Oven Ready?

Have you ever tried these? I discovered them on my latest grocery shopping trip, and my first thought was, "Where have you been all my life?!" My second thought was, "How could this possibly work?" Since they were only a few cents more than the regular noodles I decided to give them a try. You know what? They were pretty darn good! They are very thin, so you don't get as much of the noodle in your lasagna as you do with the old kind (Does that make sense?). I seriously considered making a 3 layer lasagna instead of my regular 2 layer, but whatever. They did bake to the perfect consistency (not too tough or too mushy), and considering they were almost the same price as the regular kind, I'll probably be trying them again. Not having that extra step of boiling the noodles did save me alot of hassle.

If you're still feeling a little dubious, I've got another trick up my sleeve. I learned it a while ago on Everyday Food, and it actually works. Instead of boiling the noodles, you can soak them in warm water for 20 minutes. I usually do this in the pan I'm going to bake the lasagna in, so it saves a pan, and it's so easy! Since lasagna is one of the things I choose to complicate, I start the sauce and just let it simmer while the noodles are soaking. The timing usually works out just great. The trick is, no matter what they feel like after 20 min. DO NOT soak them any longer, or they will end up mushy.

Try one or both, and let me know what you think!