noodles, spread around and make sure that the noodles are covered in sauce.
8. Add half a bag of your cheese. Then repeat the layering process until you are left with some meat and half a bag of cheese for the top. I usually get about four layers.
9. Cover with foil. Next Day: If you are going to bake this the next day, cover with foil and place in the fridge. About an hour before you are ready to cook, take it out of fridge and let sit out.
10. Making the Day Of: Cover with foil and place in a pre-heated 350 degree oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 15-20 minutes. Make sure the lasagna is bubbling and the top of golden cheesiness. 
11. Remove from oven and let set up for about 20 minutes. While the lasagna is setting up, make your garlic bread! 

Roasted Garlic Bread

2 heads of garlic

1 stick of butter

French bread or fresh baked ciabatta bread from Your Husband

1. The night before, cut off the tops of your heads of garlic. Wrap them in foil and drizzle with olive oil. Roast in foil in a 350 degree oven for around 45 minutes to one hour. 
2. When garlic is golden brown and soft, remove and let cool. Squish the garlic out of their homes and into a bowl and a softened stick of butter.
3. Mix together to make the roasted garlic butter.
4. Cut your bead length wise (or whichever way you want), spread the garlic butter all over both sides
5. Turn oven to 400 degrees. Place garlic bread in oven to cook through. Finish under the broiler for crispy edges.
6. Allow to cool for five minutes before cutting into pieces and serving alongside your bacon lasagna! 

That’s about it! That is the Bacon Lasagna recipe that I have been making for the passed 20 years! I hope you have enjoyed both recipes and will try them! Honestly, I think this is a super easy recipe to prepare and bake! Between the crispy, awesome bacon and the cheesy Colby jack cheese, you just cannot beat the flavor and it is perfect for a crisp Fall or cold Winter’s day!